Today Senator Patrick moved a motion to upend the business in the Senate. While an ICAC is important, we need to do it in an orderly way so that it can be adequately debated and properly passed.
Transcript
One Nation has always supported an integrity commission being established for the federal parliament—once we realised the parliament could not look after itself. We do, though, oppose Senator Patrick’s motion to suspend standing orders, and I’ll explain why.Corruption of federal taxpayer money to the tune of billions of dollars was a subject that we moved a motion to have a Senate inquiry into.
The Liberal Party opposed it, after initially supporting it. The Labor Party opposed it. The Greens opposed it. Senator Patrick opposed it. That was billions of dollars at stake.Secondly—water trading. It’s a breach of the Water Act, and the Liberals and Nationals have allowed it to continue. We moved a motion in this parliament to get it fixed.
It went to the lower house, where the Labor Party opposed it, the Liberal Party opposed it and the National Party opposed it—billions of dollars, again, there, and unfairness destroying regional communities.We also have a list of 28 people, which is supposed to be a watch list or a list with regard to paedophilia.
I contacted the person who raised that in an earlier parliament. A barrister, on my behalf, read that list. That list has no complainant—no identification as to who put forward that list. It also has no formal complaint and no evidence. But, in the process of that, the barrister I used found extensive need for cleaning up parliament, with regard to supporting paedophiles and other criminals.
We need to extend it properly, from parliamentarians to judges, to police and to bureaucrats. We need to do a good job. The government’s bill for an integrity commission is hopeless. It is not sincere, in my view.Helen Haines’s bill, the Australian Federal Integrity Commission Bill 2021, which is what Senator Patrick is supporting, has much to commend it.
We support it in principle. However, it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of some details, because it leaves people vulnerable and open to being besmirched—as we’ve seen happen in New South Wales—without evidence. That we cannot support. Such a bill must be debated extensively and not rushed through parliament.
We cannot do that in a morning.Senator Patrick himself said that we are now at the end of the 46th Parliament—exactly. Let the people judge in an election within the next three months. Let the people judge, because the Liberal-National coalition has not delivered on its promise.
The Prime Minister has told furphies about vaccine mandates not existing in this country. Tell that to the 25 million people in this country. That is a lie. Yet we now have the breaching of his promise. The people can judge him in three months. Each party should have a policy on this, and let the people judge each party on it. It seems to me that we need to assess people by their actions, their deeds, not by their words.
I think this is a stunt—trying to get media attention before a flagging election campaign. Regardless of my opinion, one thing is for sure: this parliament serves the major parties and their donors and vested interests, some of whom are outside this country.
We need to end that. We need to regain the people’s confidence in the parliament. We need to do that by making sure that the parliament returns to serving the people. We need the parliament to serve the people. That’s its job. We need to change the parliament, and to do that we need to change the way Australians vote.
We, as voters, as Australians, need to change the way we vote. Put the majors last; remember that in the coming election. Put the majors last.
