Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the resolution because, frankly, I have been shocked that the Greens have done another dirty deal to support the Liberal government. That is exactly what they have done. They have decided that 10 green bums on seats in the Senate is more important than any principle. It is more important than the principle of donation reform; it is more important that the principle of ensuring that we have a fair voting system—because that is what you have all done. You have been led by a senator who is in absolute panic that they will not be able to get a quota in their own rights in the upcoming Senate election in New South Wales. They stared at the last New South Wales election and no green was elected. So we have to change the system to make sure that that person can get elected in New South Wales.

This is a deal, as Senator Leyonhjelm has stated, that is going to effectively exclude 3.2 or 3.3 million Australian voters—25 per cent of Australian voters—who do not want to vote for Labor, the coalition, the Greens or the Xenophon party. Everybody who does not want to vote for them will not count anymore. Let us be very clear about this: the government and the Greens have stated they want to wipe out the crossbenchers. That is the stated purpose of the bill. It has no other purpose. Who will come in and replace them? We know it is not going to be any of the minor parties. It is not going to be a new Nick Xenophon, who started off getting two per cent of the votes when he first ran for parliament, because he is locked out. He has turned the key, slammed the door and pulled up the ladder—no new Nick Xenophons can ever emerge. I do not have to agree with Family First, but they have a right to be part of the process. I have worked with Family First in Victoria through Senator Fielding. He voted against me more than he ever voted for me, but, let me tell you, they built their way up.

Now you want to slam the door and ensure that nobody else can get up but a member of the Labor Party, the coalition or the Greens. That is what you have done. When you wipe out those minor parties, you will be replacing them with the three, and the Xenophon party will be there as well. That is why Senator Xenophon is in it. I watched Senator Xenophon on TV throwing his tantrum—'I got 1.7 quotas; I should've got two.' Here is a hint: you get two when you get two quotas. If every other minor party in South Australia said, 'We don't want to give preferences to Senator Xenophon to elect a second Xenophon candidate,' that is how the ball rolls. If you cannot get the preferences, tough. He says, 'I got 1.7 and I deserve to get two because I got so close'—what a pathetic little tantrum and what revenge he is taking on everybody by supporting this deal.

So the Greens have 10 bums on seats locked in. That is what this deal does—10 green bums on seats are absolutely locked in as a part of this deal, because that is what you will get. Your reward will be to lock your jobs in. Everybody else in the country who is not part of a major party gets locked out, but you get locked in. You have closed the door and you are on the inside. You have given up all principle here.

If you really cared about electoral reform in this country, this deal would include electoral donation reform. The government were desperate for this deal. You had them over a barrel again and you rolled over. You could have said, 'We will only vote for this package if we get meaningful donation reform in this country.' So you had a choice: pursue your principles or pursue bums on seats. And we all know what you have done. You know what you have done. You have taken bums on seats over principles. I do not want to hear any more lectures from any of the Greens saying, 'We're principled and you're unprincipled. We're a political movement; you're just a filthy political party.' Let me be very clear about this: you are now a filthy political party. You have advanced yourselves at the expense of everybody else in this chamber.