Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I want to talk about the extraordinary behaviour today in this chamber—a chamber that is supposed to debate legislation and then vote on it. But what did we see today? Manoeuvring between the Greens—they're leaving the chamber now—and the Liberals and Nationals, to vote so that we didn't have to have a vote.

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Polley, please be seated. You know that you're not meant to reflect on whether someone is in the chamber or not. Continue.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We saw the extraordinary behaviour today of the Liberals and the Greens, standing together, making sure that we didn't have a vote today on important legislation.

We have the Greens, who come into this chamber regularly espousing how they're the only people who have a conscience and want to do something for people who are renting, to get people into affordable housing. And what did they do today? They teamed up with the Liberals and the Nationals to ensure that there was no vote on this very important legislation. The Australian people see them for who they really are. They're political opportunists. They say one thing in this chamber and then they do something very different when they go back. It's all about their social media grabs. The relationship between Mr Dutton and his team and the Greens is getting ever closer.

It is extraordinary, when there are so many people who can't put a roof over their heads, that some 40,000 families and individuals, who were going to benefit from this legislation, will not be able to have that opportunity to have a secure home to raise their families and to be able to contribute to our community. That is appalling—absolutely appalling!

Honourable senators interjecting—

To those who are interjecting now: I welcome your interjections, because all they do is reinforce that what you're doing you know in your heart is the wrong thing to do. It is the season now for those on the opposition benches who will oppose everything leading into the next election, but your record for the last 2½ years is of voting no on everything. You talk about the cost-of-living crisis. And what do you do? You vote against every measure. Then we saw the extraordinary behaviour in question time today, where you wanted to start your scare campaign about things that were never ever on our agenda at the last election nor will be going forward into the next election.

Then you want to talk about tax cuts. The Australian people got the tax cuts that they deserve, not the ones that you were going to bring in. But then again, between when we changed them and brought about fairness to these—

Honourable senators interjecting—

'Fairness'—I know it's a word that those opposite don't understand or have a commitment to, but the Australian people want their federal government to be fair. We were fair when it came to the tax cuts, to ensure those people who deserved a pay rise—low-income workers—got their tax cut, but we also gave them pay rises.

What we see in this chamber, and what was very evident today, was that those opposite, along with their Green friends, will do and say anything to get a political edge. So, to the Greens, who have been unable to commit to the 13,700 new social and affordable homes across Australia: they won't be built; they're not going to be built, unless you change your minds and you actually vote for this legislation. Unfortunately, those opposite are only interested in political pointscoring, just as we see that the Greens, continuously, are all about their social media grabs and trying to actually keep their constituency. But what we saw on display today was just gutlessness from both those in the opposition and the Greens. If you don't support the legislation then vote against it, but don't play political games creating votes to stop us having a vote. If you really don't believe in it, have the guts to vote against it. But I suspect your cosy arrangements with the Greens will continue for some time because you see some political advantage. You don't care about those people who can't afford a home. You don't want to help people get into social housing. This— (Time expired)