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

I enjoyed that. No wonder Mr Morrison refers to you as the chief bedwetter, Senator Cormann, after that performance. What we are seeing today is the first serious attempt to disenfranchise Australians—the first serious attempt. That is exactly what is happening today. By Senator Cormann and the coalition and Senator Rhiannon and the Greens opposing this motion, it will be the first of what will become many times that Australians will be disenfranchised by this filthy deal. We all know the time frame for JSCEM. I went to the meeting the other day. The deal had been done. I walked in, sat down and was told: 'Here is what the agenda will be. It will be completed after a couple of hours. People have got a couple of days to put in submissions.' Many Australians would like to have their say on this proposed bill. Although the majority in this chamber have decided that they are not going to get a chance to submit and they are not going to be invited to have their say, I say to those Australians, 'Unfortunately, get used to it.' This bill will disenfranchise three million Australians. I am very disappointed. I listened to Senator Seselja—