Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make my contribution to this debate, too. I'd just like to say that I listened intently, Senator Whitten—it's not very often we're on the same fence on everything, but I do agree with you wholeheartedly on the nonsense of this one that's been put forward to us today.

I'm not going to attack Senator Payman—not at all—but I will say this. It's very easy, and she doesn't enjoy the support of a massive political machine behind her like she used to, but this is the sort of thing that you would hear around a barbecue when someone's on about their eighth or ninth or 10th beer, particularly someone who has not come from Western Australia. This is what really confuses me. Coming from the state of Western Australia—I'm not bagging Senator Payman out, and it's unfortunate she's not here to defend herself. But to fall into this ridiculousness of thinking, after about the eighth drink, 'How can we whack the living daylights out of a predominantly Western Australian industry?'—although it's all around Australia—to attack—