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

I'm not asking for you to put words into Senator Wong's mouth. Senator Wong said clearly in this chamber that those not passing this bill—namely, the opposition at the time—were saying no to Japan and no to Korea.It's on Hansard. I'm not asking you to put words into Senator's Wong's mouth. I'm trying to understand what saying yes means. What is it that the Australian government has said yes to Japan about? What is it that the Australian government has said yes to Korea about? You can't come into this place, ask us to ram through pieces of legislation, argue that it's about a years-old obligation, and then have the foreign minister stand up and give such an extraordinary spray about the urgency of this bill passing at the whim and request of two foreign countries. It is extraordinary to be suggesting that this chamber must jump simply because Japan and Korea say so. What is it that saying yes to Japan and Korea means? I'm not asking for you to put words in Senator Wong's mouth; I'm asking for an explanation, a whole-of-government understanding of what saying yes to Japan is, what saying yes to Korea is in relation to this piece of legislation.