Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Regional Communications (Senator McKenzie) and the Minister for Finance (Senator Cormann) to questions without notice asked by Senators Brown and Cameron today relating to GST distribution and to Senator Molan.

What a performance today. What a performance from Senator Cormann trying to defend what is the worst start ever for any senator in this place—the start that Senator Molan has had. Senator Molan continues to refuse to apologise for propagating racist, bigoted posts from a white supremacist organisation. This is the same organisation whose sympathiser—a British Britain First sympathiser—killed British MP Jo Cox. That's the type of propaganda that Senator Molan is putting on his Facebook posts. I think it's absolutely ridiculous.

And I see now it's being reported online that Senator Molan has been retweeting parts of the Voice of Europe, which is seen as a Russian propaganda site. Senator Molan is retweeting them! And what's it about? It's about immigration and it's about Muslims. This senator really needs to get his act together. He is not a general in the Australian Army; he is a backbench senator. He has responsibilities to this place and he has responsibilities to the Australian community to act in the best interests of Australia. He has not been doing that and his behaviour is absolutely reprehensible. He has been retweeting the Voice of Europe. He retweeted:

Shocking: Belgian fairground owner has to hide bikini images because they could offend Muslims

This is a former general in the Australian Army deeming to retweet this nonsense, creating division in this country. He retweeted:

Poland Right in Refusal to Accept Muslim Migrants Amid Latest Attacks – Official

This is a senator who just seems to be obsessed with the Muslim community in this country.

I have to say that there is another former general who is active in public life in this country, and that's former General Duncan Lewis, who is the ASIO chief. Former General Duncan Lewis actually said in budget estimates in October 2017:

Stereotyping any group as a source of threat is not helpful. It is behaviour, not background, which ASIO is investigating.

There is a real general. There is a general of the Australian Army that understand the issues and understands the importance of making sure that there is a cohesive society. He goes on to say:

There are more than half a million Australian Muslims. Of these—and I've said this in this committee before—less than 0.1 of 1 per cent, so one-tenth of 1 per cent, are the subject of security interest. If you flip that, more than 99.9 per cent of Australian Muslims are of no security interest to my organisation.

Yet here we have Senator Molan, who has been described online as the Steven Bradbury of the Senate. This Steven Bradbury has got here after all these other people falling down, roundabout. No wonder he was so far down the list in the Liberal Party of New South Wales preferred candidates! Yet he is here, propagating this nonsense, propagating division in this society and propagating views that are unacceptable in this place.

This man should not be defended. He should be apologising to the Australian Senate. He should be apologising to the Australian public. And if he won't do it then the Prime Minister should make him do it. And if the Prime Minister doesn't have the guts to do that then he is not deserving to be Prime Minister of this country. What we should be about is multiculturalism. (Time expired)

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If the people of Australia needed yet another reason to confirm why they are smashing Mr Shorten in the opinion polls, it is the sort of commentary that we have just seen from one of his key frontbenchers, Senator Cameron, besmirching the character of a career soldier that has done this nation proud with 40 years of service, of putting his life on the line for the security of not only our nation but the world.

Senator Cameron interjecting—

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And, painful as it was, I listened to Senator Cameron in silence. Can he repeat that courtesy? No, because he is a thug in the way that he—

Senator Cameron interjecting—

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Abetz, resume your seat, please. Minister.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a point of order. The level of interjection from Senator Cameron is completely out of order and highly disrespectful. We listened to his remarks in silence despite them being quite provocative, and I think the chamber deserves to listen to Senator Abetz's contribution in silence as well.

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the point of order: I have to indicate that what Senator Abetz has been doing is misleading the parliament. And certainly the proposition that he has put forward is that the general was in danger; it was working-class Australians that got killed, not generals.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cameron, resume your seat. You will be aware that I was, despite having a loud voice, seeking to call the Senate to order, which I eventually did at the same time as you stood up, Senator Cameron. Senator Abetz does have the right to be heard in silence, and I would ask all senators to observe that, please. Senator Abetz, please continue.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Deputy President. You have just asked the honourable senator to sit in silence and, before I even commenced, he interjected yet again, which highlights the standard that Mr Shorten has in his frontbench, a man that is willing to denigrate a great servant of the Australian people who now happens to find himself in this Senate, namely one Jim Molan. He has put life and limb on the line in the service of this nation, something that Senator Cameron will never understand. Senator Cameron's career in this place has been to defend the worst and attack the best. And let's have a look at the way—

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My old man fought for Britain, not the Nazis.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order!

