Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has again accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of being “a bulldozer” when dealing with the Senate, but Penny Wong dismissed the attack by pointing to how long Labor’s housing bill has been stuck in the upper house without Greens support.
Yesterday, Hanson-Young accused Albanese of being a “bulldozer” like former prime minister Scott Morrison and reiterated the attack in question time this afternoon when asking a question about environmental laws.
Penny Wong leads the government in the Senate on Tuesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“If this is a bulldozer, it’s a pretty slow bulldozer,” Wong responded to Hanson-Young, turning her question about climate change into an attack on the Greens’ approach to Labor’s housing policy.
“I mean, 290 days you’ve had to deal with the housing legislation. Now you’re complaining about being bulldozed.”
Greens senator Nick McKim then rose on a point of order, asking for Wong to be directed to answering the question about the environment.
Hanson-Young then asked a supplementary question: “Why does the prime minister choose to be berated by the Minerals Council and the BCA executives, instead of working in this place to fix our environment laws to protect our forests from logging, and to make sure we help the renewable energy industry with climate considerations?”
Penny Wong and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young speak in July.Credit: James Brickwood
Wong resumed her answer by referencing Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather’s appearance at CFMEU rally in Brisbane last month, calling it “shameful”. But eventually, she responded to Hanson-Young’s question about the environment:
On the environment – but also the overarching challenge, which is climate – we are serious about action on climate and on the environment. And we have taken action.
We have taken action, and we have ambitious targets. We have ambitious, ambitious targets.
We are committed to transitioning our economy, unlike those opposite.
We believe it is possible [to have a] sensible environmental framework and continue economic growth. Unlike your party, we don’t believe that we should be stopping economic growth.
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