Sean Bell (NSW, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today we have seen the betrayal of Australian workers. Labor and the Greens, in their coalition, have stitched up a dirty backroom deal and sacrificed our forestry industry because they want to ram through legislation with as little scrutiny as possible. We know this is what they're doing. We know it's about shutting down a lawful, sustainable industry to keep the Greens happy, because the Greens are boasting about in their press release and in the chamber. Timber workers, mill operators, truckies, contractors and whole timber communities have been treated as expendable. Forestry supports thousands of Australian jobs and provide the timber we need to build homes. It's a renewable, tightly regulated and essential industry to our housing supply, but Labor has decided those jobs, those communities and the timber they provide are collateral damage in their rush to do a deal with the Greens.

And it's not just the forestry industry that is in the firing line. This is not just about saving trees; it's about making it harder for Aussies who actually do the work in timber, in mining, in fishing, on farms, in factories and on building sites. If you wear steel caps or high-vis to work, this legislation is going to hit you. This deal will push up the cost of building materials, tighten housing supply and make it harder to open and expand projects that actually produce things. At the same time, Labor and the Greens are rolling out the red carpet foreign owned solar and wind companies to cover prime agricultural land with panels and wind turbines contaminated with asbestos. They're showing a blatant disregard to local communities.

So One Nation will not support this rushed legislation. We'll stand with the workers who keep this country going. We'll stand for real jobs, real industries and regional communities because Labor and the Greens will talk to each other and do their deals but won't speak for working Australians. One Nation will.