Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I am more than willing to respond to the senator. This shows the close Labor-Green alliance that has developed. The issues that we have been raising since the committee stage of this bill have required the minister to respond, and he has refused. He walks around the chamber, he leaves the chamber, he sits elsewhere, he plays on his mobile phone and he treats the questions and issues we are raising with absolute and utter contempt. What we need, I say to Senator Ludlam through you, Mr Chairman, is a response as to how anybody can responsibly vote for this legislation and consider the amendments in the context of us being denied the fundamental documents that we need to make a full, proper assessment.

Yes, Senator Ludlam, we do use the pink batts analogy. You and the Greens bear responsibility for that disaster, that debacle, as you waved that legislation through the Senate without giving it the sort of scrutiny that we in the coalition sought to give it at the time. It went through, and you bear the responsibility for not putting those matters under proper scrutiny. I know the pink batts matter was only $1 billion. To me that is a huge sum of money, but this is 50 times as big. Having not learnt your lesson from the pink batts debacle—