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Oh, Mathias, don't bother. This is indicative of the low standard—

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Senator Abetz, please resume your seat. Minister, on a point of order.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That was a most disgraceful interjection by Senator Cameron, an outrageously inappropriate reflection on a senator in this chamber, and Senator Cameron should be required to withdraw.

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the point of order: I did not reflect on Senator Abetz. I made no mention of Senator Abetz.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There was no mention of any senator in that response, but I again would ask senators to respect the debate and to remain silent.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On this occasion—and I do this extremely rarely—this was such a seriously inappropriate interjection by Senator Cameron, I would ask that the Hansard be reviewed and for the President to review the Hansard and to consider your ruling.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister. That will occur. I would again re-state the need to hear this debate in silence and to be respectful of other senators' contributions.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy President, for the third time, the Australian people have seen the inappropriateness of Senator Cameron's commentary, yet he holds a very senior position in the shadow cabinet led by Mr Shorten. Those with whom one surrounds oneself are an indication of one's character and of one's standards. And so Mr Shorten's standards are to have somebody like Senator Cameron on his frontbench—a man willing to defend the worst and attack the best. He defends the worst, people like Luke Collier, for whom and on whose behalf he asked over 60 questions at Senate estimates—a man convicted, if I recall correctly, for having broken the law on multiple occasions and for having engaged in violence against his female partner. But 60-plus questions were run in defence of a person like that. Why? Because he was a CFMEU official. Yet somebody like Senator Molan, who has put life and limb on the line in service of this nation, is to be denigrated and dragged through the mud by Senator Cameron.

That's the sort of standard the Australian Labor Party now brings to these debates. The Australian people ought be warned, the Australian people ought realise that, with the election of a Labor government—if that were to occur—men and women like Senator Doug Cameron would hold frontbench positions and direct our nation. That is, quite frankly, a horrifying prospect. The Australian people deserve so, so much better.

These attacks that have been made on Senator Molan by Senator Cameron indicate that he is willing to attack a decorated soldier but defend a criminal such as Luke Collier. Let's not forget how he ensured the preselection of a gentleman that is now in jail in New South Wales for corruption, one Ian Macdonald—not to be confused with my bench buddy Senator Ian Macdonald here. Let's be clear: they are the sort of people that Senator Cameron goes in to defend. Then he somehow claims that he comes into this chamber with clean hands and denigrates a good man like Senator Jim Molan, a man that I am pleased to call a friend and, as of recent times, a colleague, a man that has done so much more for this nation than you or I, Senator Cameron, ever will. Just remember that. His service overseas, be it in Indonesia, East Timor or Iraq, has been exemplary. That is why he has the 'AO' and that is why he has his military decoration. (Time expired)

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Disability and Carers) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In taking note today, I wish to talk about the response by Senator McKenzie to my question around the GST and the impact on South Australia and Tasmania. Unfortunately and quite disappointingly, the minister was not able to answer the question that I put to her. The question about GST and the distribution of GST is an extremely serious one. The people from my home state of Tasmania are keen to get an answer out of this government on this question, and they are keen to get an answer prior to the Tasmanian state election on 3 March.

My question went directly to the impact of any changes of the distribution of the GST on Tasmania. The Productivity Commission in its interim report talks about some massive cuts to Tasmania, and $168 million in proposed cuts to Tasmania have been recorded and reported. They are cuts that Tasmania can ill afford. We already have, under the watch of the state Liberal government, a health system in crisis. Our system needs more beds, more nurses, more doctors, more ambulances. We cannot afford any cuts, any changes to the GST that will see less GST revenue coming to Tasmania.

