Senator IAN MACDONALD (Queensland) (18:21): I seek leave to move a motion to invite Senator Bob Brown to explain to the Senate why his principled opposition to guillotines on debate and gags on senators' speeches has changed with his support for the Gillard government's much-guillotined carbon tax package. That is the first part of the motion. The second part of the motion will ask the Senate to note speeches made by Senator Brown opposing guillotines, including, without being limited to, the speeches he made on 4 December 2002 and 5 December 2005. Leave not granted. Senator IAN MACDONALD: I move: That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent me from moving a motion relating to the Leader of the Australian Greens (Senator Bob Brown) and his previous statements on limitation of debate. At the next opportunity, we will be proceeding to debate all the carbon tax bills, the names of which have just been read out by the clerk. These are perhaps the most important and serious bills that have come to this chamber in recent times. We will be doing that because Senator Bob Brown and the Greens have agreed with the government that the debate on these bills and the debate on the pre-emption to the bills should be guillotined. The Greens have a track record of opposing guillotines on discussion in this chamber. Senator Brown has made a habit in the past of opposing guillotines and gags on speeches. I think that the Senate should invite Senator Brown to explain why he has changed his mind. After a lifetime of opposing guillotines and gags, here is Senator Brown actually being part of the proposals to curtail speech in this chamber. This is a particularly important set of bills that Senator Brown is stopping discussions on. One can only wonder why it is. We know that the Greens got a $1.6 million donation, even though Senator Brown used to rail about how bad it was when donations were made by corporate entities. The question might be asked—and I think Senator Abetz has asked it: does the donor of the $1.6 million to the Greens political party perhaps have an interest in the outcome of the climate change bills? Perhaps the donor of the $1.6 million has a particular interest. That may not be correct, but, if my motion is agreed to and we can set aside standing orders so that the motion inviting Senator Bob Brown to explain himself can be passed, perhaps all will be revealed. Perhaps in fairness to Senator Brown the Senate should invite him to explain how he has had this sudden change of view on his very principled opposition to guillotines. For those who might be listening to this as they drive home from work today, on what will be one of the blackest days in Australia's parliamentary history—after which, as a result of the carbon tax, everyone listening to this debate will be paying more for everything—I say to you that the car you are driving is going to cost you more to go home in in the future because there will be a tax on the transport of the components that are required to make your vehicle work. It is important that this motion to suspend standing orders be carried so that I can then move my motion which, if passed by the Senate, would invite Senator Brown to get up and explain why he has changed his mind. Perhaps—it is a big perhaps—I am wronging Senator Brown. Perhaps his principled opposition to guillotines only applies when there are conservative, Liberal governments in power. Perhaps there is something else. But why not give Senator Brown the opportunity to explain by passing this suspension motion and then passing the substantive motion? Then the Senate can invite Senator Brown and give him 20 minutes to explain why, for years, he opposed guillotines and now he does not. A lot of his supporters said: 'Yes, we're going to vote for the Greens because, although we don't always like their policies, we like their principles; we like the fact that they will never guillotine debate in the parliament of a democracy like Australia.' But Senator Brown today has voted with the government five or six times already, I think, to guillotine free speech in this parliament on perhaps the most important set of bills that this parliament has dealt with in the last couple of decades. I urge the Senate to suspend the standing orders so that I can move my motion and invite Senator Brown to explain his change of principles. (Time expired)