Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

There have been a few moments of irony in this debate; one of them is Senator Joyce yelling in the chamber, accusing others of belligerence, and the other is Senator Macdonald, after having been part of a party room which agreed to take action on climate change, lecturing the chamber about hypocrisy.

But let no-one be under any illusion about what is happening today, here in this place. The Liberal Party is preparing to walk away from the national interest. That is what is happening here today. The Liberal Party is preparing to walk away from action on climate change. A procedural game is happening, consistent with what has been happening for days—and all of last week—ever since those on the other side who cannot stomach taking action on climate change lost a vote in their party room: that is, procedural games in this chamber, designed to maximise the chance that they can avoid action on climate change. These are people, on that side of the chamber, who will do and say anything—including seeking to destroy their own—rather than take action on climate change. That is what is happening today.

Why is that? Why are they preparing to walk away from action on climate change? The reason is not that it is in the national interest. They do not want to do this because it is in the national interest; they are walking away from this because it serves their party political interests and it serves their extreme views. Everybody in Australia who has paid passing notice to this debate will know that Senator Minchin and others who hold extreme views on this issue have done nothing but try to work out how to run a campaign in their own party to avoid action on climate change.

The Senate has been a sideshow for the internal divisions in the Liberal Party. This chamber has been a sideshow whilst they try to get the numbers in their own party room, including attempting to tear their leader down. No-one watching this debate can be under any illusion as to why that is the case. The fact is that we, as the government, negotiated a deal with the opposition in good faith both on content of the bill and on procedure. It was an agreement to deliver this legislation, amended as agreed with your negotiating representatives and your leader. It was an agreement that would ensure the Australian parliament took action on climate change. We on this side say that the coalition should honour its commitment that there will be a final determination by the Senate on these bills as they agreed.