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

by leave—As leader of the National Party in this chamber, I rise to make a contribution about the series of behaviours we've all seen over this parliament and the gradual decline of respect for the chamber—for the institution itself, for each other and for the diversity we all bring to this chamber. This chamber, much more so than across the way, reflects the diversity of our democracy in a very real way. The freedom to debate and discuss, to test ideas and policies for the best way forward for our nation, occurs in this chamber, on this floor, in this space more than it ever can or does in the other chamber. We test that fiercely, ferociously at times and fervently, but always we must respect the democracy that brought us here to have the freedom to do that. When that can't or won't happen then we must not fail to call that out and stand up for this institution against the disruptors, who proudly come in and say their modus operandi is to destroy this, to destroy the very framework on which our democracy survives.

The freedom that allows people to superglue themselves to trams, to march in capital cities—or, in my own communities, to get in their tractors and take to the streets about a whole range of matters—starts here. I've seen the denigration of that over time. If we allow institutions to erode and the respect for the institutions to erode, then the freedoms we enjoy not just in this chamber but outside this chamber, which are embedded in our Constitution, will cease to exist. My grave fear is that a major political voice in this country, being the Greens, has chosen to side with the denigration of the institution, to say it's okay. I think that is a threat, in the end, to our very democracy and I'm very, very concerned.

I am very glad that the parties of government and the rest of the crossbench senators chose to take the appropriate action, to reflect to the Australian citizenry that we in this chamber want to do our very best every single day we come in here on their behalf, despite our fierce differences.