Senator MILNE (Tasmania—Leader of the Australian Greens) (12:55): By one's actions one will be judged, not by their words. I think the level of hypocrisy we have just heard from Senator Abetz actually goes to that. Senator Ian Macdonald: You can talk about hypocrisy! Senator MILNE: I would remind fellow senators— Senator Ian Macdonald: What you used to say in the old days when it was a coalition government— Senator MILNE: that the Howard government guillotined the privatisation of Telstra. Senator Ian Macdonald: What did you say about that? Hypocrisy in the 10th degree. Senator MILNE: We have just heard Senator Abetz ranting and raving and mixing his metaphors here. So far, we have had jackboots, the guillotine and the puff of white smoke. But let us actually go to what happened. The coalition actually guillotined the privatisation of Telstra after 14 hours of debate and only a one-day inquiry. Let's just get that on the record. Not only that, but the coalition also guillotined the Northern Territory intervention. Senator Ian Macdonald: What hypocrisy. The carbon tax—18 bills, 10 mins each. Senator MILNE: I know that Senator Macdonald thinks that the 1,900 people who have lost their jobs from Fairfax have done so because of carbon pricing. That is the lunacy of the coalition, and we hear that day in and day out. That was one of their more lunatic statements yesterday. Senator Ian Macdonald: How much time did you allow to debate that? Senator MILNE: The coalition also guillotined the water reform package. So, let us go to those three things: the privatisation of Telstra, the intervention in the Northern Territory, and water reform in Australia. Senator Ian Macdonald: What about the Regional Forest Agreements Bill? Your former leader went for 27 hours on that. Senator MILNE: Mr Acting Deputy President Cameron, I am having difficulty speaking here because of the constant harping from Senator Macdonald. Thank goodness he is now learning to be quiet. Senator Ian Macdonald interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Cameron ): Order, Senator Macdonald! Senator MILNE: Senator Abetz says that he should be judged on his actions rather than his words. Senator Ian Macdonald interjecting— Senator MILNE: I want to remind the Senate that when the coalition controlled the Senate his bragging in here went to the issue of the time management of the Senate. I want to remind the Senate that when the coalition had control they completely abused the Senate by changing the Senate committee process, and gave the coalition itself control of every single Senate committee. Senator Ian Macdonald: And your guillotine fixes that? What hypocrisy. Senator MILNE: What is more, they used their numbers in here to block Senate inquiry after Senate inquiry. They blocked every single move for a Senate inquiry that the Greens put up between 2004 and 2007, except for two. One of those was the inquiry into peak oil and the impact of Australia's dependence on foreign oil. Senator Ian Macdonald: How can you, bare faced, get up and repeat this hypocrisy? Senator MILNE: The other, after many times of trying, was when Senator Siewert and I managed to get an inquiry into the impacts of climate change on Australian agriculture. Had the coalition allowed the kinds of inquiries the Greens tried to get up through those years, we would have had an awareness of the impacts of climate change across all sectors a lot sooner. So, when the coalition talk about time management, they need to refer to the fact that they tightly controlled the Senate committee process as to what committee inquiries could be held, for how long and so on. Also, they not only controlled the outcomes, by controlling the numbers on those committees, but they actually blocked many inquiries. Unlike that, in this period of government, when there has been shared power, we have seen not only a large number of Senate inquiries go forward from all parties; we have also seen particular select committee inquiries get up which the coalition have moved ad infinitum and have had many inquiries around the country on particular matters. So there has been a much more democratic representation of the concerns of the community, represented through those Senate inquiry processes, than ever occurred when the coalition had control of both houses. When Senator Abetz talked about a coalition controlled Senate, he failed to mention one of the most appalling scandals in modern Australian history—that is, the Wheat Board scandal. People around Australia still shake their heads and wonder how it could have been that, at a time when Australia had our troops serving in Iraq, the Australian Wheat Board was paying off, to the tune of $220 million, transport companies—bribery, I think it is called. That occurred when the coalition had control of both houses of parliament. So, when you talk, be judged on your actions and not on your words. Australia will never forget the scandal of the Wheat Board inquiry. Senator Ian Macdonald interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Cameron ): Order! Senator Macdonald, I draw your attention to the fact that interjections are usually accepted as part of the process, but continual interjections are disorderly—and you are getting to the stage of being disorderly. Senator Milne. Senator MILNE: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President. As I was saying about the Wheat Board scandal—where $220 million in bribes was paid—when the royal commission was set up Minister Ruddock made the terms of reference so narrow that ministers could not be called before the Cole royal commission. So, if we want to get to talking about what actually happens when there is no accountability, when you have one party controlling both houses of parliament: you get anti-democratic outcomes. I was here this week— Senator Ian Macdonald: But this is okay, is it? When you guillotine debates, that's okay, is it? Senator MILNE: Mr Acting Deputy President, it is rather tedious to have someone so lacking in imagination that there is no repartee or excitement or interest in this; it is just a drone from over there. But, never mind, I will continue. The Northern Territory intervention was a disgrace, and indeed there is no evidence base to support it, which is why the Greens continue to oppose it—and, indeed, oppose the government's proposed Stronger Futures, because there is no evidence base for that. I can assure you that, at least in a democratic parliament, where power is shared, there will be a serious— Senator Ian Macdonald: This is democratic! The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Macdonald! Senator MILNE: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy President. There will be a proper investigation into Stronger Futures, and I will ensure that that is the case—having held a press conference earlier this week, with a number of Aboriginal elders from around the country, putting on the record their opposition. I raise that in the context that it was the Howard government, with several of the members still in this parliament here at the time, who guillotined that debate on the Northern Territory intervention. We had Senator Abetz talking about the fact that the Greens, in a balance-of-power parliament, where there is the opportunity for all parties, all Independents— Senator Ian Macdonald: Except the coalition! Senator MILNE: All parties, including the coalition, have an opportunity to actually cooperate and work on constructive outcomes. That is one of the real benefits of a shared-power