Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Hansard source

I cannot believe what I have just witnessed. I thought this place was a place of debate, where different ideas could come together in a great melting pot. But what did we see today? We saw Labor and the Greens come together to steal from Senator Hanson an opportunity to have her views—to have my views—heard. It is incredible. I am so disappointed in what has happened that I, of all people, almost have no words to describe it. There is no democracy in this country—not with what we've seen today. When you take away my right to make a contribution to a debate and you completely change what it was about, what does that tell the Australian people? It tells them, 'Your vote does not count for diddly squat.' People voted to put me in this place. People voted to put Senator Hanson in this place. People voted to put all of us on this side of the chamber here in this place. And now we don't have an opportunity to speak, because of the collusion that we've seen between Labor and the Greens to take away Senator Hanson's voice.

In my opinion, it should be an offence to willingly burn the Australian flag. It is our national flag. It represents all of us. The fact that some people in here would rather come into this chamber wearing the national flag of another country is shameful.