Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of answers to all coalition questions. I'm not sure where to begin. There are a couple of really important ones here. I'll start with Senator Chandler's question to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Gallagher, around Leila Khaled.

I note that the minister said that it is a priority for this government to keep the community safe and united. Well, we haven't really seen that. We haven't seen it with what has transpired in relation to the events of 7 October, and we haven't seen it with the rise of antisemitism in this country. That is a significant concern.

I note that the Green Left and the Socialist Alliance are the host of this annual Ecosocialism conference in Perth where this pro-Palestinian terrorist is expected to speak. Whilst the comment from the minister was that there isn't any awareness of it, it would be important for us to have very clear answers saying that if an application is made then the application will be rejected, because we don't want somebody in this country who spreads this kind of messaging. I think it is important to reinforce that publicly and to reinforce it in a manner that leaves no question whatsoever as to the position of this government on antisemitic materials.

The next one is in relation to Senator Price's questions regarding white privilege. A number of times the Minister representing the Prime Minister noted that the government accepts the outcome of the Voice referendum. However, that was not the question that was asked. The question that was asked, multiple times, was: does the Prime Minister agree with Labor's candidate in the seat of Dunkley that the referendum was a display of the worst white privilege in the country? So it's not around whether you accept the outcome. It's about whether the leadership of the government agrees with the candidate in Dunkley that the referendum result was the worst of white privilege in our country, particularly when we note that some 56,000 people who live in Dunkley and who voted in Dunkley in the referendum will also be voting in the by-election, and the Labor candidate has labelled the exercise of their vote, their democratic vote, as the worst of white privilege in our country. That's a real concern. I do note that the minister made the comment that it is an excellent candidate that they have in Dunkley, whose focus is jobs, housing and education. I'm just concerned about why the most public commentary was in relation to the Voice referendum result.

Then I come to the questions from Senator McKenzie in relation to the new car tax. Last week I had the privilege of being in Parramatta, in Western Sydney, with our candidate for Parramatta, Katie Mullens, and our leader, Peter Dutton, speaking to motor dealers in relation to this issue. One of the consistent messages we received was that there is an understanding that there is a need to reduce emissions—this is important—but the issue is that the time line and the way in which this government is addressing this issue is not appropriate for the problem. Having this rolled out within the next 10 months, on 1 January 2025, is just too fast. One of the impacts, according to the motor industry, is that it will keep people in their cars for longer. They gave the example of New Zealand, where the current average age of a motor vehicle is 15 years. In Australia it's under 10 years. This new motor vehicle tax will keep people in older cars for longer periods, and those cars are higher-emitting vehicles than something that perhaps is produced today. This is an unintended consequence of this new car tax, notwithstanding the issues that my colleague spoke about earlier around the fact that a lot of these cars are going to cost a lot more money. And you don't have a choice to pick a different car. You can't have an electric ute hauling a bunch of building materials, because it just can't get there.