Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, it is. I am talking about the Eureka flag. I am talking about modern day protests. I am talking about how that side exalts in people who rise up against the establishment, rise up against things that they feel reflect poor policy being enacted by this government. Let me tell you, Mr Deputy Speaker, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is just that, and Mr Bonetti declared he would lead a whole set of protests if his fellow farmers agreed to support him.

We will not accept the plan if it is not right for us … I'm basically a law-abiding person but this ridiculous. We will take a militant stand against this if we need to.

I sure that the good farmers of Griffith will not be as bad as the unions were in 1996. I will just finish with the words of Mark Twain who said, in talking about the Eureka Stockade:

…I think it may be called the finest thing in Australasian history. It was a revolution—small in size; but great politically; it was a strike for liberty, a struggle for principle, a stand against injustice and oppression…

I am sure that the other members of the house would agree will Mark Twain's sentiments on that score.

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