Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Earlier today during question time I had to withdraw a remark aimed at Senator Waters. I will not repeat that remark here, and I do apologise for my undue outburst. But I want to explain why I made it. In a question, Senator Waters noted that 42 per cent of the Abbott cabinet is Catholic, including the Prime Minister himself, who once trained to be a Catholic priest. As was pointed out to Senator Waters at the time, her question was out of order because it was against a former President's ruling. Chapter 10 of Odgers states that it is not in order for a senator to refer to a senator's religion. Back in 2005, President Calvert stated his concerns about another Greens senator, Senator Kerry Nettle. He said in his ruling that:

Senator Nettle's question included a suggestion that the decisions of the Minister for Health and Ageing were influenced by his religious views. This was undoubtedly an imputation of improper motives against a member of the House of Representatives, contrary to standing order 193(3), and should not have been made. Senators should refrain from any such imputations in the future.

In 1969 President McMullin ruled that it is out of order to refer to a senator's religion. I think that is a very sound rule which should be adhered to by all senators.

So the Greens have form in this area. In fact, you can quite literally say they wrote the book on it. Greens Senator Larissa Waters, in a single question, managed to work in the fact that the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, had trained at a Catholic seminary and that 42 per cent of the cabinet are Catholic. It is an impressive achievement and it should be recognised.

There are those who would think that, with the decline in sectarianism in Australia so many decades ago, the art of dog whistling on religion would be a dying one. Not so—not with the Greens around. The standard defence by those who use dog whistling is one of straight-up denial: 'What? Who, me?' It is exactly what we saw during question time. 'I was only trying to talk about the Pope's encyclical on climate change.' Sure! It would be like somebody opening up a talk about multiculturalism with the words, 'As you know, 100 per cent of the Greens parliamentarians are white.' It would be completely irrelevant but it would also be completely true.

Senator Waters' reference to the proportion of the cabinet who are Catholic was irrelevant and made in a pejorative tone, as if it were shameful to be a Catholic and even more reprehensible to train as a Catholic priest. Pointing to the religion of different cabinet ministers—