Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Don’t you worry about the National Party, Senator Conroy. I would think that you would have enough worries on your plate to keep the cabinet and the government worried for the next two years. You are in chaos at the moment, and this is just going to add to the chaos. I do not think you guys in cabinet are actually pulling your weight, to be perfectly frank.

I do not know what is going on in cabinet—I would like to know what is going on—but it does not seem there is any rational discussion on any bill that comes up. ‘We put a bill up, we talk about it, we put our hand up,’ and then, ‘Yes, Prime Minister, you’re right.’ But then we in this parliament have to sort out the mess. This is one for you guys. We are not going to sort this one out for you. You are going to wear it. You are going to wear it in North Queensland. You are going to wear it in the seat of Leichhardt. You are going to wear it in the seat of Dawson, when the people up there have less and less tourism because you keep putting more and more taxes on. The consequences will be that you will lose that seat. If that is the way you want to go, good luck to you. We will be there, ready to take them back again. I oppose this bill but I am not going to vote against it.