Sam Dastyari (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We are looking at the first amendment. I want to deal with the entire amendment process that has got us here. Let's be clear: the problem is that it was an incredibly rushed process, and we are looking at an amendment system that was not done properly. We had the extraordinary situation in which amendments were being introduced in the House almost concurrently with the introduction of the bill by the government, because the whole process had been so rushed. We know why it had been rushed. It had been rushed, because all of this was part of a dirty deal and the whole thing was run out of the Department of Finance and not PM&C, where this would normally have been done.

A series of nine amendments—the government's own amendments to its own bill—have been introduced in a way that is extraordinary and highlights the race, the pace and the desire to do this whole piece of legislation in such a quick manner. Moments ago, Senator Collins said: 'Let's just quit the farce. This is a serious law. We actually need some time to examine it properly. Let's all go home, spend some time and come back to properly deal with this legislation.' Obviously, that was not the will of the Senate. I respect the Senate. It was not the will of the Senate. It was not what the Senate chose to do. I think that was the wrong call. I think that was a mistake. I think that was an opportunity for us to deal with this in a proper manner.

But you have a rushed process, so it is bad law, and now we are dealing with bad amendments that also had to be rushed into this place. There is no need to be handling it this way. There is no need for us to be dealing with this in the way we are dealing with it. The only reason we are here, the only reason this is happening is because there was a deal. There was a deal between the government and the Greens political party that brought us here. There was a deal that Senator Cormann, the Prime Minister and others did with the Greens political party to get us the outcome and to get us here.

Again, the hypocrisy is mind-blowing. We had Senator Rhiannon professing these kind of purer than thou rhetorical flourishes about democracy and other things—going on and on. Yet, when you actually look at Senator Rhiannon's own record in this space, you have somebody who made it their business to go out there and to create minor parties and the kind of structures to actually game the system in a way in which I am not familiar with anyone else in this chamber engaging with. To turn around and somehow say that the minor parties and those who vote for smaller parties should be punished because people like Senator Rhiannon were prepared to play the system is a hypocrisy that really knows no bounds. Frankly, if this was in a different area, if this was not in setting up in electoral systems, if you were doing this in the welfare space or in any other area, it would actually be a serious issue. Yet the whole thing is laughed off as if it is some kind of a game. No, it is serious; it is very, very serious stuff.

I really think that Senator Lee Rhiannon should actually come into this chamber and explain her own role in the setting up of these micro-parties. In the past few hours some more information has come to light, and we will be able to go through that. But how is this necessary? How is this needed? Why should we be punishing the 25 per cent of voters who choose to vote for a smaller political party, because Senator Lee Rhiannon used to set up micro-parties in a way that, frankly, we all think is highly inappropriate? I say to the Senator Rhiannon, if you are listening, you actually should come down here and give a proper explanation of what your role has been in all of this. Senator Lee Rhiannon—if that is your real name—you need to come down here and actually give an explanation. This kind of a system, this kind of a rort, this kind of a micro-party creation is a problem. So who has to get punished? Senator Day? Senator Leyonhjelm? Senator Muir? Senator Lambie? I am hopeful that some of these crossbench senators will do well in elections and will be able to continue to participate.