Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I could not let the opportunity go unmet to congratulate the incoming government of Queensland on its initiative. It might be something of an unfamiliar and foreign concept to coalition senators that promises made in opposition would be followed-through on when you get into government. It is something that those opposite do not appear to have learned from their experience at the 2013 election.

The Queensland Greens campaigned very strongly on this issue, particularly in the parts of regional Queensland where this is a clear and present danger. To her credit, Ms Palaszczuk and her colleagues made very firm commitments in the run-up to the election, and they have stuck to them. How remarkable that coalition senators would come in here and try to get a motion carried asking an elected government to violate an election commitment! Quite frankly, it says a lot more about the character of those coalition senators who bring such a motion forward than it does about the integrity of those who would uphold an election commitment.