Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—Mr President, firstly, thank you for your ruling, the leadership that you provide in this place and, in providing that leadership, the words that you have reminded senators of again and again of in terms of, where necessary, reflecting upon their conduct and being mindful that their conduct can undermine confidence in this place and, in doing so, undermine the achievement of the very policy outcomes that people come here seeking to secure.

Ours is a robust parliamentary democracy, as Senator Wong acknowledged. We fight fiercely for our ideas, our principles, our values, our policies—as we should. We do so at some points of the chamber from greater extremes than at other points of the chamber, but those extremes should not inflame in ways that undermine the standing of this place. I urge everybody to make sure that they take up their fight for their principles, their values, their policies and their positions as passionately as they possibly can but leave reflections upon one another at the door and respect each other. All 76 of us were elected by the people of our states and territories. We were chosen by fellow Australians to serve in this place, and we need to respect that whilst seeking to persuade—because the other ongoing element of this parliamentary chamber is that nothing is achieved here without persuasion, without working with other parties to achieve a majority to get things done.

Respect and the power of persuasion from your different positions are crucial elements. There's no place for racism, there's no place for vitriol, there's no place for abuse, there's no place for sexism and there's no place for anything that undermines the position of individuals going about their work, be it here or in any other workplace. But here we are meant to set a standard and, in setting that standard, we ought to start with how we conduct debates between one another. We can argue passionately and persuasively but keep it to the issues.