DOCUMENTS

Senator HANSON-YOUNG (South Australia—Manager of Australian Greens Business in the Senate) (15:11): The Greens are extremely disappointed that the opposition has refused to allow Senator Payman to table this list of 17,000 children's names—the names of children who are now dead, innocent children who have died in this brutal war, this brutal attack on innocent civilians and families—and we are disappointed to hear that pathetic excuse from the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.

If you can't bring yourself to even acknowledge, let alone condemn, the killing of innocent children, nothing will ever melt your heart, ever. It is just abhorrent that, day after day, all we hear from the opposition on this topic is excuse after excuse after excuse and justifications for the murder of children, the starvation of children and using children as weapons in war.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Hanson-Young, you are getting very close to, if not well overstepping, the mark of reflecting on others in the chamber. Senator Allman-Payne: Are you taking your own point of order? Senator Shoebridge: No-one took a point of order, because there is no point of order.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Shoebridge, the chair can rule. That is just ridiculous, quite frankly. Senator Allman-Payne?

Senator Allman-Payne: Chair, there was no reflection on any individual member of parliament. It was on a party. That is not a point of order.

The DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Actually, previous presidents' rulings say that reflecting on groups in this chamber is as bad as, if not worse than, reflecting on an individual. Senator Hanson-Young has the call. Senator HANSON-YOUNG: Thank you, Mr Deputy President.

I will not stand here and be lectured to by a political party that refused to acknowledge, let alone condemn, the murder and slaughter of innocent children and the starvation of children. If the opposition cannot bring themselves to acknowledge this suffering at this moment, they have absolutely misread not just public opinion but their role as legislators and as leaders in this community.

I support, as do the rest of my party, the tabling of these names. I'd just add one more thing: the reason why this is an important document to be tabled is that the independent organisation that has brought this list of names to this place is the apolitical, internationally recognised organisation Amnesty International, which is not associated with any political party.

They gathered on the lawns of Parliament House last week, and they invited every single one of us down there to participate in the acknowledgement and reading out of the names of these innocent children. All of the Greens senators were there, and I know a number of other members of both houses were there. If we can't even bring ourselves to acknowledge that powerful statement and that call to action for leadership and compassion in this place, then we may as well pack up and go home.