Barnaby Joyce (Queensland, National Party, Leader of The Nationals in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—Obviously someone from the Labor Party has failed to turn up to a division and they have refused to name who the person is. This was a vitally important motion. It dealt with removing an ambiguity that is so rife out there in regional Australia. They believe that there is a sense of ambiguity in the act and that there are some sorts of tricks or games being played, and this was a vitally important motion that dealt with it. What the Labor Party have done right now is to shine a light on their statements in one area and their actions in another. It shines a light on the statements that they would stand by the position of the Australian Government Solicitor, they would stand by the ministerial statement, they would rely on a triple bottom line and they would remove ambiguity, yet they cannot even get their people to turn up to the chamber to vote. In this new paradigm what we now see is the Labor Party not only not wanting to remove the ambiguity but not even having the discipline to turn up to vote.