Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this matter of public importance that has been brought before the Senate by Senator Hanson and One Nation. It's obviously entirely Senator McCarthy's absolute right to come in here and say what she has said. She says that she's appalled and disgraced by this motion, and she's outlined her reasons for that. But I do disagree on one point.

A government senator: Now there's a but!

No. With respect, I'd like to be heard in silence. I think it is important that we are able to have debates in this place in, of course, a respectful way, a way that doesn't demean the significance of the issue. As someone who has spent a lot of my career working alongside Aboriginal people, particularly in Western Australia, helping them to improve their lives and to see transformation across the community, I've seen an erosion of the significance of the welcome to country and the acknowledgement of country because of their overuse. I'm not the only person who would say this. In fact, throughout the debate about the Voice, Noel Pearson said that there actually does need to be a discussion about their use, so I think it is entirely appropriate that we come in here and have a discussion about their use. There does need to be some discussion. My view is that it is overused. There may be a place for them at significant events. When you go to a citizenship ceremony and there's a welcome to country or an acknowledgement of country, I think that's an entirely appropriate sort of place—