This government is delaying the final report of the Productivity Commission. It will now be handed down in May, after the Tasmanian election and the election in South Australia. Why is that? Tasmanians deserve to know. They are worried that their GST revenue will be ripped out of Tasmania. They have a right to be worried.

I think it was yesterday that we had a member of the federal government, Queensland MP Warren Entsch, say, 'Why should WA GST payers be subsidising other states, particularly states like Tasmania?' Mr Entsch obviously has no understanding of how the GST distribution formula works. He has no understanding of the reason that system was put in place. So these discussions need to be happening. The Tasmanian Liberal senators need to be asking these questions of their government—about what is going to be happening to the GST revenue for Tasmania. This is revenue that is critical to delivering the services that Tasmanians need.

Mr Entsch, with his quote, really let the cat out of the bag, because it is an imminent threat to Tasmania's GST share. We want to know what discussions the government has had. We want to know up-front so that Tasmanian voters can make a decision, an informed decision, with their vote on 3 March, because this government cannot be trusted. It certainly can't be trusted when it comes to health. We've already had $1.1 billion in health cuts from Canberra. We've already had the state Liberal government cut $210 million from Tasmania's health system in their first budget. We need, in Tasmania, more beds, more nurses, more doctors, more ambulances. The system that the state Liberal government have created and presided over is in crisis. We need the federal government to be up-front with Tasmanians. This is a very serious issue. (Time expired)

Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Science, Jobs and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we heard there from Senator Brown was, of course, the fake scare campaign that Labor are now trying to create because they don't want to talk about the issues in places like Tasmania. In Tasmania, what's happened under the Tasmanian Liberal government? They inherited a basket case from Labor and the Greens. The highest unemployment in the country, over eight per cent, has dramatically dropped under the leadership of Will Hodgman. They inherited a massive deficit and they've turned it into a surplus. They inherited some of the worst figures in health and have, in their time, seen massive improvements. Labor don't want to talk about that because that would be dealing with the facts, so what they're going to do is create a scare campaign ahead of a state election. It's never Jay Weatherill's fault that South Australia is a basket case, but they can never give credit to Will Hodgman, who's turned around the disaster that he inherited from Labor and the Greens.

This goes to the dishonesty of Bill Shorten and the Labor Party. We've seen the character of Bill Shorten and his team on display here today in the chamber, and I will get to that in a minute. Bill Shorten goes to Western Australia—

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Seselja.

Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Science, Jobs and Innovation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Deputy President. Mr Shorten goes to Western Australia and says, 'We'll do you a better deal.' Then he goes to Tasmania and says: 'We'll do you a better deal. We'll take it from the others.' He can't be believed on anything. It's just like what he's facing now with these by-elections coming up. Mr Shorten's desperate not to see by-elections on the same day in Batman and in Queensland, because he wants to go to the inner city of Melbourne and say: 'Look, we're against Adani, and we're not really going to turn back the boats. We're going to be soft on the borders.' And he wants to go to regional Queensland and say, 'Of course we're tough on borders, and we support jobs in regional Queensland.' The guy is a chameleon. He is a phoney, an absolute phoney, and it goes to his character—one message for one state, one part of Australia, and a completely different message for another part of Australia.

When it comes to character, we saw the character of Labor and the Greens on display today in the Senate, in their reprehensible attack on Senator Jim Molan, a fine Australian, someone who has served this nation for decades and has made a much greater contribution than any of the people who launched grubby attacks on him today in the chamber, such as Senator Di Natale and Senator Cameron.

I'm very happy to compare the character of Senator Cameron with that of Senator Molan, because Senator Molan will win hands-down. Other speakers have pointed out the kinds of people that Senator Cameron has supported in the past. He has backed people like Luke Collier, like Ian Macdonald, who got jailed for 10 years because of corruption. These are kinds of people Senator Cameron has supported in his political career. These are the kinds of people he was close to, and yet he has the hide to come into this place and launch a despicable and disgusting attack on a great Australian who has done so much more for this nation than Senator Cameron could have ever dreamed of. Senator Cameron joined with his Greens parliamentary colleagues in launching this disgraceful attack.

