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Thursday, 13 October 2011
Page: 7294

Senator RYAN (Victoria) (09:48): Sadly, I come to this motion today. I should be shocked by it. I should be shocked by the hypocrisy shown by the Greens. But my experience with them over a decade plus shows that one cannot be shocked by it. Yesterday we saw the constant application of the gag and the guillotine. The party in the corner of this chamber preaches but does not act. It is like an American television evangelist in the 1980s. It comes in here—I very soon expect to see tears and I am sorry if they find themselves on the other side of the chamber.

Senator Brown and the Greens have never shown a willingness to measure themselves by the same standards they measure everyone else by. If it is about donations, apparently corporate donations are evil, except if they are in the largest donation in history, received by Senator Brown. If it is about the gag—it is okay if rich people give you money, Senator Brown, is it? It is not okay if small businesses give a bit of money to someone. It is okay, just like it is with the media. Those who write things you like, those who support the green agenda, you do not subject to scrutiny.

Opposition senators interjecting—

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Order on my left!

Senator Bob Brown: Mr Deputy President, I raise a point of order. You have ruled that Senator Ludwig must address the chair. I think this senator should follow the same rule.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: As I did earlier, I remind all senators to address their remarks to the chair.

Senator RYAN: Mr Deputy President, my apologies. Quite correct: I will address my remarks through the chair. But I have to disagree with the comments of my leader on this when he described the fleas that are on the Labor dog right across the country, because I think it is more like a tick. A tick is a true parasite. It sinks its teeth into something and then tries to suck it dry. What we have with the alliance we are seeing opposite, which prevents issues like this being discussed, is an alliance where not only is the tail wagging the dog but the tick is sucking the life out of a once-great party—and they have to stand here and defend them. They have to stand here and not subject the people to the same standards that they wish to subject the other side of this chamber to.

When we had heads of state in this parliament, the leaders of our closest allies, we saw a student-like protest in the House of Representatives chamber. Are you proud—

Senator McLucas: Just like this; just like what you're doing now.

Senator RYAN: I will take that interjection, Senator McLucas. Are you proud that you have to work with these people? I bet you are not. I bet you are not, just like most people on your side. Because when the President of the United States was here, Senator McLucas—

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Through the chair.

Senator RYAN: Mr Deputy President, when the President of the United States was here, it was like watching a student protest on television as the leftovers from the Vietnam marches of the 1960s suddenly lived out their baby boomer dreams and tried to disrupt a joint sitting of the parliament for a foreign head of state. That was a low point, Mr Deputy President, an absolute low point.

What we see from the Greens is a history of deception, duplicity and double standards. They are a group of people, a party, that talk about freedom of speech yet actually want to have an inquiry into the media, and they openly attack some private newspapers as the 'hate media'. Why do they do that? Why are those journals attacked? They are attacked because of the issue of being subjected to scrutiny. We have seen supporters of the Greens challenge television journalists and launch GetUp! campaigns because someone was not questioned in a nice way on what used to be the 'Greens Broadcasting Corporation'. How dare someone on the 'Greens Broadcasting Corporation' occasionally question them! What we are seeing right through this chamber—and I have been here for only just over three years—is a pattern of duplicity, deception and double standards.

All the opposition is asking is that Senator Hanson-Young have the opportunity to live up to the standards set by her leader—nothing less and nothing more. The modern-day Inquisition that is the Greens party is one where if you do not like the Greens they will subject you to a government media inquiry, where if you do not like the Greens they will set the mob upon you. We know the antecedents of the Greens party. We know what their supporters are like when they see people that we do not like. We were all opposed to the messages of Pauline Hanson, but it was not members of this side who were throwing urine bombs; it was not members of this side trying to blockade public meetings of people they do not like. We challenged their ideas, but the Greens seek to shut down debate. Today, just like we are seeing in the media, just like we have seen with the gag, just like we have seen with the guillotine and just like we have seen with their behaviour when foreign heads of state visit this chamber, we see nothing less than complete duplicity. The tick that is the Greens is sucking the Labor Party dry, and it is sad to see them not even willing to subject the Greens to some basic scrutiny.