Julian McGauran (Victoria, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

For anyone who missed it, that was a Greens speaker on this proposed reference to the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport. She was linking climate change to rural mental health. That is the extreme to which she took this particular issue. She is the one that wants to shut down the coal industry within three years. She gets up in here and piously says that she is the friend of the farmer. Anyone who listened to that debate knows it was completely laced with dictatorial directions to the farmers about how to grow things and what to grow—you ought to change; you ought to move on. I jotted down all the little cliches—control, reduce, move on, tell them how. This is the Greens standing up pretending they are the friends of the farmers when in fact they want to shut down the coal industry. Don’t you think they also want to reduce and shut down the farming industry? No-one could possibly take the former speaker seriously. As piously as she attempted to put her case, the government rejects outright the Greens motion to refer this matter to a Senate committee.

One particular reason for that is that the government is in charge of the business of the Senate in order to implement its mandate and to get on with its business. The public quite understand this. There is the time and place for debate in this chamber—question time, matters of public interest, matters of public importance, the adjournment debate, taking note of answers and so on. There is plenty of time for debate in this chamber and time for views to be expressed. The public understand that sooner or later the government has to get on with the business of the Senate. There are many avenues to express your opinion.

I have noticed the clear tactic, particularly of the Greens in cahoots with the opposition since they lost the majority in the Senate in the last election, of putting up these references to committees, almost on a daily basis. If we took all the references, whatever the committee was it could not cope with them. The Greens put these references up so they can find another avenue to obstruct, frustrate and filibuster in the Senate. And this is another perfect example. We spent hours on it yesterday and we are going to spend hours on it today—yet another pious reference to a Senate committee. And, by the way, I happen to be on that committee—the Senate rural and regional affairs and transport committee. At our early morning meeting yesterday we dealt with three draft committee reports in relation to legislation and we have now opened up the reference to Traveston Crossing dam in Queensland. We can barely take any more work, and you know that when you put up these references. Do you really think—