Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in response to the objections to this motion of the Labor Party and the Greens, and in relation to what Senator Gallagher had to say. Those ads have been running for many years, uncontroversially it seems. Any objective observer looking at those ads would say that something simply promoting fatherhood and Father's Day and encouraging men to be good dads is not political. To suggest now that that is somehow political and therefore needs a political authorisation is ridiculous. That's what this motion is highlighting. I find it extraordinary that the Labor Party and the Greens wouldn't support this. I think the vast majority of Australians would look at the idea that Father's Day is now a political statement, and supporting Father's Day is now a political statement, as being absolutely absurd.