Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. I have to say I am surprised; after such a stirring address at the National Press Club, when he talked about unemployment and the economy, I thought we may have got a question on that. But it is extraordinary—the Leader of the Opposition has such a short attention span that, in the time it took him to get from the Press Club to the House of Representatives, he has forgotten all the economic issues he was talking about earlier.

The Leader of the Opposition's question is no more than a rather miserable conspiracy theory. He knows full well that the reason we are supporting the reform of the Senate voting system is precisely the reason he and his party supported it until very recently. It is precisely the reason the member for Brand still supports it. The member for Brand knows, and the Labor Party know full well, but they choose not to say it anymore, that the system has been gamed and that it did not and does not accurately or fairly reflect the will of the people.

Our job is to ensure that the dysfunction in the Senate ends and that every member of the Senate can say that they have been the result of a considered decision by the Australian people voting collectively. That means that Australian voters should choose the preferences. They should determine how votes are cast, not backroom deals and preference whisperers who, until very recently, the Labor Party used to condemn.

It says a lot about the shameful cynicism of the Leader of the Opposition that, until recently—and I say this with great respect to the former chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters—there was no more eloquent advocate of Senate voting reform than the member for Brand. He was committed to it; he explained it. He is a former general secretary of the Labor Party. He understood it perfectly and he understood the importance that the parliament is seen to work, that the parliament does work and that it is seen to represent the will of the people. That is why he advocated those changes. That is why we all advocated them. That is why everybody supported them—until now, when, in this very cynical switch, the Labor Party is opposing them. The Leader of the Opposition should go back to his better nature and support these changes to the Senate voting system in the Senate today.

Ms Owens interjecting—

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