Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Abetz, let me tell you about the GST: the Greens made our position clear and were elected into this place on our stand on the GST, and we carried it through faithfully. On Work Choices, you were punished; you were put out of office on the matter. As Santayana said, if you do not learn from history then history will punish you. That is my counsel—you can take it or leave it. We are arbiters of this matter, ultimately. There are good arguments for 20; there are good arguments for 25. When Work Choices was being debated in here, it was 50; it was 100 when it was being formulated. But the people accepted 15. It is part of a suite of measures that the people accepted, and I would counsel that we take their judgment on the matter.