Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I can only begin to imagine what it would be like to one day be an active, constructive member of this chamber and this parliament and have a political career and then the next day have that taken away from you. I've seen the impact on my colleagues Senator Ludlam and Senator Waters. And I say here today that I feel for all senators and MPs who have lost their positions because of this constitutional crisis that we're in. I can only begin to imagine what it would be like to lose that part of your life. But to actually also lose your reputation and have your integrity questioned, particularly when you've done such a good job as President of this chamber, would be something altogether different and monstrous.

I'm quite conflicted when I stand here and speak today because I did speak to ex-Senator Parry the day after he resigned. I did discuss this issue with him in my home town of Launceston. I'm not going to stand here today and talk about our private conversation. But I will say it was my view at that time that Senator Parry needed to speak out on this issue as to who in the government he had spoken to. All the money in the world—all the trappings, all the power—is not worth your reputation and your legacy being questioned. Politics is a brutal business. It's been often said that it is a blood sport. And there's a lot at stake when you're in power and when you're in government.

It sickened me to see an honourable man, who I think, as Senator Di Natale said, is a good person who made a bad decision—along with a government that made a bad decision—being dragged through the mud or, for want of a better term, being thrown under a bus because, somehow, an ex-President of this chamber was expendable. He was no longer of use to the government because he wasn't a senator or the President of the Senate. That's what actually disgusts me the most: the political cynicism of throwing someone under a bus. The only interviews I saw were with the Prime Minister and Senator Cormann clearly questioning Senator Parry's integrity on this issue. I think they owe it to Senator Parry to give us the details of exactly who knew what.

I reflect on the confidence that this government had in its legal advice from the Solicitor-General the whole way through this process—the Prime Minister standing up in question time dictating how the High Court would vote: 'You shall hold that these senators and MPs are eligible'—and I compare that to the Greens' independent advice on this issue from two QCs, who said to us: 'It's black and white. You can't be a dual citizen and be eligible'. That was difficult for us to take, to see two of our very best senators leave our team. But they did. They fell on their swords. This wasn't about them or our political party. It wasn't about hanging onto power. It was about doing the right thing.

I think broadly, right across this country, people respect the Greens for the position that we've taken in relation to this issue, as they respect the view we've taken in calling for an audit—an independent process that we can all trust that gets to the bottom of this and allows it to be solved so we can all move on. The key thing that they want is to restore trust and confidence in the institution of parliament, in this Senate chamber and in the decisions that we make.

I'm also of the belief that there are senators in this chamber who know they're dual citizens and haven't yet fessed up. How can we sit here and vote on legislation, controversial or not, while we know that's the case? It really has become a circus, and it's the government, the Liberal and National parties, that have allowed it to get to this point.

I can remember when I was contacted about Senator Ludlam's situation. The first thing our party did, immediately, was that everybody had to check everything—double-check, triple-check, quadruple-check—within days, within hours, going back to July. I was at the Torquay Caravan Park with my son surfing. But we all did it. How can it be that, three months later, people are still saying they're just checking now or they didn't know that they were a dual citizen?

I can't help but draw the conclusion that it was a political decision made by the Liberal Party that Senator Parry should wait to see the outcome of those already referred to the High Court. At a level, I can see why that strategy might appeal to some people: 'It's not necessarily going to do any harm. Let's wait and see, and then let's fess up.' But Senator Parry was the President of the Senate, one of the top five positions in this country. That carries with it so much weight and so much responsibility. This government, in my opinion, knowingly allowed Senator Parry—and he was complicit in this too; he could have, on a personal level, fessed up to this—to sit there, because it was so confident in its legal advice that he would be fine. That beggars belief from my point of view and from the Greens' point of view, based on the legal advice that we had.

I know that hindsight is 20/20 vision and that, looking back on this now, Senator Parry should have said: 'Well, I'm in doubt. I need to be referred to the High Court as well. I will step down as President but remain as a senator in this chamber.' I really wish Senator Parry had made that decision. I wish he'd made that decision, because his legacy, his integrity and his reputation have now been tarnished. They have been tarnished by a brutal political process, by a lack of due process on behalf of this government and by a political decision, all designed to save the scalp of this government. That's what this is about. This is about the Liberal and National parties hanging onto power at all costs.

This is not a crisis any of us wanted. We've all been drawn into this. We've all suffered, or are likely to suffer, because this has undermined the confidence in our institution. At a personal level, it's impacted all of us, and that includes the government and everyone in this chamber—all of us. Every single person in this chamber has been impacted by this. We now need to clear this up. We need to move on and do what we were elected to do and what the Australian people put us in parliament to do, whatever that takes. We have to have confidence in the process, we have to have confidence in your position, Mr President, given what's happened with Senator Parry, and we need to have confidence in the government and the decisions they make here. It is extremely important that we get this done now. I urge you, Senator Fifield, and any other members of your party and your government, to say exactly what happened and get that on record, for your sake, for the country's sake and for Senator Parry's sake.