Senator O'SULLIVAN (Queensland—Nationals Whip in the Senate) (16:18): I commend the opposition, the Australian Labor Party, and opposition leader Mr Shorten, and join the remarks made by Senator Conroy in acknowledging that it is a responsible and very appropriate position the Labor Party has taken with respect to this very complex and vexed question. When I came to this place I promised myself I would make every effort not to buy into raw politics wherever I could. But I have to confess I am finding it increasingly difficult to stare down the devil of temptation. I have to say that the position taken by the Greens on this issue completely confounds me. Had Australia—and other free nations—adopted this sort of position during the course of the Second World War, the argument would be that we should not have attended and we should not have participated—that we should have sat by, idly, whilst 5.7 million people of the Jewish faith were subject to the most horrific genocide that has ever been reported. In modern times, governments have taken similar attitudes where, in my view, they have been too slow to respond. All of us can remember the events in Somalia, the Balkans, recently in Syria, Afghanistan and Cambodia. Indeed, if the argument being presented by the Greens were to be adopted, the USA would not have responded to the horrific events with the World Trade Centre incident. It defies logic that, at this point in time, while there are tens of thousands of people who are confronted with this behaviour by the Islamic State, we could be discussing finite matters about whether we attend it or we do not. We ignore the fact that there are 11,000 nationals across the world from free nations like Australia who have taken up arms in this. Australians born to this soil—to this country that you suggest we need to hold proud—are over there decapitating citizens in the Middle East. Not one word from colleagues in the Greens, not one word, with respect to that behaviour— Senator Di Natale: That's rubbish. That's rubbish. Senator O'SULLIVAN: You should be talking about how we deal with that issue. Senator Di Natale: That is disgraceful. Senator Wright: Don't mislead people. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator O'Sullivan, I would ask you to address your remarks through the chair, thank you. Senator Di Natale: Mr Deputy President, on a point of order: have you just asked Senator what's-his-name to withdraw that comment? The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: No. I reminded Senator O'Sullivan to address his remarks through the chair. Senator Di Natale: I ask that Senator O'Sullivan withdraw those comments. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: That is not actually a point of order. Senator Di Natale: That is a slur on the Greens. He is effectively saying that we are complicit in the beheading of people in Iraq. Senator O'SULLIVAN: I did not say that. I did not say that. Senator Di Natale: I ask Senator O'Sullivan to reflect on those statements and to withdraw that statement. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: There is no point of order. Senator O'Sullivan. Senator O'SULLIVAN: If Senator Di Natale has a couple of minutes later, I am happy to go through a little spelling program. My name is O'Sullivan; I wear it proudly. Emotions run very deep on this. I suspect that, in the time that we have been here debating these issues, there are people in the Middle East in these conflicts who have lost their lives, and that will continue unabated while we talk. This is not a time for talk. I have gone on the public record encouraging my own government to consider an expansion of humanitarian measures, including lifting the number of refugees from that region who could be removed from that conflict and brought here immediately. I feel very strongly about these issues. I feel very strongly about the position the Greens have taken—the same party who supported policies that saw over a thousand refugees die on the high seas, drowned; men, women and children. I say to you: you need to consider these issues as if you had a personal interest in the people on the ground in Iraq, as if your heritage was Kurdish. Senator Di Natale: The Kurds don't want it. Senator Edwards: That's not true. Senator Di Natale: The Kurds don't want it. Senator EDWARDS: You haven't been there. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Senator O'SULLIVAN: Through you, Chair: the Greens ought to— Senator Di Natale: Check your facts. Senator O'SULLIVAN: I've got a few bob. I am happy to buy them all a ticket to the front line, where the Kurds are fighting this at the moment— Senator Dastyari interjecting— Senator O'SULLIVAN: and we will see whether the attitudes being presented do not change. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Senators, if you could just come to order. Senator O'SULLIVAN: A coalition of all the free nations, all the important free nations—Canada, Italy, France, Britain, the United States and ourselves—have for once, in my view, moved responsibly, in a prompt fashion. We responded early with humanitarian support, where we provided these people with the basics of life: food, water and limited access to shelter. Now we are confronting the issue of being able to equip them so they can respond to defend their lives. It is as simple as that. Yet there are those who want us to debate this to the death. There are those who want to bring our parliament, both the House of Representatives and this Senate, to a standstill for days, when they know full well that that opportunity would turn into an absolute political free-for-all. It does not matter how many days, weeks or months we spend in this place; I have a sneaking suspicion that I will never agree with the policies that you pursue. For saving the lives of people, you should be making the argument about increasing refugee intakes in this particular circumstance and keeping them alive long enough— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator O'Sullivan, again I would ask you to address your remarks through the me. Senator O'SULLIVAN: My apologies. Our government, the coalition, have responded in, I think, a very even, measured way, with the support of the opposition, the Australian Labor Party, who I often disagree with but never on the issue of their social soul, never in relation to some of the arguments for those people who are most in need. This is a time for us here, for our government, to extend hope to these people. This is a time for us to support the people who will be engaged in our military response, in the assistance we are providing to the Kurds. This is a time for us as a nation to come together as one, with one voice, to do whatever is available to us within our broad bailiwick to provide the best and most comprehensive humanitarian services to people who are right now facing their mortality in the face of evil. This is a time for consolidation. This is a time for us to operate with our hearts and to provide support to these people in whatever fashion we can.