Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

The reason for the Special Minister of State's statement in relation to the Ombudsman yet again confirms, when you read the statement, that the Australian Greens party see themselves as an elitist party with absolutely no regard at all for the practices and procedures of this parliament, let alone the Australian Senate. If you read the ministerial statement, at page 5 the Special Minister of State says:

An office such as that of the Ombudsman, a key part of our system of government and Parliamentary accountability, cannot function effectively in that compromised environment.

That is exactly what the Australian Greens did and in particular Senator Sarah Hanson-Young did to the office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman. They completely, totally and utterly compromised the independence of the Ombudsman. But that is what you get when a senator comes to this place and continues to play university politics when that particular person should be representing the Australian people in the Senate, should have an understanding of the practices—