Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

How interesting that people in this place are so tetchy about what really goes on behind the scenes. But it is not behind the scenes, because we have a South Australian Labor senator signing on to the report with two Liberal senators to say that it is A-OK to drill for oil and gas in the Great Australian Bight—cuddling up to the fossil fuel industry all over again. Isn't it interesting that Chevron, the big multinational company that wants to drill for oil and gas in the Great Australian Bight, donated money to the South Australian Labor Party within days of the hearing into that particular issue by the Senate committee? Isn't that interesting! People listening to this debate could obviously draw their own conclusions about why that particular South Australian senator had to sign on to a report that supported Chevron being able to drill for oil, but I think it is appalling. I think it is absolutely sickening to see the level of influence and corruption from the fossil fuel industry in this country creeping into every nook and cranny of how this Senate operates, from dictating when we debate bills, what time we will debate bills, to now dictating who will sign on to reports or not. This fossil fuel industry cannot continue to dominate what goes on in here.