Senator MILNE (Tasmania—Leader of the Australian Greens) (14:15): I rise to say that the Greens will not be supporting this motion from Senator Abetz. It has been a stellar performance from Senator Abetz but it is very clear to me that, if the Greens and Labor had suddenly supported this, the blood would have drained out of the faces of the government because they have all got their tickets booked. They are already on planes. They have mentally left this place already, and they would just freak out beyond all measure. We all know that. Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Milne, resume your seat. If honourable members wish to debate this, then they are invited to speak in the debate and not across the chamber in a disorderly manner. Order! Senator MILNE: Any journalist who had been watching this morning would have seen the cases rolling into the offices. They are packed and they are ready to go, and in fact it would be great to see if a journalist could go around and see on what date they are all leaving for their holidays. Let me tell you, all this talk about sitting for Christmas or sitting for the new year is no more than a performance. Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Milne, resume your seat. Order! Honourable senators are doing themselves no justice by calling across the chamber in a disorderly manner—on both sides. Order! Senator MILNE: Not only are we saving the government from themselves in this ridiculous performance, but the other thing we are doing is saving the Australian community from the fact that they want to repeal the mining tax to give their big mates in business a big Christmas present by not having to pay the mining tax. I am sure a lot of Australians will be very pleased that big business, the big end of town, has not been let off the hook. Honourable senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Milne, resume your seat. Senator Milne, continue. Senator MILNE: As I was saying, we are saving the government from itself. Senator Abetz spoke about worrying about savings measures. Well, we are interested in revenue measures. We think it is appropriate that people actually pay their way in this country, and the big end of town do not want to pay their way. They cannot wait. They want you to sit here to get rid of the mining tax so they can maximise their fortunes. No doubt Gina Rinehart and others are on the phone saying, 'Come on; sit there until you get rid of the mining tax so that we can maximise our profits.' I can tell you, Mr President, there are a lot of people around the country who do not want to see the mining tax go, because they believe that the big end of town should pay their way in this country, and we intend to make sure that they do. In fact, we should be raising the mining tax, not actually getting rid of it. We need to have the revenue. We have got a revenue crisis in this country—and that is what we should be addressing. Government senators interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Order! Senator Milne, resume your seat. Order! Senator Milne, continue. Senator MILNE: The Greens are not going to stand by and see this game being played. We know it for what it is. In fact it is a waste of the Senate's time. It is half an hour that you could be spending on the business of the Senate or half an hour bringing on an urgency debate about the big issue of Holden closing down in this country and the future of manufacturing. That would have been a useful thing to do for half an hour of the Senate's time, not half an hour of this fake and false debate, as I said, just covering up for the fact that we know that the ministers' officers are all ready to go and leave here the minute that the Senate finishes. So we will not be supporting this motion. We think they should be talking about the things the country wants to talk about, and that is how we future-proof the nation for these manufacturing industries leaving us.