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

I'm glad Senator Hanson is listening, because it is the job of this chamber to scrutinise government legislation and not just give it a green tick, hoping that everything is A-OK. It's not. This piece of legislation has not been looked at properly. It must go to an inquiry. It is our job as senators to do this. Unless we make sure it goes to an inquiry today, this government is going to continue with their campaign to ram it through. Why? Because they're doing this under the cover of COVID-19. This government is taking a chainsaw to the environment protection laws in this country and using COVID-19 as an excuse. It is the most cynical act imaginable.

There are so many people out there today struggling to make ends meet and struggling in the midst of this pandemic, and what is this government doing? They're dusting off a piece of legislation from 2014 under Tony Abbott and wanting to ram it through the House and through the Senate. That's what this government wants to do. It is a distraction— (Time expired)