Rod Kemp (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Hansard source

It is true that you got more fourth, fifth or sixth items on the ABC news than the Democrats. That is true. You won that one hands down. But, in terms of actually bringing about any significant change in Australia, the fact of the matter is that it is very hard to think of one thing that you were able to achieve over this long period of time. But I do not want to go on about that.

This bill is another area, Senator Milne, where you will not be achieving any changes. The government will not be supporting your amendments. We do not agree with them. We believe they would add further complexities to the tax system. There would be increased compliance costs for business and there would be greater uncertainty for business in terms of their application. The point I would make, Senator Milne, is that, if new technology is more energy efficient, the government’s new measures encourage investment in this new technology. So, Senator Milne, we will not be agreeing with you.

Senator Milne, as you are a comparatively new arrival in this chamber, I say to you that I encourage the Greens to dump the Senator Brown approach of not engaging with the government. It has not achieved anything over a long period of time. I would encourage a more constructive approach from Senator Milne and her colleagues. I am seeing a hint of that occasionally. Senator Milne and Senator Siewert do turn up to Senate committees, which is a big plus and a big change. They seek to engage more than perhaps Senator Brown and Senator Nettle—and I think that is a good thing. I am glad you have not adopted that particular policy whereby you ignore Senate committees. We cannot accept these amendments, but I do encourage you to continue to seek to engage with the government more constructively. If that is your approach, I for one would strongly support it.