Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thought this debate was about freedom of speech, not about so-called marriage equality. All I can say to the previous speaker, Senator Rice, is that, if she had voted the right way a couple of months ago, this would have been a done deal by now. It would be all over and done with. The plebiscite would have been held. The Australian people would have made their decision and advised parliament what it was all about, but the Greens stopped it. The Greens and the Labor Party stopped it, and yet they have the hide to come in here and complain about it. Senator Rice, if you had supported this last year when it came before this chamber, this issue would not be being discussed at the moment. We would have had the plebiscite. The Australian people would have spoken, and whatever they said would now be the law of the land. So do not talk to me about marriage equality. It would have been dealt with by now had it not been for the Labor Party and the Greens.

Getting on to the subject of freedom of expression and freedom of speech, I walked in and heard Senator Rice using words like 'intolerant', 'hate speech', 'very small minority' and 'loudly imposing their views'. I thought, 'Hello! She is talking about the fake demonstration that was outside my office just last week.' An elected member of parliament, no less, and her paid staff were outside my office in Townsville with a few paid union organisers, yelling and carrying on in an intolerant way, interrupting people going about their normal course of life in Townsville, and rabbiting on about penalty rates—penalty rates which were determined not by me or the government but by the Fair Work Commission, a commission set up by the Australian Labor Party and Mr Bill Shorten, in particular, and asked by Mr Bill Shorten, when he was the minister, to look into this issue of penalty rates. They did that. I pay respect to this commission and I accept its decision, but it was a commission stacked with former union heavies, former union organisers and officials. That is who the commission was. Yet it has heard the evidence, come down and said that there should be some addressing of the penalty rates paid on Sunday. I suspect—