Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the chamber's support in suspending standing orders to talk about this most crucial matter, and that is the conduct that we will tolerate, the words that we say we will tolerate and then the actions that are taken when those alleged behavioural standards are broken. So I'm very pleased that the chamber has supported this motion today. We simply wanted Senator Hanson to withdraw her racially charged remarks and to apologise to Senator Faruqi for them.

Instead of that, we heard a repetition of those remarks, and I'm very pleased, President, that you now will be giving further consideration to the consequences of Senator Hanson refusing to abide by your direction to withdraw those remarks, which, as you correctly ruled, were in breach of the standing orders and which are also in breach of those codes of conduct. It's important for us to uphold those standards. We're senators in this place, we're privileged, and we could have ignored that. But you know who can't ignore racism and racial slurs? The millions of Australians that face that on the streets and in their workplaces every single day. It is our obligation to call out that behaviour as unacceptable in this workplace and to set the standard for every other sphere of society. We've just seen an incredibly divisive and racially charged referendum, and people's hearts are broken. Let us now please recommit to holding that standard of not permitting racially divisive speech or religious discrimination in this chamber.

We won't walk past this conduct. We will call out this conduct every time it occurs, and until such time as we have the independent enforcement body which will be charged with making sure that these behaviour standards are in fact made real consequences flow, until such time as that independent parliamentary standards commission is finally established—and I might add there are some people in this place who have been dragging the chain on that, and they need to stop dragging the chain on that—until that independent enforcement body is established, we will call this out every single time. Thank you, President, for taking under advisement the further actions and the consequences that should flow for Senator Hanson.

I might add that the draft behaviour standards for Commonwealth workplaces will soon also be enforceable, and there will be a prohibition on racial, religious, sex and gender discrimination that will apply in all Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces. It is not just this chamber where these standards need to be upheld. The commitment that we have made, thanks to the excellent work of former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, is that the standard in all Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces will be one that is free from discrimination. I look forward to the enforcement of those codes. I remind all in this chamber that we have committed to uphold those behaviour standards and those codes of conduct, and we will call out conduct that is racially charged, that is divisive and that is utterly inappropriate.