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Monday, 21 November 2016
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Senator McKIM (Tasmania) (17:30): Senator Roberts, I could not possibly tell you any more about climate change than the CSIRO, NASA, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Met Office in the United Kingdom and the overwhelming majority of scientists around the world. I could not possibly school you any better than Professor Brian Cox did on Q&A or any better than Dr Gavin Schmidt and Dr Alan Finkel have recently done. I could not possibly school you as well as that. Do you know what? When you get the empirical evidence that you so consistently demand, what we get from you is conspiracy theories—pure, simple conspiracy theories.

Senator Roberts believes that Australia ceded its sovereignty to the United Nations 20 years ago. Senator Roberts believes that Australia—and, in fact, global finances—are controlled by the tight-knit international banking sector. I wonder who you think they are, Senator Roberts. I wonder who you mean by that. Presumably you think that NASA is trying to read your thoughts through the fillings in your teeth, that the chemtrails are impacting on your neural pathways or that maybe the lizard people are stealing your thoughts through the special implants in your brain that they put in while you were sleeping one night! It is interesting, because I found this tinfoil hat outside the Senate door that you usually come in through, Senator Roberts. I wonder: if the hat fits, would you like to wear it, Senator Roberts?

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: May I remind all senators that props are not allowed in the Senate. May I further remind you, Senator McKim, that your address must be to the chair, not directly to other senators.

Senator McKIM: I was just trying to help Senator Roberts. I thought he might have dropped his hat. Anyway, regardless of whether Senator Roberts needs the tinfoil hat, I look forward to his next motion, perhaps questioning whether the moon landing actually took place or whether Tasmania is really an island! When you close your eyes, Senator Roberts, is it still there? Really, seriously, haven't we all got better things to do than debate the conspiracy theory laden rubbish that you bring into this place?

The real world—not the fantasy world that Senator Roberts lives in—is quite rightly moving to prevent global warming from getting worse even more rapidly. Quite rightly, many of us are doing that. Quite rightly, those moves will always be championed and advanced by the Australian Greens so that we do everything we can to bequeath to our children and our grandchildren the same crack at life that those of us lucky enough to live today have had.