Senator BILYK (Tasmania) (15:55): Mr Deputy President, this is the first opportunity I have had to publicly commend you on your election as Deputy President. As a fellow Tasmanian senator, albeit from the other side, I am sure you will represent not only Tasmania well but the whole of the Senate. Senator Fifield: Only your mother could tell you apart. Senator BILYK: That is a frightening thought, Senator. The government shares the concerns of Australians about animal welfare in the live export trade. We are taking all the necessary action we can to provide for a secure future for the live export trade, and that is important to remember. I can comprehend Senator Back's very deep and angry concern, but we have to make sure this trade is ongoing for the future. Senator Fifield interjecting— Senator BILYK: Let me remind those opposite who are already starting to interject that they did have 11 years in government and they did nothing to help fix these issues, and I am sure they knew about them. On this side, we are committed to working alongside industry and alongside Indonesia to have trade recommence as soon as possible. It is not a decision the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry has taken lightly. I know those on the other side understand that, but they want to get a few political points out there, which is their game. That is what they do. They are in opposition; they oppose everything. It is a strange concept to oppose absolutely everything and to be so negative and so nay saying about everything. However, concerns have been brought to light about this live export industry and those concerns need to be sorted out. While we are working as quickly as possible to get the trade back up and running, it is important that those in the industry, who are doing it tough, are supported. We have offered some assistance measures for those affected. Senator Brandis: You are driving hundreds of families into destitution, you fools. Senator BILYK: Senators on the other side are interjecting. Senator Brandis, I have told you time and time again. Thirty three-year-olds can yell at me and I can still keep talking, so your over-the-top— Senator Bob Brown: Mr Deputy President, on a point of order: that interjection from Senator Brandis, calling another senator a fool, is unparliamentary and should be withdrawn. Senator Brandis: I was not calling Senator Bilyk a fool, Mr Deputy President. I was calling the Australian Labor Party collectively fools. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Brandis, interjections are disorderly. Do you wish to withdraw the statement? Senator Brandis: I will not withdraw. Senator Bob Brown: Mr Deputy President, I ask you to check the Hansard, see if Senator Brandis's submission to you was itself truthful and report back any ruling you might make on the Hansard record. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Bob Brown. I will refer the matter to the President. Senator Kroger: Mr Deputy President, if you are looking at the Hansard, perhaps you would like to look at the comments that Senator Bilyk just made about Senator Brandis. If we are becoming precious with these things, we perhaps should look at both sides. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Kroger. That will be taken into account. Senator Brandis: Mr Deputy President, I do not want to prolong this, but we have seen in the last six weeks Senator Bob Brown take a point of order that it is unparliamentary to accuse another senator of impertinence. Now we have seen Senator Brown take a point of order to say that it is unparliamentary for one senator to accuse the adverse side of the parliament of foolishness. I trust that, when the President reviews the Hansard, there will be a very lively concern about the importance of freedom of parliamentary expression. If ever there was one who was not in a position to call into question the right of other senators to be robustly critical of their political opponents, it is Senator Brown himself. Senator Bob Brown: I ask you now to either rule on the admissibility of a debate as a point of order or to rule Senator Brandis's point of order out of order. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Thank you, Senator Brown. The matter has been taken on board and will be given to the President. The Hansard will need to be reviewed. If the President does have anything further to come back and indicate to the Senate, he will. Senator BILYK: As I was saying, 30 three-year-olds can yell at me; I spent 12 years in the childcare industry, so your interjections just wash completely over me. I know you are childish on that side; I saw it all through question time yet again. You are like kids just before Christmas; the trees are under the present, but you are not allowed to open them, so you are getting a little bit tetchy about things. But there you go, that is how it is. As I was saying, if I could get back to the important issue at hand, I am a bit surprised by the two different— Senator Heffernan: Mr Deputy President, I rise on a point of order. Presents are under the tree; the trees are not under the presents. The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: That is not a point of order. Senator BILYK: I will take that correction. You are quite right, Senator Heffernan. Although, in some situations, the trees might be under the presents; you have got a few things all back to front over that side, so maybe that is happening too. I am a bit surprised when I sit here and listen to the rants and the raves going on over there about this, because it would appear to me that there are two lines once again in the debate from those on the other side. We have heard Senator Back and other senators talk about the issues confronting people in regard to live export trade, but what do they want? Do they want animals to be subjected to cruelty? Are they only interested in providing a short-term fix, not a long-term sustainable solution for the industry? As I said, you did nothing to establish a sustainable live export trade in the 10 or 11 years you were in government. We have committed to carry out substantial reform in the way live exports operate. These reforms will provide a framework for the industry to deliver internationally accepted animal welfare outcomes. This is not done overnight. It is a difficult, complex set of issues, which, as I have said, the government is working methodically through. We are not putting up a three-word slogan, as is often done by the other side. No, we have asked Mr Farmer to examine each stage of the supply chain, from paddock to the point of slaughter, for all markets that receive Australian livestock, and that review— (Time expired)