Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Greens support this amendment. The freedom to express opinions with respect to the Commonwealth government is really important. Staff and students should be free to criticise the government without fear of repercussions or adverse action. But this government really doesn't want anyone to speak up. This government, when it comes to its members, wants everyone to shut up. They don't want anyone to hold them accountable. If we had any doubts about that, we need to look no further than the last three weeks, when all this government has been doing is cover-ups, silencing people and obfuscating since the allegations of rape and sexual assault were made. As I said in my contribution to the second reading debate on this specific bill, some of the most powerful civil rights movements of our time included university staff and students who were critical of government policies and government positions on the level of government responsibility for funding and regulating higher education. From time to time university staff and students may have strong opinions about the Commonwealth as those opinions relate to their particular issues or, really, any issue that's happening in the country. They have the right to express and voice their opinions about the Commonwealth.