Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Through you chair, I think you are going to need a Strepsil too, Senator Conroy. I think we all are because we are going to have a very healthy debate about this. Let me get back to the kidnap amendment bill. If there is any finger pointing in here as to why we are dealing with this legislation today it is because of the kidnap amendment bill. Labor put up—apart from Senator Dastyari who was introducing the bill—three speakers for the whole bill. Two of them got to speak before the bill collapsed—

Senator Dastyari interjecting—

I think I have definitely hit a raw nerve here, Senator Dastyari.

The CHAIRMAN: I can advise senators that we are actually in the committee stage, so if senators want to contribute to the debate there is no limitation on their ability to contribute but you should do it one at a time.

I have visited the original senate chamber in the old city of Rome and sat on the marble chairs, and this is what I imagine it must have been like with the original senators having a very robust debate, but I digress. Let me get back to the issue here of the kidnap amendment bill which went down in this place. As I mentioned earlier today—and I did say it very loudly in case you did not listen—I was sitting in the chair at the time and not only did the speaking list collapse and Labor not put up any speakers—that is how strongly they thought about tax transparency—

Opposition senators interjecting—

We had two speakers on the list before it collapsed so that is not fair. We had two speakers on the list. Senator Di Natale and I were due to speak before the list collapsed but Labor had put up two whole speakers. We have had about 50 in here today already. It is a shame we did not see that passion defending their original legislation when it was before the Senate. That is a question for the Labor Party. Maybe they decided that the politics were not really in their favour at that stage, whereas now they can see some gain out of it. So outraged were they that their original Bradbury legislation was going to go down that they put up two speakers and then they let the list collapse. When I was in the chair and the division was called, I cannot even say it went to the voices because there were no voices from the Labor Party, so that is why the Greens moved an amendment to bring the tax transparency issue back—

Senator Dastyari interjecting—

Senator Dastyari, we are dealing with the original amendment—the original legislation—which you let go. Now you are trying to scramble to look like you actually care about tax transparency—