George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

It was a very important event in Australian constitutional history, I might say, Mr President. After the high tide of separatism in the 1920s and the occasional echoes of that view in the years since, the last advocate of separatism for Western Australia has this evening, the evening of 17 June 2008, at last hauled down the flag of Western Australian separatism. So we can say on this rather sad and melancholy evening that at least we know that the Commonwealth of Australia is intact.