Senator BOB BROWN (Tasmania—Leader of the Australian Greens) (10:01): The Greens will support the motion. I congratulate Senator Fifield on his speech. It was much like a speech that we heard from the opposition during the Howard years when the guillotine was used on more than 100 occasions in this place. Opposition senators interjecting— Senator BOB BROWN: We have got the poddy calves from the National Party over there lined up at the fence again. They will get their turn. Opposition senators interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Marshall ): Order! I would ask senators to remain silent while Senator Brown makes his contribution. Senator BOB BROWN: The reality is that we are dealing with a $10.6 billion piece of legislation, the mining tax legislation, which was flagged at the 2010 election and which has been the subject of intense scrutiny— Opposition senators interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Again I ask senators to remain silent while Senator Brown makes his contribution. Senator BOB BROWN: It is the Queensland front again, because they are worried that so many votes are going to go to the Greens on Saturday week in the election in Queensland, I guess. I cannot work out what else is motivating all these interjections. The reality is that this piece of legislation has had extraordinary public scrutiny. It has been scrutinised by the private sector, the media and the public at large. The Greens would prefer to see the Treasury-recommended superprofits tax—and I am not going to trespass into the argument about the bill, except to say it is far short of the mark. The Greens would be recouping an extra $100 billion over the coming forward estimates if we had our way. Senator Boswell: How are you going to get money when you have closed the coal industry? Senator BOB BROWN: There is the interjecting senator from the National Party in Queensland who does not want coal seam gas, let alone coal, to be adequately taxed so that the people of Queensland are able to have health, education and transport requirements—let alone protecting the food lands that the Greens would protect but the National Party will not. That all said, the time for testing this in the Senate has come. The measure has been through the House of Representatives. We will have the result of the Senate committee inquiry in the next 24 hours and the Senate ought to get on with this piece of legislation. Just yesterday the government announced that it is going to produce today the taxation measures, the cuts in corporate taxation, which come with this package. Senator Ian Macdonald: You're looking after the big end of town again, Bob. Senator BOB BROWN: The interjecting senator from Queensland says 'looking after the big end of town'. We are going to vote with him, on current indications from his shadow Treasurer, and he is going to support the Greens in this place to have the $2.4 billion—which Labor would, curiously enough, direct towards the big end of town he talks about—redirected into funding, for example, the Gonski report, for better funding of education. I look forward to Senator Macdonald from Queensland supporting the Greens when we move to ensure that that corporate tax break to the big corporations does not go ahead. Mr Hockey, the honourable spokesperson for the senator who is braying opposite, has made clear that they will be supporting the Greens in this matter, and we look forward to that debate in the May and June session. While we differ with the opposition on the very important point of a tax cut for small business, we will be supporting that when the time comes. Senator Abetz: So why are you supporting the guillotine? Senator BOB BROWN: Senator Abetz, the largely missing-in-action leader of the opposition in this place, interjects. What a pathetic opposition this is. How ineffective is this opposition with Senator Abetz sitting in that chair, unable to deal with policy issues. All he can deal with is the personal. When you are at that level you do not succeed in politics. But that is a decision for the opposition to make. The innovative action in this chamber is coming from the crossbench. That is what has happened. The constructive alternatives are coming from the Greens and the crossbench, and the opposition is missing in action. Opposition senators interjecting— Senator BOB BROWN: It is not only there to say no— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Brown, I know you are responding to interjections and I have asked that interjections cease. If interjections cease, I would ask Senator Brown to come back to the question before the chair. Senator Abetz: Hear, hear! The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: It is important that interjections also cease. If we could now get back to the question at hand, in silence, that would serve the chamber well. Senator Brown. Senator BOB BROWN: As usual, Mr Acting Deputy President, you are absolutely correct. The opposition are breaking the rules, but they so frequently do that. Opposition senators interjecting— Senator Ian Macdonald: You just look after the big end of town, Bob! Senator BOB BROWN: Listen to them calling out about their defence of the wealthy. Senator Macdonald is doing that. We are here to look after the average Australian, including the people in the bush. Senator Ian Macdonald: Mr Acting Deputy President, I raise a point of order. I am not going to be lied about by a senator of this calibre and I ask you to ask him to withdraw that direct and deliberate lie. