Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Hansard source

and this would be described, as the senator has just done, as 'dirty money'. I think it has to be stated unequivocally that Labor senators' integrity should not be challenged in that way, and such a suggestion should be repudiated in the most forceful terms. I am particularly impressed by the Greens' gall in these matters; they have more front than Myer when it comes to the question of donations. Up until recently the largest single individual donation was actually received by the Greens. I know Malcolm Turnbull has changed the rules in that regard with his $1.75 million donation. But on several occasions now Mr Graeme Wood has been the largest single donor in this nation's history—to the Greens.

When it comes to the question of Chevron, let me make it very clear, because the Greens have been trying to campaign on this question for some time—in regard to the CSIRO; in regard to the development of Bass Strait. I support the development of our resources, particularly given how significant the development of those resources is to the future prosperity of this nation and to millions of blue-collar workers across this country. The CSIRO is engaged in research, properly, ethically, and in accordance with the most strict guidelines to ensure that information is publicly available and is not compromised because of that investment by Chevron. It is an appropriate use of public resources to establish where our resources actually are and what the questions are in regard to the strictest environmental standards necessary to exploit them. The suggestion that somehow or other and $8,000 donation changes the dynamic in that regard is preposterous, and I suggest to you that to challenge the integrity of the Labor senators on that basis is totally out of order.