Senator Molan comes here after finishing 40 years of service to this nation. I will just comment, for military personnel serving in Australia, on the way that Senator Cameron, on behalf of the Australian Labor Party, described the 40 years of service of Senator Molan with such disdain, saying that he never really sacrificed anything. What would you know, Senator Cameron, about his military service? What have you ever done for this country? When Senator Molan, in his former capacity, was helping to stop 1,200 people drowning at sea, people like Senator Cameron and Senator Di Natale were maintaining support for a policy which would have seen those people drown. Who are the better characters? Not Senator Di Natale and the Greens. Not Senator Cameron.

This was a low point today. It was a low point from the Greens. We thought we had reached absolute rock bottom, and Senator Cameron came back into this place after question time and continued that disgraceful attack. He continued the disgraceful attack on a fine man, Senator Molan. He continued the disgraceful attack with the way he described his military service. I say to you, Senator Cameron, and I say it to Senator Di Natale: I would put Senator Molan up against you guys any day of the week. You should be ashamed of yourselves for this gutless attack. (Time expired)

Alex Gallacher (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to make a contribution in this debate taking note of answers from Senator McKenzie and Senator Cormann. At the outset, I'd just like to say that, as a relatively infrequent visitor to Western Australia, I have been struck on at least two separate occasions, while listening to talkback radio, by the absolute virulence of the campaign to have GST and horizontal fiscal equalisation addressed in the west. There were talkback radio announcers exhorting listeners to march on the federal offices of their political representatives, Senator Cormann and Senator Smith. There were people ringing up and saying, 'Tell me which day and I'll be there to do it.' The issue of GST and horizontal fiscal equalisation in Western Australia is a huge electoral issue.

All governments, and the opposition, are attempting to work their way through this. We've seen infrastructure payments given to Western Australia to offset this horizontal fiscal equalisation problem, which has been delivered, in my view, by the largesse that was dispensed in their boom years. When you come back to South Australia and Tasmania, you see that there is a Productivity Commission recommendation that there be a cut of $557 million from South Australia and $168 million, I think, from Tasmania. People then say: 'What does that actually mean for this state?' What it means for the state of South Australia—and people are doing the work; there is an election in South Australia as we speak—is that it would be like cutting 5,340 teachers. A cut of $557 million means 5,340 teachers wouldn't be employed. It means 5,000 nurses wouldn't be employed, or 2,400 doctors, or, as in my question to Minister representing the Minister for Home Affairs, 4,422 frontline police.

Now, I'm getting representations, as I'm sure every senator in Tasmania and South Australia is, from all of the organisations that are concerned about this. A lot of those organisations are not traditional Labor supporters; they are on traditional Liberal ground, like the chamber of commerce and Business SA. All of these people know that if you take a whole swag of money out of a state that is struggling to balance a budget then there must be cuts to frontline services, or inefficient taxes are put in their place. This is a pressing issue. It is a really widespread issue in Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia. The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull and his respective ministers need to be open, transparent and honest and on the front foot delivering clarity about this issue.

It is well recognised worldwide that horizontal fiscal equalisation is the only way a large and disparate country can deliver equality in services. An Australian in South Australia is entitled to the same police force, medical services and education as one in Sydney—unless you go to what may be an American-type system where, if you don't have the population, you don't have the taxes and you don't get the services, so either move out or put up with it. It's a really serious issue. It needs to be addressed transparently and coherently.

Just to touch on the issue of Senator Molan: one of the things that is really apparent when you come into the Senate is that everything you've ever done, everything you've ever posted and everything you've ever said will be scrutinised. It is no surprise that people have raised questions about some of his posts. I actually live in an area where there is high Muslim immigration. They run successful businesses, their children are successful at school, and they walk and talk and are as Australian as the rest of us—maybe they dress a little bit differently. But if I was to do anything on Facebook, I'd be celebrating that community and how they have come here, started businesses, employed people, gone to school and been successful. That's what I would be propagating. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.