Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate upholds the democratic principle that consumers should be free to buy or not buy goods based on personal ethics.

Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

At the end of the motion, add "and that consumers should not be prevented from exercising that democratic principle to be free to buy or not to buy, by means of unlawful secondary boycott, intimidation or picket".

Question agreed to.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—In relation to the Greens motion, what we have before us is the Greens yet again pushing their publicity buttons and desperately angling for some media exposure by putting forward a motion asking the Senate to uphold democratic principles. Will wonders never cease! This is without a doubt one of the greatest examples of Greens hypocrisy that the Senate has ever seen. Why? The only party in this Senate which does not believe in consistently upholding the principles of democracy is the Greens.

It is interesting that the Greens had originally worded their motion in a vague and general manner, because we all know that when the Greens couch motions in such a way there is usually a dangerous sting in the tail of it—and do not let us forget Senator Bob Brown's ominous words about the Greens agenda. The Greens are recreating Australia for the new century street by street, community by community, city by city, and in relation to their failure—

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash, I just remind you that you sought leave to make a short statement and you have ventured into debate on the matter.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today's motion is nothing more and nothing less than code for the type of consumer boycott and intimidation campaigns that GetUp!, another left-wing Greens front, has been running for example against Harvey Norman or the one threatened by GetUp!—

Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, I rise on a point of order. You said to Senator Cash that she was extending from an invitation to make a short statement for two minutes. It then appeared that we were entertaining a debate in relation to the motion. I would submit that this is not the time for a debate to occur in relation to the motion. It is out of order. It is an opportunity for people to explain something about the motion rather than take a two-minute opportunity to read a written speech into the record.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I remind Senator Cash that it is a statement that she sought leave to make. I remind all senators to read the Procedure Committee report in relation to this time of day in the Senate.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Deputy President. I was addressing the motion, and making a statement in relation to it because the Greens deliberately had not spelt out exactly what the motion was about. What we know when it comes to the Greens is that you actually need to look behind the motion. This motion is nothing more and nothing less than code for the type of consumer boycott and intimidation campaigns that GetUp! have been running—for example, against Harvey Norman—or the one threatened by GetUp! against companies represented by Kate Carnell of the Australian Food and Grocery Council. They are merely thinking of joining the anti carbon tax group, but the Greens, in this motion, are too gutless to spell that out.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cash, you have debated the motion again. You have 12 seconds left to complete your statement.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Motions of this kind that are subtly worded by the Greens should be heeded by all those who believe that the Greens are nothing but a cuddly, benign environmental party. They are actually nothing but.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—What we are discussing here is ensuring that consumers have the right to ethically make decisions on their own. 'Boycotting' is the word at the heart of this motion, and that is in response to a motion from Senator Boswell last week. If we start to ban unauthorised boycotts, do we end up telling vegetarians that they must go to butcher shops? There are a million or so of them who do not. Does that have to be required?

Where do you end up in this process of trying to proscribe what people shall or shall not buy? This comes out of the original proposal that we should be able not to buy goods coming from, amongst others, the illegal settlements of the West Bank in occupied Palestine. Are we to say that Aust­ralians who want not to buy those products should not be able to make that choice? That is what Senator Boswell is about. We in this free country should not be proscribing these things. If people want to boycott or organise for others to boycott, that is part of the free and open democracy we have. I do thank Senator Cash for saying that the Greens are subtle—we do not want to take a sledgehammer approach like that taken by the Nationals last week or proscribe the rights of Australians. We are here to enhance them, and that is what this motion is about.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Brown as amended by Senator Boswell be agreed to.

Question agreed to.