Meeting of the Parliament 16 June 2026 [Draft]
I thank the member for that intervention, and I absolutely agree with him. We all need to be wise to the fact that there are outside influences, and indeed other nations, who intend us harm and are seeking to disrupt and influence our discourse. The point is certainly well made.
At the start of this session of Parliament, there have been warm words from many members across the chamber about the need to work together to cross political divides in the national interest, and so show people who are disaffected and disillusioned with politics that this place can be a force for good and can deliver tangible change in their lives. I whole-heartedly agree with those sentiments, but I wonder how long any of those lofty intentions will last before they are swallowed up in the day-to-day cut and thrust of political intrigue and partisan conflict.
Too often, this place has failed in its duties to deliver genuine, principled scrutiny of Government—something on which our very democracy depends. The Government deserves to get a hard time from me and all other back-bench members, but we need to find a way of interacting and working in this place that does not extinguish the humanity of the individual whom we are questioning or, in the case of members of the Government, the individual whose question they are answering.
That means saying what we mean and meaning what we say, letting our yes be a yes and our no be a no. It means that we need to have the humility—not something that politicians are often blessed with—to admit when we have gone too far, and to extend grace to others when they do the same. Not every one of us will manage that, and certainly not every day.