Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I also want to congratulate you on being invited to represent the Senate at this very significant occasion in Tasmania. I take it from Senator Brown’s comments that he does not want you to go and that he does not want the Senate to be represented at this very significant occasion in Tasmanian history. Senator Brown obviously has become overwhelmed with the election result from all his campaigning in Victoria. One might think he was a Victorian senator from the amount of time he spent on the campaign in the recent state election, but we are glad he did because the Green vote went down again, as it did in the last federal election. I encourage Senator Brown to slip back to Victoria and do a bit more campaigning. In fact, why don’t you come to Queensland? We might have done a bit better up there if you had done some campaigning in Queensland, Senator Brown.

Mr President, the motion is to grant you leave and to appoint Senator Hogg in your stead. I must say with some respect that Senator Hogg will fill the post almost as well as you do and certainly as well as anyone else would do in your absence. I want to say in passing that, except for the last bits of his speech, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate gave one of his finer speeches just a moment ago and one that I think all senators support. The way Senator Brown carried on in a personal way towards you, Mr President, when you are doing your duty, looking after this Senate and actually representing this chamber in the very important event in Tasmania, was just appalling.

One wonders what Senator Brown’s purpose for all of this is. We know that he is not very interested in the environment. In fact, he rarely speaks on environment bills and rarely asks a question on the environment. His feigned outrage at not being here to address the environment amendments is exactly that. I have to say of Senator Siewert—I do not like to be too praiseworthy—that there is a Greens senator who is interested in environmental matters. Senator Brown never attends environment estimates hearings, and this has been the pattern of his actions here over many, many years. So this feigned outrage about not being around to speak about the environment bill really demonstrates Senator Brown’s situation here. He is interested in all the loony Left issues, grandstanding at the World Summit, all those loony left-wing things, and not at all interested in the environment. To use that as a pretence for his outrage is appalling.

Mr President, congratulations on the work you do for all of us. I think it is important that you represent us. You will go, I am sure, with the support of the entire chamber, with one exception.

Question agreed to.