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

There is no doubt that when they make an interjection about Cubbie Station they know that they are on such thin ice and that what they are putting forward has become so ridiculous and so pathetic, because I am not part of the government. I am in the opposition. I do not have the power of sway over the government, but the Greens do. The Greens do, and they take you all as fools, pretending that somehow they are in the government one day—when they put an ad in the paper saying that they stopped the Margiris, the big fishing boat. It is in the paper. It is an affirmation of their position of power. It is an affirmation of their position of influence. It is an affirmation of what they are capable of, yet when it comes to this, the most vital core of their beliefs, they step away because now they are not part of the government. They have opted into the government and out of the government within 24 hours. Within 24 hours they are on both sides of the fence.

So the Greens know what they can do. All their supporters know full well that the Greens can stop this today. They can stop this this morning. They can stop this right now. They just have to call the press conference and say, 'If you go forward with this policy, we'll withdraw support for the government.' That is it. That is where it stops, and everybody knows that. If you doubt their affirmation of their influence, look at the ad in the paper today about how they stopped the Margiris. They stopped that boat—there is no doubt about it. They stopped that one.

If it is as you all say, who are you casting these aspersions about—that it is a war zone, that it will leave people damaged and scarred, that it is a mental illness factory, that the Hippocratic oath forces you to do no harm and that it will leave kids in a catatonic state? Who else agrees with this? Could that possibly be Senator Chris Evans who also has brought this about? Surely that could not be his position, because he had a different position. He said the greatest thing he ever did was to get rid of the Pacific solution. Senator Chris Evans said that, but now he is voting for it; now he is supporting it. Surely that could not be the position of Senator Trish Crossin. Surely it could not be her position. It couldn't be. She hates this sort of stuff, but she is voting for it. Surely it could not possibly be the position of Senator Penny Wong. It could not be her position. She could not believe in this. She could not possibly believe in this, but she is voting for it. And we have not heard boo from them—not boo from Senator Chris Evans, not boo from Trish Crossin and not boo from Doug Cameron. Surely Doug Cameron cannot believe this, because Doug Cameron, more than anybody else, used to say some marvellous things about 'the closure of the disgraceful offshore processing centre in Nauru'. He said it was 'a disgrace, it was an international shame and it brought nothing but loathing of this country'. Senator Douglas Cameron said that on 15 November 2010. Senator Douglas Cameron is now voting for it.

The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, said 'Labor will end the so-called Pacific solution—the processing and detaining of asylum seekers on Pacific islands—because it is costly, it is unsustainable and wrong as a matter of principle'. The Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, said that it was a matter of principle that they had to stop it. The Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, brought forward the process to reincorporate this Nauru centre. It is obviously a different principle, a different day. It is complete and utter hypocrisy. It is abounding hypocrisy, and this hypocrisy goes hand in glove with their partners in this process who sustained the government in bringing back this process. It is not our bill—it is not the coalition's bill. It is the Labor Party-Greens-Independents alliance bill. It is their government's bill and it is their government bringing it in.

I will be honest with you: quite honestly there are things in this bill—and I support strong immigration laws; I am not for one moment denying that, but my position is consistent and has been from the start—we could not have possibly have got it through the coalition. They are too tough, but you are voting for these things. The Labor Party vote for it every day and the Greens could stop it today by walking out, calling a press conference and saying: 'We withdraw our support for this government because of this insidious act—this act that will turn the place back into a war zone, will create mental illness factories, will put kids into a catatonic state.' They have a role, as do those who are doctors, to uphold the Hippocratic oath, so they could change it but they choose not to. They choose not to do so because they want to play a little trick on the Australian people that apparently they are on both sides of the fence. They support the government that is bringing in this bill, but they do not support it. It is absurd and no-one believes it.

But surely it cannot be wrong, because Senator Kim Carr could not possibly support this. He could not support this as a matter of honour. He would stand up and stop this—I know he would—but he is voting for it. I know Senator Carol Brown does not support this, but in the core of your being the ultimate statement is not to vote for it. You cannot vote for it, so why are you voting for it? Why are you doing this to yourself? You cannot let people destroy you, because that is what they are doing. They are destroying your soul. I know Senator Carol Brown, although there is so much that we have differences over. But I know those ladies have a consistency of principle—their principles might be different to mine, but there is the consistency of principle. I have admired them because I always believed they would stick to their principles. But now they are not sticking to their principles. You cannot do this and drag your core principles through the mud. It is absurd. I know it hurts and I know how much it hurts if you stand up. You will get smacked around the head. I know that, but you have got to do it. You have got to do it if you are fair dinkum, because if you are not fair dinkum then everybody will mark you down. Not one of you—not Chris Evans, not Doug Cameron, not Trish Crossin, not Carol Brown, not Gavin Marshall, not Penny Wong, not Senator Moore, not Kim Carr—