Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Special Minister of State and Scrutiny of Government Waste) Share this | Hansard source

What a remarkable intervention halfway through the discussion on a bill that I had addressed, that I was not going to speak to because we were in committee and was not going to speak to after that. We have the most rattled minister, apart from Minister Garrett, in the Rudd government jumping in and intervening. Senator Conroy, the simple fact is that you have had a miserable week because your judgment has been severely questioned. Your decision to bandy yourself around the country and accept largesse from anyone who made an offer has left you exposed in relation to what it is. You know that, under the ministerial standards, you have an obligation to ensure that whatever you do does not leave your or the government open, does not leave you or the government bare. What you have done this week with this ridiculous intervention at this hour, at five minutes to two, just shows that you are completely and utterly rattled. What it shows is that if you had wanted this bill on you could have done it well before now. The bottom line is that you are rattled and your decision this morning about whether NBN will be wholesale or retail—you are just desperately looking for the front page of the paper to divert from your complete and utter inadequacies.

You know and I know that this bill was never going to be debated today. You know and I know, from what we have heard from Senator Siewert, that this was never, ever going to be debated under non-controversial legislation. You owe the Manager of Opposition Business an apology. You called him gutless, as did that senator sitting behind you, who should have the guts to apologise. When you are wrong, you say sorry. Say sorry now, because you have completely and utterly misrepresented Senator Parry.