Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) | Hansard source

As was outlined so well by Senator Ciccone, the government will be supporting Senator Lambie's motion today, and we thank her for bringing it to the chamber. The War Memorial is a treasured national institution, and it's deeply distressing for me, including as a local Canberran, to see what has happened to it, with the vandalism of the War Memorial. I think the Senate this morning has shown through the contributions just why the community is so divided on some of these issues. There was an opportunity, I think, with this motion to stand together and to seek to unify the country and set our expectations of what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable—what's unlawful and deeply disrespectful—and we haven't been able to do that this morning. Some of the contributions have ensured, I guess, that the message out of the Senate this morning is that we are deeply divided on this as well.

So the government supports Senator Lambie's motion. We condemn the act of defacing war memorials as outlined by Senator Lambie's motion. I move:

That the question be now put.

Question agreed to.

Original question agreed to.