Senator MILNE (Tasmania—Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens) (16:13): The extraordinary thing is that it is always the conservatives in politics who argue that they stand by the rules, that they are people of principle. They go around the community saying that but you see— Opposition senators interjecting— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Those on my left! Senator MILNE: You have quite rightly made my point, Mr Deputy President. You see that when it is not a conservative senator speaking in this Senate, the conservatives have absolutely no concerns about shouting, interjecting and being rude and abusive, as we evidenced by Senator Macdonald only last week—who still has not apologised to Get Up!, I might add, for his appalling references. This morning he was interjecting about the Prime Minister in a very offensive way, and I understand the chair was not aware of it then. Yesterday, we had a situation where the coalition were heard in silence by the government and the Greens but, when it came to us speaking, the coalition behaved appallingly. Then, when we went to the divisions yesterday, we had people deliberately leaving the chamber so that the bells had to be rung for four minutes instead of one minute. Senator Abetz: And how is this relevant? Senator MILNE: The point I am making, for the benefit of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate—who cannot seem to grasp the idea, so I have to tell him again—is that they deliberately set up a puerile strategy to frustrate the debate, knowing full well— Opposition senators interjecting— The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order, on my left! Order! Senator MILNE: that in fact a number of people around the country were waiting for the vote. That was extremely childish behaviour which does not reflect well on this place. I think it is about time— Opposition senators interjecting— Senator MILNE: And we are still hearing the same kind of rabble behaviour and interjections. What we need in this place is respect for the standing orders and respect for the— Senator Abetz interjecting— Senator MILNE: As we now are hearing again, Mr Deputy President, we need respect for the standing orders. That people are deliberately setting out to frustrate others does not reflect well on this place. As my colleague said, this is not the first instance. There are several examples from press conferences and other events here where a conservative senator has thought it amusing to disrupt other people's events. If that is something that he spends his time doing, and he is entitled to, and the people of New South Wales think that is an appropriate way for their elected representative to behave, it is up to them to express that when they get to the ballot box. But I do think it is appropriate that we expose some of the double standards of the conservatives. Don't bother telling people, Mr Deputy President, that the conservatives respect the rules, because they do not respect the rules. They go out of their way to frustrate the rules, to absolutely abuse the standing orders and to behave in the most appalling manner. They put that on display for the whole of Australia yesterday in the broadcast that went out from the Senate. This motion is asking that the conservatives reflect on the behaviour that they exhibited in here yesterday, and I think that would be appropriate. I am disappointed that the government does not think it is appropriate that the conservatives reflect on the appalling behaviour they exhibited to the nation.