Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) | Hansard source

We see a pattern, Senator Shoebridge, from those opposite, the Labor Party and their alliance partners, the Greens, of refusing to listen, as Senator Scarr said, and of closing their ears to extremely important issues.

Senator Cadell, who's also in the chamber, has repeatedly tried to get up in this place a very simple inquiry into the impacts of the massive build of poles and wires on agricultural land, and Labor and the Greens have blocked it on 10 occasions. They will not listen. We have tried to get the Export Control Amendment (Ending Live Sheep Exports by Sea) Bill 2024 referred to a committee because farmers, shearers, truckies and communities in my home state of Western Australia deserve to have their stories heard and deserve to have the facts and evidence presented to this place, yet Labor and their alliance partner, the Greens, won't have a bar of it. They say: 'No. We will close our ears to the people who actually understand that industry.'

And now we have a fundamental issue of freedom of speech. Once again, we have Labor, working with their alliance partners, the Greens, closing their ears to dissent—and not even to dissent but just to hearing the truth of the matter: the arguments, the evidence. This is where the Left have got to in this parliament. They will not hear the voices of the Australian people. The only way of making them hear is going to be at the ballot box.