Page 3789 - Week 12 - Thursday, 22 November 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
I have prepared a speech which refers to Mr Mulcahy’s spray last night, which, of course, is encapsulated in his media release today. It is good to know that Senator Humphries has got allies in the ACT Liberals and that they are all pulling out all their stops, because if Mr Humphries loses this election it will be a first in history. It would be like Mr Howard losing his seat—not really nice. But they will get over it. Having read the content of Mr Mulcahy’s speech, I incidentally saw ads for Lisa Milat, the ACT Senate candidate for the Liberty and Democracy Party: lower taxes, smaller government. I think they were the themes of Mr Mulcahy’s speech last night. I seek leave to table the Australian Greens economic policy.
Leave granted.
DR FOSKEY: I table the following paper:
Australian Greens Policies—
Economics, issued March 2007.
I would just like to remind Mr Mulcahy, after his extraordinarily paranoid outburst in the adjournment debate last night, that while I might feature in his nightmares and daytime hallucinations the Greens will not be taking government on the weekend. I will not waste time debunking the myths that he promulgated—the sort of urban myths that exist about Greens policies and that are propagated in leaflets and so on. I have tabled the policy and if those opposite do not want to read it and tell the truth that is very concerning about the potential future government of the ACT.
The Greens might end up with the balance of power in the Senate, but if we do it will be a reflection of the concern and democratic actions of a large number of Australian people who have watched the erosion of human rights and democracy in Australia since 1996, and most especially since 2005 when the coalition became the majority in the Senate. It will be the result of their desire to restore fairness in the Australian parliament and to take effective action against climate change. But even if five, six, seven senators are elected from the Greens, the ALP and the Liberals together will have the numbers to enforce their own economic agenda that, on the whole—Mr Rudd has made a point of saying this—they both share.
However, the Greens with the balance of power in the Senate will help it to return to its rightful role for which it was established: the house of review of government. In short, Mr Mulcahy—up there in your office watching on TV, or reading this in the transcript tomorrow—if more democratic processes, greater scrutiny of the government of the day, more emphasis on the social and ecological impacts of government policy, and actions and efforts to ensure that a greater number of people benefit from Australia’s wealth concern you, be very, very afraid.
Federal election
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Planning, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Minister for Industrial Relations) (6.28): It is always amusing to watch the family squabble and to see the Liberals and the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .