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

Given that it's come up, I'm going to place on the record what Senator Anning said. When I read out the name of Mr Mohammad Al-Khafaji, who is the Acting Chief Executive Officer of FECCA, Senator Anning said words to the effect of 'I'm sure he's on the dole.' I'll leave it to the Senate to decide whether that's acceptable. I don't believe that that is acceptable. I note Senator Anning's not denying what I have placed on the record that he said. I want to place my views on this very clearly. Despite the utter stupidity of making such a statement, given that Mr Al-Khafaji is actually the Acting Chief Executive Officer of FECCA and, therefore, clearly not on unemployment benefits, the racism inherent in that statement is there for this whole country and this whole chamber to see.

It does illustrate the point that I was making, which is that Labor have stitched up a deal on migration policy with the racists and the xenophobes. I hope that Senator Cameron, with all his 'Certainly, the impotent are pure' rubbish, felt comfortable sitting over there with Senator Anning and Senator Pauline Hanson. Of course, last week Senator Pauline Hanson said the words, 'I am so proud of the Labor Party'. If you're getting hugs and kisses from Senator Hanson, that says an awful lot more about the Labor Party than I could, than any of the other Greens could or, in fact, than any member of the Labor Party would care to admit. You've pulled the wrong rein here, Senator Cameron. Surely that is clear to you now. The point is it is not too late to fix this, because we are going to give you a chance to do the right thing on the third reading of this legislation by calling another division. We're going to give you a chance, finally, at five seconds to midnight, to do the right thing, to stick up for ethnic communities in this country, to stick up for migrants to this country who, through our recent history as a nation, have contributed so much to building this country and who are being done over tonight by the Australian Labor Party.

You have to ask yourself: why has the ALP stitched up this dirty deal to do over migrants? When you look at the motivations for it, there's only one I could possibly think of. Why would they pay the price of negotiating on migration policy with racists and xenophobes in order to deliver a budget saving so that when they come into government the budget is in better shape than it otherwise would have been—$1.3 billion over the four out-years of this year's budget; that is the budget saving. We always knew the Labor Party would sell out, but we know more now. We know their price. Do you know what? It's a dirty deal done dirt cheap. $1.3 billion is peanuts in the context of the four out-years in Commonwealth budgets. It is parking meter change down the back of the couch. That's what Labor have sold out for: a pitiful $1.3 billion over four years. And they're voting over there with Senator Anning. They're voting over there with Senator Pauline Hanson. I won't forget this day. I will not forget it. I won't forget you, Senator Anning, the resident racist of this chamber. And I won't forget Senator Cameron, quoting us, 'Certainly the impotent are pure'.

I will tell you what—to all Labor Party members—if you'd actually kept your purity on this legislation, if you had held fast to the values you purport to hold and voted with the Greens and other crossbenchers, this legislation would be consigned to the dustbin of history. Instead, it's going to get passed, against the wishes of ACOSS, against the wishes of FECCA, and against the wishes of every significant stakeholder that represents migrant Australians. This is going to be passed against their wishes, the wishes of the Australian Greens and the wishes of other crossbenchers in this place who understand the value that migrants bring to this country. They understand the value that migrants have brought in the past, and we understand—unlike the Labor Party, going on their record tonight—the value that migrants will bring into the future for this country.

You don't separate Australians into different classes of people. We all are entitled to the same access to the law, and we oughtn't be voting to require people to work and pay tax and then turn around and tell them that the social security safety net that their taxes have paid for is not available—or part of it is not available—to them. That is the position that the Labor Party have brought into this debate. Well, I'll tell you what, I have seen the light on the hill flickering and guttering in my time in politics. That light on the hill that so many in the ALP still like to look at and pretend is burning brightly, I've rarely seen it so close to going out as I have tonight. I hope you're all ashamed of yourselves.

A division having been called and the bells being rung—