Nova Peris (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to make a contribution to this critical debate on the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment Bill 2016. Abraham Lincoln once said, 'The ballot is stronger than the bullet.' As my colleague Senator Conroy said on ABCNews yesterday, this Senate reform bill heralds the most significant voting change in 30 years and will dramatically change the make-up of the Senate. It will give a massive advantage to the coalition and the Greens. This will mean that no Independents or smaller parties will get a seat in this chamber, and it will disenfranchise many Australian who do not vote for us or the coalition, and forget the Greens. They probably will not exist either, and good job to them.

Yesterday, 15 March, the Prime Minister said at his press conference that this bill is a 'critical piece of democracy' and that it will do away with the preference whisperers. Whatever or whoever they are, I would like to know. He also said that parliament would be more democratic and transparent. The Prime Minister went on to say that this bill will ensure that the winners are not political parties but the voters. His press conference finished in a train wreck when he refused to answer legitimate questions on how his brand of democracy will be played out this week in parliament.

What did the Greens and the coalition do yesterday in this chamber? They shut debate down. They cosied up again to stop us exposing their little love-ins. The government and the Greens have gone to great lengths to push these reforms through. The government is so desperate to try and get rid of the crossbench they are willing to forego debate and voting on a union-bashing bill to restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission, which they insist is an extremely important bill. The Greens are so desperate to win more seats in this chamber that they were willing to forego debate on a vote on marriage equality. Why? For nothing more than electoral gain. That is the only reason to get rid of the crossbench and to gain more seats. So much for transparency and total disregard for the three million Australian voters who put them here in the first place.

What we have heard so many times in this chamber is that this bill is nothing more than a grubby little deal between the Greens and the Donald Trump of Australian politics, Senator Xenophon. The government cannot force the Senate to bend to its will to pass some of its unfair laws. What I say is, 'What a cosy little trio.' The government throws a little tantrum, and what do the Greens and Aussie Trump or should I say Aussie Chump do? They behave like millennials. They chase after the latest—

Senator Dastyari interjecting—