STATEMENTS BY SENATORS
Senator HODGINS-MAY (Victoria) (13:22): Let's get this straight: the gas industry gets our resources for free, pays next to no tax, obliterates our climate and environment, and now, it seems, does not even have to prove that it can clean up afterwards. You cannot make this stuff up. Our oceans, including the beautiful Bass Strait off the coasts of Victoria and Tasmania, should not be left with rusting junk, toxic rigs and contaminated pipelines when gas projects dry up, and taxpayers definitely should not be left to stump up those clean-up costs.
Just last month, gas companies Pilot Energy and Triangle Energy went broke, leaving behind a ghost rig and a potential $200 million clean-up bill with no clear owner. Federal and state governments must require these companies to prove they have the funds to cover decommissioning costs upfront. They must put these funds aside so that taxpayers aren't once again left to foot the bill.
We ask renters to do this; the Labor government treats oil and gas giants better than everyday Australian renters. Come on! Labor keeps kicking these reforms down the road, just like the companies do with their decommissioning.
The Wilderness Society was forced to do the work of bringing this vital legal case to light. This burden should not fall on NGOs. Labor must show leadership.
This is clearly a matter of public interest. It's a matter of fairness and basic respect for our oceans and our communities. We've seen the privatisation movie before, and it is a dud.
Victorians paid the price, and now Labor looks like it could be planning a sequel with Melbourne Water. Labor is reportedly considering whether to sell, lease or monetise Melbourne Water. But we know what can happen when essential services are put in private hands.
Look at the UK—bills soared, services suffered and raw sewerage ended up in rivers and on beaches. Water is not a luxury; it is an essential public service, and Melbourne Water should not become a cash machine for a government looking to patch up a hole in its budget. That's why the Greens are calling on Labor to rule out any sale, lease or monetisation of Melbourne Water—no spin, no creative accounting, no dodgy deals.
Victorians are under enormous cost-of-living pressure. They shouldn't have to pay more for water so Labor can get a short-term cash injection from a public asset. This is all part of a bigger pattern, of course.
Labor has followed Jeff Kennett down the privatisation path, from ports and roads to public housing and other essential services. We've seen this movie before; we know how it ends. Public assets belong to the public, and, if Labor has nothing to hide, come clean and rule out privatising our water.
When serious allegations of sexual assault emerge, our first concern should be for the women at the centre of them, not what it might mean for a football club or a finals campaign. While the investigation must now take its due course, we also need to confront a bigger question: why is male entitlement, disrespect and violence towards women still so pervasive?
Australians love AFL, but it doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's part of a broader culture where gambling and alcohol are deeply embedded in the game and where misogyny, sexism and homophobia have long and ugly histories. We put footy players on pedestals, but what matters more than what kind of player or teammate someone is is how they treat women and girls.
Women and girls who love the AFL deserve to know that the game respects them and their safety, too. When the conversation turns to what it means for the team, the finals or the AFL, our priorities are completely out of whack. We should be asking how we support the victims-survivors, how we challenge the attitudes and behaviours that enable violence and what the AFL and its clubs will do to genuinely make women safer.
This isn't about tackling the AFL; it's about expecting better from a game that we and Australians love right across this country. Respect, of course, has to be more than a slogan. Men have a responsibility to challenge misogyny and to challenge harmful behaviour every time they see it.
No club's reputation, player's career or premiership will ever be more important than the safety and dignity of women.