Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Leave not granted.

Pursuant to contingent notice of motion standing in the name of the Leader of the Opposition, I move:

That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent me from making that statement.

This is really quite extraordinary. After the debacle that we've seen in this place over the last two weeks, at the very last minute the government manages to get the support of the Greens to come in here and guillotine the remaining bills that are on the Notice Paper. This is after us spending six days on a bill that was largely uncontroversial for the two major parties of government. But, despite every attempt by the opposition to work with the government to try and end up with a deal that would enable the passage of that bill so that we could have gone on to other legislation that was more controversial and needed debate—no. Instead, the belligerence of those opposite meant that that piece of legislation remained sitting on the Notice Paper and was debated for six whole days.

The thing that I fail to understand is why the Greens would have agreed to this guillotine in the middle of a bill. Senator Jordon Steele-John has come into this place day after day after day to support the rights of people in Australia who live with disability—on a bill that was so important to him that he moved up to 20 amendments—but the Greens were quite happy to stop Senator Steele-John making his contribution on a bill that was so important to him. They wanted to do this dirty deal because they wanted to get out of here early. I cannot believe that you would sacrifice your principles and something that was so important to one of your own—not only one of your own who thinks that disability support is important but one of your own who lives with a disability and would probably know better than anybody the importance of the impact of the changes that are being put forward by the government with the Disability and Inclusion Bill 2023 and the amendments that he sought to move.

Honourable senators interjecting—

You can sit there and yell all you like. But I've got to tell you your lack of consistency, commitment and conviction when it comes to the issues you so-called stand up for is an absolute disgrace and shows what an unbelievably shallow group of people the Greens actually are.