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

Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President. It seems that the government, of course, is incredibly nervous about releasing the legal documentation that they have and that they are relying on, to keep the member for New England, the Deputy Prime Minister, in protection.

The member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, seems more protected than the bilby. This is a ridiculous situation, when we have the government of the day saying that we need to rely on their word and the word of the Solicitor-General. They do not release the documentation but say that we should just all suck it up, that Barnaby Joyce remains Deputy Prime Minister. No-one trusts you. No-one trusts that you are doing this for the legitimate and right reasons. No-one believes you.

We all know what this is about: this is because you have a very slim majority in the House! The member for New England holds his seat by a very slim margin. Let's call this for what it is: a protection racket for the member for New England and for the numbers in the House for the Turnbull government. This is absolutely what this is. This is covering up the incompetence of the Deputy Prime Minister. I don't think anyone out there in the Australian public is particularly surprised that the member for New England didn't check his paperwork. Do you think anyone is surprised at the incompetence of the Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce? I don't think so. I don't think so at all!

Look at the other foolish things that the Deputy Prime Minister has done in recent months. He has no regard for the position of Deputy Prime Minister. If he did, he would resign. If he really cared about the institution which he holds, and the institution of which he is part as a minister, he would resign. This has made the government a joke—an absolute joke! It's a farce and everybody can see it. Everybody can see what a farce this is. A protection racket is going on here. The member for New England is not even legitimately elected and he gets to sit there as Deputy Prime Minister. In a couple of weeks, when the Prime Minister goes overseas on diplomatic work, he's going to become the Prime Minister. What type of farce have we got when we have the acting Prime Minister of Australia as someone who couldn't be bothered to do his paperwork, lied about it, tried to cover it up and got caught out, and is now only there because of the protection racket being run by the Turnbull government?