Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

One day, Minister—and it won't be very long—you will regret every single thing that you have said to Senator Steele-John. Everything he said is absolutely true. And the fact that you would say that he was scaremongering is not only a stain on this place but a stain on this government. We might not agree on many issues, but Senator Steele-John is one of the most compassionate and passionate disability advocates in our nation. And, if you did not recognise the genuineness in what he was saying to this chamber—what he said to this chamber is exactly what we have heard for months from the disability sector. It takes a singularly determined minister to turn every state and territory against him and turn every single disability organisation against him. They are saying the same thing because they know that what Senator Steele-John has said is true.

Minister, if you do not hear those voices, I can assure you: we do hear the voices. What Senator Steele-John said was not a scare campaign; it was absolutely what we are all hearing, and it is the genuine fear of people with disabilities right across this nation. One day, when you play back and you hear those words that you have just said in this chamber, you will hang your head in shame. I hope you'll have enough humanity to do that, because what this senator has just said is the truth. It is not only his truth; it is the truth of thousands and thousands of people with disability today, who are terrified by what you are about to do with this legislation—your lack of consultation with the sector, your tin ear, your coming into this chamber and refusing time and time again to provide transparency. So please, Minister, don't you dare ever say anything like that again to Senator Steele-John or anybody else in this chamber, because it is a stain on you and a stain on this place.

Senator Steele-John, I would like to apologise for what has just been said to you. It was not justified, in my view. If you, Minister—and the Labor government and Minister Shorten—had any decency, you would stand up right now and you would apologise to our colleague here, who has just given the most heartfelt speech he will probably ever give. You delivered the slick RedBridge-Labor lines again and again. Senator Steele-John, I am sorry for that, and I could not agree more with every single thing you have said. It absolutely represents the concerns of tens if not hundreds of thousands of our most vulnerable Australians, and their voice, through you, has been heard here this evening. So bravo, you.