Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank Senator Roberts for this timely motion. Last week, we saw the legislation to cruel basin communities rammed through the Senate with substantial amendments, which were unable to be debated and were unable to be honestly and seriously considered and consulted by the people whose lives and livelihoods they will impact. It was almost the complete opposite of what this chamber, under our Constitution, was expected to deliver for the Australian people, which is a place of review and a place of consideration. It's why we have the opportunity to have a lot of say on bills. We have a rigorous committee stage. We have Senate inquiries. That gives the whole of the Australian public the opportunity to participate in democracy in a very, very unique way.

Last week, the Labor government, under Minister Plibersek's orders, sought to restrict transparency once again and restrict accountability for their decision-making and for the impacts. During the committee stages of that particular guillotine provision, we found that the government had done no modelling on the impacts of this bill on the lives and livelihoods of the millions of people who live in the basin. It is absolutely abhorrent that they would seek to implement such a Draconian piece of legislation without considering the social and economic impacts on the people they seek to do stuff to. They don't even have the respect to go out and talk to people they want to do stuff to. They just expect rural Australians to keep copping it in the neck, whether it's on live sheep exports, water policy, transmission lines or biosecurity levy. The fact that you'd actually tax the very people who are subject to a biosecurity breach just shows the level of disdain and distrust that this government has for the nine million people who don't live in capital cities.

I commend this motion. I commend Senator Roberts for making sure the Senate will do the work it has to do. We'll do the work that basin communities wanted it to do so that they can actually articulate the very specific impact that this piece of legislation will have, not just in the short term but over generations to come, not just to farmers but indeed to the many union members in those manufacturing and processing plants throughout the basin, and what it will do to our export tasks. I commend the motion to the Senate.