Helen Haines (Indi, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Goldstein for this really important motion. I have been here for a little bit longer than some of my crossbench colleagues, but I stand united with them on this issue. The people of Australia are sick of question time. It is performative politics really at its worst. We see mind-numbing dorothy dixers. We see mischievous points of order. The people of Australia demand some transparency and accountability from their parliament, and question time is a time to get that, if we take it seriously.

We on the crossbench seek real answers to real questions. We are the biggest crossbench since Federation and we undertook an agreement with the sessional orders to have proportional representation at question time. That's not being fulfilled because of many parts of this awful performative politics that is question time—not just mischievous points of order, not just mind-numbing dorothy dixers, not just question time being cut short by the Prime Minister but all of it combined.

We can make a difference in this place. We can do better, and one way of doing better is making sure that the crossbench get their proportional representation at question time by backing the member for Goldstein. I call on everyone in this parliament to do better and to support this motion.

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