Excellent order of business today. This is where Senators bring up any matter of topical interest. It is always the best attended and most interesting part of the day. Several Senators made excellent contributions.
Senator Shane Ross spoke about the appointment of the banking chief executive. He spoke with swerve and passion as he outlined how this represented the continuation of the culture that has caused such turmoil.
Senator Eoghan Harris and Jim Walsh spoke about the need to be strong in the face of protest. That’s fair enough but the reforms that you are introducing must be fair in the first place and part of a bigger game plan. My colleague Senator Joe O’Reilly made this point.
I spoke about the need to have a debate on a vision about what we want our country to look and feel like in 2016. I think such a debate might be more challenging for the government than opposition but this is all the more reason to hold it. Our very best days are ahead of us. We need to use debates like these to explain to our country how we will get to these happy days.