Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to acknowledge and to congratulate Senator Richard Di Natale on his service to the Senate and to the nation as a Greens senator for Victoria for 10 years and as the Leader of the Greens for five years. We would often disagree during debates in this chamber and, indeed, during debates in the lead-up to various elections in which we were both candidates. In fact, I disagree with much of what Senator Di Natale had to say in his speech just now—in particular, about the performance of our government.

But outside the battles in this chamber I have always found Senator Di Natale to be an unfailingly courteous, professional and trustworthy partner to engage with. There is much which can be achieved on a foundation of trust—even, and in particular, across party lines—including sitting down in the government's senators lobby to what Senator Di Natale apparently thinks was an impromptu catch-up, but was, of course, absolutely organised. And, I have to say, Senator Di Natale, and Senator Whish-Wilson at the time, did approach the issue that we were dealing with at that particular point in time, the backpacker tax arrangements, with a very constructive, positive attitude, seeking to find a sensible resolution—perhaps not perfectly what the Greens would have been looking for, but nevertheless a more sensible landing ground. And, of course, in that context we also reached agreement in relation to $100 million in additional funding for Landcare, which was secured by the Australian Greens as part of that discussion at the time.

Another issue which I personally was very closely engaged with Senator Di Natale on, and with Senator Lee Rhiannon at the time too, who was the Greens spokesperson on electoral matters, is the whole issue of Senate voting reforms. I think we ended up with just short of 40 hours of debate, including more than 20 hours straight. I think at 4.30 pm on a Thursday afternoon we resumed debate on the Senate voting reforms and we finished somewhere around one or two on the Friday afternoon. I would have much rather, after an appropriate time, brought the debate to a close with the traditional time management motion. But, as we were going through quorum call after quorum call at one, two, three and four o'clock in the morning, Senator Di Natale was holding firm to the principles of democracy and that this issue had to be debated out properly.

It was an important reform because, up until that time, until the Senate agreed to endorse that particular reform to Senate voting arrangements, it was so-called preference whisperers that were dealing and trading the second and subsequent voting preferences of Australian voters behind closed doors in so-called group voting tickets. The reforms that the Greens and the government together put in place through that particular piece of legislation put the power, not just over the first voting preference but over any subsequent voting preference when voting for the Senate, where it belongs: in the hands of every individual Australian voter. That is a reform that Senator Di Natale and the Greens, together with the government, can continue to look back on with great pride.

I did a bit of research in preparation for this, looking at Senator Di Natale's background. I see that he, like me, was born in 1970; he has turned 50, and I'm turning 50 in a couple of months time. Fifty is clearly the new age at which to retire from the Senate—interesting! The other thing that Senator Di Natale, Senator Wong and I have in common, as leaders of parties in the Senate, is that all three of us are from migrant backgrounds. It is a great demonstration of the wonderful, migrant, multicultural society that Australia has become, that the leaders of three parties making contributions through this place have migrant backgrounds. In Senator Wong's case and my case, we are first generation, and in Senator Di Natale's case, second generation.

I absolutely wish Richard and his wife Lucy and their two boys a happy, healthy, satisfying future. On behalf of the government and Liberal senators in this chamber, congratulations, Richard, on your contributions to our vibrant democracy over the 10 years that you have served with distinction in this chamber and best wishes for your future.