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

Clearly there are momentous events occurring outside of this chamber right now. With all due respect to Senator Peris, I think the Australian people would expect a more considered contribution in that event than simply the stale talking points and sound bites from a staffer's or opposition leader's written speech. One of the problems we have had in Australian politics over the past few years is the rise of Blackberry politics, if you like—that we all tend to simply read points off our mobile phones that are emailed to us in the morning—and I think the Australian people can see through it. I think the Australian people realise it and we are all suffering because of it.

Today I want to start with a bit of history. I was reminded on the weekend by Minister Barnaby Joyce. He is a student of history himself. He gave a speech to the National Party convention and quoted Ecclesiastes: There is Nothing New Under the Sun. I certainly think that what we are experiencing today is nothing new under the sun as well. Barnaby wanted to quote Roman history and I want to do so too, but it is a very different part of Roman history. I am not sure if Senator Ryan is a student of Roman history, but, Senator Ryan, you might remember that there was a particularly handsome emperor called Commodus, otherwise known as Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator. Commodus was a disaster as an emperor. He was a tyrant and an evil one at that, and the empire was in a mess when he was subjected to his fate by the Praetorian Guards. They installed a guy called Pertinax. Pertinax promised the Praetorian Guards a large sum of money, but he never came through with that, so the Praetorian Guards dealt with him and he was gone. The problem was that they did not have a replacement. Instead of simply choosing the best person for the job, the Praetorian Guards established an auction at the time.