Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I raise accountability. The Greens aren't a party of government, but they could plausibly hold the balance of power. As a fringe party, the Greens are too often given a free pass, and that needs to change. Firstly, on economics, the Greens are laughable. Some say they're undergraduate, but policies like rent control and resource-free growth give the undergraduates a bad name. Second, on foreign policy and defence, they're dangerous. Sensible MPs across this chamber need to coalesce around policies that protect the national interest.

Third, and of most concern, are the Greens' dangerous and divisive political tactics. The Greens saunter in here with an air of sanctimonious moral superiority. Their grubby political tactics on sensitive issues such as Gaza is shameful. In recent months, Greens MPs have used words like 'tentacles' and 'river to the sea', and a Greens MP has posted a video of me being jostled entering ALP State Conference. There is a pattern to this. On this issue, leaders should be seeking consensus, but the Greens seek political advantage and division. On the weekend, the leader of the Greens couldn't even bring himself to state that Israel has a right to exist. With their mailing lists, information-harvesting petitions and sloganeering, the Greens have become the cynical Cambridge Analytica of the Left. We rightly criticise those on the Right who are extreme; the same should occur on the Left. The Greens aren't the only party to play politics, but they're the only ones to claim not to. It's time to call it out.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 43, the time for members' statements has concluded.