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

You are absolutely right, Mr Deputy President. What we have here is a situation in which there is a difference in ruling in very similar cases—and it must go challenged. Otherwise, every senator, including those who have shares—for example, in coalmining corporations—and who have a direct pecuniary benefit flowing from those shares ought not have spoken on the mining tax legislation before this Senate in the last week or ought not have spoken on the matter of the carbon so-called 'tax'—the carbon trading scheme legislation—in recent weeks. The chair has to be very clear about this, because the chair has blocked my application for Senator Boswell's case to be looked at by the Committee of Privileges while fostering Senator Kroger's application to have—