Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you. Not content with wanting to work with One Nation, the Liberals now want to work with the Greens to get on board. It is really a demonstration that what used to be a party of government is interested only in political stunts in this chamber, and Senator Michaelia Cash is prepared to do deals with Senator David Shoebridge to get the numbers to provide the space for a political stunt. Now, what I would say is that we are seeing the coalition, the Liberals and Senator Shoebridge and the Greens playing politics on a motion on a conflict where Iran continues to attack the region, people are dying, Australians are stranded and the government is working to respond. That is what is happening here.

Senator Cash, if you had wanted an orderly debate on this, rather than throwing a motion at us five minutes before this debate, I would have been open to a sensible debate in the national interest. But, no, instead you work with the Australian Greens for this stunt in order to take up time on Closing the Gap. Can I just make a comment about Closing the Gap—and I'll have more to say about this in the debate after you vote with each other to delay Closing the Gap? I understand the Liberals don't want to debate Closing the Gap. I understand that the coalition and One Nation don't want to debate it, other than to say things which are hurtful to First Nations people, but you are a party that should know better.