Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a brief statement.

Leave granted.

The issue that is before the Senate is in relation to Prime Minister Harper’s visit, and what we have just witnessed is an abuse of the process to try to make some cheap political points. In relation to the comment that only right-wing conservatives address the parliament, under the prime ministership of John Howard we have had that right-wing conservative Bill Clinton and that right-wing conservative Tony Blair address our parliament. What a joke! How ridiculous and stupid to make those sorts of assertions.

When the invitation was made to the Prime Minister of Japan, we knew that humpbacks were going to be migrating north at the time and we knew that whaling was an issue. In recent times, our environment ministers, in particular Malcolm Turnbull and Ian Campbell, have been champions in this area on the world scene. We all know why the Prime Minister of Japan is not coming. He has had to decline our invitation because of certain matters domestically within Japan. We knew about the whaling season. The whales did not change their migratory patterns because of the impending visit by a Japanese prime minister. We knew about the whaling issues before the invitations were extended and it is simply because of the position the Prime Minister of Japan finds himself in that this visit is no longer taking place. To try to spin some sort of conspiracy theory out of this shows why the Greens should never be given the balance of power in this place.

Question agreed to.