MOTIONS
Senator AYRES (New South Wales—Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science) (10:28): Well, the last 15 minutes have demonstrated why the Senate should not entertain this suspension. It has demonstrated the polarisation and the hyperpartisanship of the Liberals and Nationals and One Nation and, indeed, the Greens political party. That's what it demonstrates.
And it falls to the Labor Party, as the government of Australia, to—in a careful and sensible and effective way, in an orderly way—set out the policy response to this emerging crisis in the Middle East. What this debate demonstrates is that there are no answers down there, there's less than no answers there and there are no answers from the Liberals and Nationals to this set of issues.
Of course military conflict in the Middle East, the decision of the government of Iran to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz, has impacts on Australian fuel, Australian fertiliser and a series of intermediate goods, including plastics. That is the case. The government has been carefully managing these questions but, of course, it has a series of impacts that will be felt today and over the course of the year in terms of the broader economy.
That is the case. What have we seen from the Liberals and Nationals? Well, we have seen hyperventilating and hyperpartisanship when what we should have seen is the approach of an alternative party of government.
They wonder why they keep getting smaller—wringing their hands internally in each of their state branches, worrying their way through these issues when what they should do is act. What they should do, if they want to be a serious party of government, is not do student politics resolutions in here. They should act and move back towards the centre of Australian politics and engage with the real issues for Australians.
They have not been able to bring themselves to do that because of their own internal sense of grievance, their own incapacity to deal with the marginal position that they are currently in in Australian politics. And they have not been able to do it because they are utterly disconnected from where ordinary people are in Australia, in the centre of Australian politics.
That's the problem for them—the tactical position that they adopt. I could at least respect a tactical position that had a hope of—even though it was partisan, even if it was not in the national interest. I could at least, as a base political character myself, understand why you would adopt a hyperpartisan position that was not in the national interest.
I wouldn't like it. I wouldn't do it myself, but I could understand it. But the— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT ( Senator Marielle Smith ): Senator Duniam, is this a point of order?
Senator Duniam: I'm seeking a bit of guidance here. The debate that we're currently in at the moment started at 10.01. I understand there are 30 minutes allocated for debate.
It's now 10.31. I wondered how much longer—as eloquent and on point as this is— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: One moment, please. Senator Duniam, I'm advised that the debate started at 10.02.
As you know, I wasn't in the chair at that time. There have been a number of points of order taken; that is reflecting where the clock is at the moment. I can assure you that it looks like there's only one minute and 35 seconds to go.
So— Honourable senators interjecting— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senators! I've just joined the chair. I don't know what the temperature was like before, but I remind you to keep to order.
Senator AYRES: Well, it was very disruptive until I started making a contribution— The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Senator Ayres, get to the debate. Senator AYRES: I could at least understand a partisan position that offered some hope of partisan advantage, but what these characters are doing every day of the week is not in the interests of Australians. It should be a position in the national interest.
It never is. And every day they advance it. Someone gets smaller, and someone gets bigger.
They ought to bring themselves to understand that. But they can't understand it, because their sense of internal grievance, their extremism and their hyperpartisanship don't allow them to see the national interest. The response of the government will be done in the way it has been done in the Australian interest the Australian way.
We will be orderly. We will be effective. We will be systematic.
We will continue to advance measures working with industry that mean that we offer real, practical assistance to Australian households, to Australian farmers, to Australian business and to Australian industry because we know what this set of challenges means for our national economic interest and our national industrial interest. What those opposite and One Nation and the Greens have demonstrated over the last 20 minutes is that they don't have a hope of understanding those questions.
The PRESIDENT: The question is that the motion to suspend standing orders, moved by Senator Cash, be agreed to.