Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The motion is seconded. This dissent motion is very important. It is critical to the standing and reputation of this parliament that the dissent motion moved by the member for Sturt and which I am seconding now be carried by this House. In accepting the motion from the Leader of the House, Mr Deputy Speaker, you have accepted a motion which offends a fundamental principle of our democracy. The greatest principle of our democracy, the principle which has echoed down the ages, the principle which has made Westminster parliaments respected throughout the world is the principle of the absolute sanctity of free speech. The great principle of parliamentary privilege is designed to ensure that no member of parliament can be interfered with in going about his duty as he sees it. The problem with this motion, which I regret to say you have accepted thus far, is that it offends this great principle. It seeks not just to condemn the Leader of the Opposition, not just to disagree with the Leader of the Opposition, but also to put words into the mouth of the Leader of the Opposition. It seeks to control the thoughts of the Leader of the Opposition.

I say to members opposite: they can disagree, they can condemn, but they cannot dictate. All the numbers in the world do not justify trying to dictate to a member of this parliament. If members opposite persist in this course of conduct, having listened to the arguments in this current debate, they will be guilty of bringing into this chamber the worst standards of political thuggery—Tammany Hall and Sussex Street rolled into one and imported into this great chamber of democracy.

It is utterly offensive to try to control what members of this parliament say. I have been a member of a government. I was in command of the numbers of this House for the six years in which I was the Leader of the House, and I have to say that not once did the former government try this trick. Not once would the former government have even contemplated pulling a stunt like this, because it is fundamentally against all principles of democracy. It is fundamentally against all conceptions of free speech. If this motion is permitted, the government could quite conceivably come into this chamber and put a motion demanding that all opposition members support a government bill. They could use their numbers to completely crush any dissent or any opposition in this House.

I know how politicians in this place are always looking for political advantage. I know how the Leader of the House looked at a couple of newspaper reports this morning saying that the Leader of the Opposition said something which went a little bit too far and he thought, ‘Aha! Let us come out and fundamentally embarrass the Leader of the Opposition.’ If he gave the Leader of the Opposition five minutes to speak, fair enough. If he simply condemned the Leader of the Opposition, fair enough. But to try to put the Leader of the Opposition on his feet and put words into the Leader of the Opposition’s mouth—that is one giant step too far.

Mr Deputy Speaker Adams, you are a man of decency and integrity. You are a man who has overcome hurdles to be in this place. You of all people should understand just how precious it is to be in this House and just how important are those principles of free speech and independence of mind which should govern every member of parliament’s actions. That is why you should have ruled differently and that is why this dissent should be carried.

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