Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

We have got a piece of legislation supported by the Labor Party, who are now doing an about face, doing everything they can to frustrate the parliament from doing its job. We are letting them have their fun at the moment. We figured it is important that they get this stuff off their chest. We know that Senator Conroy and Senator Dastyari have fought a long battle inside the Labor Party. It appears, sadly, that their position has prevailed and the likes of Alan Griffin, the likes of Gary Gray and the likes of many others inside the Labor Party have lost the day on the issue of optional preferential voting reform.

That is a shame because it was a reform that they supported back in 2014. It was a reform that up until last year they supported wholeheartedly but not now because of the simple reason that they are worried about losing an election. We are more optimistic about the Australian people. We are much more optimistic about the Australian community. We think that ultimately the outcome of an election should be decided by voters, not by the backroom deals, not by the likes of Senator Dastyari and Senator Conroy. We think ultimately it is voters who should decide the outcome of an election and it is politicians who should get on with the job of governing. (Time expired)