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: I am sorry, I am not aware of what you are referring to, so I am not in a position to direct Senator Brown to do that. Senator Brown. Senator BOB BROWN: Again, you are quite right, Mr Acting Deputy President. He used the word 'wealthy'. He can get up and explain— Senator Ian Macdonald: You look after the wealthy! Senator BOB BROWN: He is saying now that the Greens look after the wealthy. Well, we do. We look after the wealth of the environment in this place. We look after the wealth of opportunity there is. What, in fact, we do not— Opposition senators interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Brown, you have the call. Senator BOB BROWN: Yes, I do, and I am enjoying this so much, but they do not like it over there. There is a need for this to get through so that we adequately deal with an issue at a parliamentary level. The Greens want to see the mining tax dealt with so that we do move on to the corporate tax measures and, indeed, the budget coming down the line. The problem here is that there is not just a 'no' to this move to limit the debate coming from the opposition; there is a 'no' to the mining tax itself. They are the most negative opposition, I think, ever in this parliament in the last 112 years. It is just a 'no-alition'. It is just no, no, no. We heard that from Mr Hockey yesterday: no, no, no. In a way, that is going to turn out to be a positive when they support the Greens on making sure that Australian education and health are better funded. However, the opposition are so ineffective here under the leadership of Senator Abetz. They are so missing in action. Senator Abetz: So you're not getting personal now! Senator BOB BROWN: I am not getting personal, Senator Abetz. I am just stating that you are so ineffective in this place and the opposition are therefore so ineffective in this place. We will see how effective you are very shortly when this matter comes to a determination. The Greens believe not only that the time has come for determination after nearly two years of this debate but that we need to move on to the other great issues of the nation. We need to put through a national disability insurance scheme, which the opposition cannot fund because they have got a $70 billion black hole. We need to move on to national dental health care, which the opposition cannot fund because they have got a $70 billion black hole. We need to move on to funding education as recommended by the Gonski report for the public sector as well as poorer private schools. The opposition have a $70 billion black hole and cannot do that and, in fact, want to take $2.8 billion out of education. Senator Cormann: That is actually not true. Senator BOB BROWN: Senator Cormann says that is not true. The $70 billion black hole—let me just explain that, Senator Cormann. Senator Back: I'm not going to sit here and listen to this nonsense. Senator BOB BROWN: Senator Black is leaving. He can't stand it. Senator McKenzie: Black? Senator Back: I can stand it all right! Senator BOB BROWN: Off he goes. There goes another one. The opposition are so feeble that the best they can do is leave the chamber when they are losing an argument. They are so feeble. I will come back to the point that, with a $70 billion black hole and the opposition here going to be tested next week on failing to raise any money at all from mining, what we are facing is an opposition which, if they were to get in, would not only cut education, not fund a national disability insurance scheme and not adequately fund health, but slash jobs right across this country. Thousands of jobs would go. They talk about the wealthy. If you do not tax adequately in this country—and we are in a country which is way below the OECD average in terms of taxation and, when it comes to corporate taxation, way below US corporate taxation and the taxation in Japan— Senator Ian Macdonald: So why did you excuse the big companies from the flood tax? Senator BOB BROWN: The poor member opposite is reminding me that he, as a Queensland senator, did not want a levy put on to help the people of Queensland after the flood disaster last year. Senator Ian Macdonald: You didn't put the levy on the big end of town—you left them off! The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Macdonald, I ask you to come to order. Senator BOB BROWN: He was going to defund, effectively, the assistance which Labor and the Greens delivered to people suffering from that disaster. He has got very little to talk about there. But, of course, when it comes to a comprehensive debate on the running of this country and the raising of the money that is required to do it, this opposition is missing in action. They do not want extended time here, they now announce. They will not support extended time to debate these matters, so the contradiction becomes complete. Senator Fifield interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order, Senator Fifield! Senator BOB BROWN: Yes, they are shouting again, Acting Deputy President, because they cannot stand it. They cannot stand being faced with their own contradiction of what they are doing here at the moment. I have enjoyed this contribution. I look forward to the debate about the mining tax next week. In the meantime I look forward to dealing with important legislation on health, amongst other things, where the opposition, again, has nothing to contribute but negativity. So it is going to be a very important two weeks. My suggestion to the opposition—and Senator Abetz cannot think this out, but the other members might listen to it—is to come in here with some quality debate—some positive alternatives—in the next week and the Australian people will think a little bit more of you. As it is, they do not know that there is an opposition in the Senate because there is nothing constructive that ever comes from that side of the chamber.