Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

It's not this motion or, indeed, the Greens that are calling into question the eligibility of senators; it is the community and the scrutiny that has been occurring in the media for several months now. Calling into question the eligibility of senators is something that ordinary punters out there are doing right now. It's no wonder they have no faith in the system. There's a very straightforward process: an independent auditor to ensure that people in this parliament are eligible to stand. Where there are question marks, they will be referred to the High Court.

At the moment, we are relying on our friends in the media to do the job that this Senate should be doing—transparency and accountability. What we have are question marks being raised over individuals when we could be doing it through a process endorsed by this Senate. That's why this is so critical. It's taken the Greens and the crossbench to shine a light where the major parties refuse it to be shone.