Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I withdraw that. But I will make the point here again that the citizenship legislation proposed by Minister Dutton, with the support of the entire cabinet, including Prime Minister Turnbull, is aimed at demonising and ostracising people who are already living, working and raising families in Australia. They are men, women and children who show every day how much they love this country and how hard they are working to contribute to our society and community. They want to make Australia their home. They want to build their lives, or rebuild their lives, in this country. For all their hard work, the government wants to spit in their faces. This legislation is like the policy of a carload of drunk thugs shouting abuse at passers-by. It is the policy of the Cronulla riots.

This legislation assumes the very worst in people—like high-standard English language tests that, I suspect, members of the cabinet would struggle to pass.