Larissa Waters Queensland, Australian Greens
3:41 pm
I seek leave to amend general business notice of motion No. 506 standing in my name relating to ruling out using federal money for private coal infrastructure in the Galilee Basin.
Leave not granted.
Stephen Parry President
You can still proceed with your original motion unamended if you wish to.
Larissa Waters Queensland, Australian Greens
May I seek leave to amend the motion in an alternative means to that circulated in the chamber?
Stephen Parry President
You can seek leave to make a different amendment.
Larissa Waters Queensland, Australian Greens
May I first seek clarification for on what basis the leave is denied?
Stephen Parry President
There is no provision for that unless a senator wants to make a statement.
Stephen Conroy Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
That is not very nice.
Stephen Parry President
Order Senator Conroy. At this point, you can either seek leave to move a different amendment or you can make a statement on your own if you wish to.
Larissa Waters Queensland, Australian Greens
I might take the opportunity to make a short statement with the intention that I will be resubmitting this motion in the terms that I deem appropriate.
Larissa Waters Queensland, Australian Greens
I seek leave to make a short statement.
Stephen Parry President
Leave is granted for one minute
Order! Senator Waters, you have one minute.
Larissa Waters Queensland, Australian Greens
Thank you, Mr President. I find it very convenient that the government has denied leave for me to amend this motion because of course it means that they do not have to place themselves on record as to whether they intend to use federal taxpayer money to bankroll private coal infrastructure to open up the Galilee Basin, which is the whole intention of this motion—to seek clarification on that very point. So it seems that we can only draw the conclusion that they do intend to so use federal money to prop up an ailing industry that the rest of the world is already declining in its demand for.
Following the terrible decision of the Queensland Premier, Mr Campbell Newman, yesterday to not only sell or long-term lease Queensland's public assets but to then use that revenue to fund a coal railway to open up the Galilee Basin because none of the other private investors will touch this, I will be pursuing this matter. But we can only conclude that federal money indeed will be committed to this disastrous development. (Time expired)
Ian Macdonald Queensland, Liberal Party
3:44 pm
I seek leave to make a statement on the same matter.
Stephen Conroy Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
You have 20. You are up, Macca.
Stephen Parry President
Because of the noise coming from here, when I asked was leave granted, there was no objection. Leave is granted for one minute.
Ian Macdonald Queensland, Liberal Party
I did not hear that, Mr President. That seems to be your intervention.
Stephen Parry President
There was a clear indication to me that leave has been granted for one minute.
Ian Macdonald Queensland, Liberal Party
Thank you, Mr President. First of all, Senator Waters should be aware that this was not the government denying leave; this was me exercising my right as a private senator to deny leave on yet another Greens motion seeking to denigrate my state of Queensland. The Newman government won an overwhelming majority at the last election on the basis of development, including the development of coalmines, in Queensland and the development of Abbot Point. The Greens simply cannot accept this. The Greens, who have no members in the Queensland parliament, no members at all, seek to determine the Queensland government's decisions on what the Queensland government should do with Queensland government assets. Every time I can point out the hypocrisy and uselessness of the Greens, I will.
Barry O'Sullivan Queensland, National Party
3:45 pm
Mr President, I seek leave to make a short statement.
Larissa Waters Queensland, Australian Greens
No, one is enough!
Leave not granted.