Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is a very simple motion, and the fact that the Greens and the Labor Party have sought to deny formality on this matter speaks volumes—that those who always hector us about tolerance show the most extreme intolerance. And I say this as a non-Catholic; I am not a Catholic. When the Catholic Church develops a booklet to teach its flock about its beliefs and teaching on marriage and they are then shut down by organisations within the Australian community, it is vital that there be an expression from this Senate about the right of freedom of speech and the right to express certain views. The fact that the Labor Party and the Greens have combined today to deny formality on this fundamental principle of free speech, expressing no view on the document, shows where they really stand.