parliament, and smart oppositions recognise that they actually have some power in those contexts— Senator Ian Macdonald: You are delusional! Senator MILNE: and work with other parties to get constructive outcomes. But the coalition has chosen not to be constructive and use the power it has in a balance-of-power parliament. Instead, it has chosen to run a negative agenda from day one, opposing everything and filibustering for days and days. The filibuster that occurred around the Carbon Farming Initiative is a classic case of this. For weeks in the Senate the coalition, the National Party and the Liberals stood up one after the other and said how bad it was, how shocking it was, what a disaster it would be for rural Australia—and then, when finally we got through the Carbon Farming Initiative, we heard from the coalition that it no longer opposed that part of that clean energy package; no, it was going to support it and keep it, in the event that the coalition ever got back into power. The issue here is that the coalition absolutely wasted the time of the parliament. They railed full of complete and utter rubbish, put up all kinds of propositions that were unsubstantiated and then, when they lost and it passed, they said, 'Oh, no, we will keep it as it is'—having just spent hours, weeks, saying how bad it was. That is the kind of nonsense that you get when an unintelligent opposition refuse to use a shared balance-of-power parliament to actually get constructive outcomes. Senator Abetz was criticising the Greens for using a balance-of-power parliament to get constructive outcomes. Well, I say that the most productive periods of parliament are balance-of-power or shared-power parliaments, because it is in those circumstances that ideas have to be negotiated and talked about, that amendments are brought forward and significant progress is made. For example, we are addressing climate change. Unfortunately there are still members of the coalition who do not believe that climate change is happening and that it is human induced. And I see that Senator Bernardi has his hand up. He is still— Senator Ian Macdonald: It has been happening for millions of years. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Cameron ): Order! Senator Macdonald, you are continually interrupting. Your conduct is disorderly. You know the standing orders as well as, if not better than, most people in the Senate. I ask you to show some respect to the Senate and some respect for the speaker. Senator MILNE: Yes, Senator Macdonald is demonstrating a lack of respect for the Senate. On addressing climate change, this is the most compelling issue that any parliament right around the world is ever going to have to deal with. I point out to the Senate that Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, came out with a report this week that said that emissions trading and carbon pricing were indeed the way to address— Senator Ian Macdonald: Mr Deputy President, I rise on a point of order on relevance. This speaker is trying to rehash a debate on climate change, which everybody knows has been happening for millions of years. The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Macdonald, that is not a point of order. Senator MILNE: I am merely responding to Senator Abetz. I noticed that Senator Macdonald found Senator Abetz riveting and totally relevant but does not find the same issue relevant now. Senator Macdonald needs to recognise that the IMF has exactly the same position as the Greens on emissions trading. It says that $20 a tonne is an appropriate carbon price and that there needs to be a pathway to increase that over time consistent with the scientific imperative. On the issue of marriage equality, I am very delighted and proud of the fact that the Greens are playing a very strong role in working towards marriage equality, just as we are on the issue of addressing climate change. This is an issue of discrimination in the Australian community. We want to get rid of discrimination in Australia and that is why we opposed the Stronger Futures legislation and the Northern Territory intervention—they are discriminatory. It is why we take such a strong view on social justice when it comes to people seeking asylum in our country. It is also why we support marriage equality. We happen to think that the removal of discrimination is a key component of a healthy life in a democratic society that is progressive and pursuing long-term change for the better. That is where the Greens are coming from. If the coalition had demonstrated that they were able to use the shared balance of power in a constructive way and not spent all their time on useless filibusters and in making ridiculous claims—such as the claim that Fairfax is reducing its workforce by 1,900 because of carbon pricing, which is complete and utter nonsense—then we would not need to pass this kind of motion. Because their nonsense goes on for days and days, we want to make sure that we get legislation through this parliament for the long-term betterment of the country. One of the bills that will be coming before the Senate soon is to establish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. That will provide $10 billion to support renewable energy and low carbon emissions technology in Australia. That will help drive the kinds of change that the community wants us to pursue. We are trying to make this country more responsive to the climate task and more innovative. We want new manufacturing to be built in Australia to make up for the hollowing out of the manufacturing sector that occurred under the Howard government. We also want to see a major investment in education in Australia and particularly the implementation of the Gonski review. As the Secretary of the Treasury said last night, Australia cannot expect to continue to base its prosperity on mineral extraction. We have to invest in increased productivity. He called it hard work but I say that it has to do with investing in education and training. That is the key way in which we will improve productivity in Australia. That productivity increase has to come from maximising our investment in education and training. For a democratic parliament to work well all parties need to be positive and need to want to bring about long-term change for a better future for Australia. That does not mean filibustering debates; that does not mean stacking and changing parliamentary committees to make sure that you can never get outcomes other than those the government wants; that does not mean blocking other people from being able to set up Senate inquires. The Senate inquiry process is one of the strengths of the Senate and that process was completely destroyed under the Howard government. It does not augur well to hear someone like Senator Abetz speaking with such hypocrisy about time management while failing to acknowledge that the Howard government chose to guillotine the privatisation of Telstra, the Northern Territory intervention and the water reforms. The Greens will be supporting this motion. We want to see constructive outcomes for Australia in the long term. We want a stronger and better Australia. That is where we come from. We are going to put our shoulders to the wheel and make sure that we get good legislative outcomes for Australia. We will do that while the coalition continues with its harping negativity, its complete denial of science and reality and the intent to uphold discrimination in Australia. If that is what the coalition stands for, then it will be judged by its actions.