Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

Labor is always supportive of Senate scrutiny of important environmental matters. However, on this matter, the government won't be supporting this motion. There are a few issues that I'd like to draw to the attention of the chamber. It's been an interesting hour, sitting here listening to the debate and watching what's happening on the other side of this chamber. It confirms a few interesting things, that have been going on, on what passes for the conservative side of Australian politics these days.

I am old enough to remember a time when there was a difference between the One Nation party and the Liberals and Nationals. I'm old enough to remember a time when that difference mattered very much to a previous generation of Liberal and National party leaders, people who I wouldn't have agreed with in a pink fit on almost any question. But former Prime Minister John Howard understood the existential threat that far-right politics posed for the Liberal Party and the National Party. To her credit, Senator Hanson understood it well too. Former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer understood it. Former senator Ron Boswell understood it. They understood really clearly what it meant for the national interest, but there is not a crack of daylight between the positions of these characters now—what passes for a conservative outfit in the Liberal and National parties.

I understand Senator Hanson's frustration at that. I understand it. There's a sort of relevance deprivation that occurs when the right-wing extremists in Mr Dutton's Liberal Party are becoming more and more. Why give coverage on the extreme right to Senator Hanson when you can go to Senator Antic, who now leads the Liberal Party ticket in South Australia or to Senator Rennick or to any of these other odd characters? That's something that there ought to be a little bit of reflection on over there. There's not any at the moment. You don't see the danger. That's the nature of these sorts of challenges. It's all bound up in the grievance politics and the culture war and all of that nonsense. That's what happens.