Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I'm reflecting on how proud I felt joining this Senate 18 months ago, joining this august body whose role it is, quite rightly, to provide balance in government, to be a house of review. For the opposition, their role in that process is to hold the government to account. Yet today, in front of my colleagues, in front of the children here, I feel ashamed. I feel ashamed in my heart and my stomach at the politicisation of such matters with real humans at the heart of them, with the lack of respect at the heart of them. There is appropriately a place for the opposition to ask questions, but this ongoing caravan, this circus performance, this confected outrage would go on and on. So many in this place, others who have had experiences of such sexual attacks, of rape, who are both here and in the other place and right around Australia, have this matter compounded—