2015-09-15
Senator Richard Di Natale
Wow, what a couple of days.
I've seen five leadership changes since I've been in Parliament, and I have to say, like all of you, I was not sorry to see the back of Tony Abbott. He made getting positive outcomes in Parliament almost impossible. I have never seen a Prime Minister as obstructive, reckless and contemptuous as Tony Abbott.
Having said that, I'm not fooled into thinking that changing a leader changes a party. The Liberal Party has a strong ideological foundation that is anti-people and anti-environment and anti-equality.
I doubt Malcolm Turnbull will change that. Already we've seen PM Turnbull use his first day as PM to make his position on global warming and marriage equality crystal clear — he's keeping Tony Abbott's climate policies and pandering to the ultra-conservatives in his Party by sticking to Abbott's pledge to hold a plebiscite on marriage equality after the election.
Fresh faces
Meanwhile, as the Liberal Party preserved the disappointing status quo, today we welcomed our two newest Senators into our Greens Team. Party Room agreed that Nick McKim will be our Greens' spokesperson for the Attorney-General's Department, Schools and Small Business, and Robert Simms will be our spokesperson for Higher Education, LGBTI and Marriage Equality, and Water and Murray Darling.
Nick has extensive experience as Tasmania's former Minister for Education, and I know will continue the great work of Peter Whish-Wilson to champion small business and work towards a more collaborative and sustainable economy. Of course, we will all greatly miss Penny Wright and her incredible advocacy in the Schools, Mental Health and Attorney-General portfolios, but we know Nick will do a fantastic job standing up to the Federal Government's attacks on civil liberties and human rights.
Meanwhile Janet Rice has taken over responsibility for the Greens in the important area of Mental Health and will be our spokesperson on Gender Identity.
Robert has a long history of higher education campaigning. As well as being a casual academic at Flinders University, he has coordinated South Australian campus campaigns against Howard's HECS increases and voluntary student unionism. Lee Rhiannon has been an incredible advocate for students and student services, and a fierce campaigner against the government's relentless attacks on TAFEs and Universities. We look to forward to seeing Robert continue this important work with members and supporters around the country. Robert will also become our LGBTI spokesperson and will build on Janet's hard work growing support for marriage equality in the parliament as well as her fantastic advocacy from within the community.
It's always very exciting to welcome new people to the team and I am sure they will do a great job championing those campaigns in the lead up to the election (whenever that is…).
Clear purpose
The most important thing we can take away from this week is determination to remain focused on standing up for the things that matter to our community, and not be distracted by the political argy-bargy and election speculation. It's not just the PM that's the problem, it's the Liberal Party's policies - and we have an opportunity from now right until the election to show the Australian people what our policies for a kinder and more sustainable country can deliver to the Australian people.
We have a job to do.
It's our job to stand up for the things that matter to our community — meaningful action on climate change, the humane and decent treatment of all people, affordable healthcare and education.
I am so proud to be part of the only party in Australia that has a courageous vision to transition away from the polluting industries of the past and embrace the opportunities and innovation of the future.
Onwards!