Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I withdraw. Of course, the request for these documents came from the Dutton coalition because the Dutton coalition are interested in trying to whip up as much fear and hatred as they possibly can in the lead-up to the election. And why? Why? Because they've got nothing else going for them. They've got nothing else going for them. When you don't have any positive ideas and you can't deal with all the mess internally in your own state and territory branches, what do you do? You race-bait. That is why the Dutton coalition continue to try and whip up hate and fear in relation to refugee visas here in Australia.

Peter Dutton has not put forward any positive plan about what his government would do if he were to win the election. All Peter Dutton does is drag people down, whip up fear and throw mud—and there's nothing like a little bit of dog whistling and race-baiting. Peter Dutton reverts to type every single time. That's why these documents were asked for, not because the opposition actually care about the details. They use it as an opportunity to whip up fear, hatred and race-baiting.

Of course, none of this is new. This is what the coalition do election after election. And none of it is particularly original either. It's not just here in Australia that the rabid right-wing thugs like to whip up fear and hatred of migrants and refugees. It's happening at the moment in the US, in the US election. It won't be long before we have Peter Dutton telling people to lock up their pets. This is the level of stupidity. This is the level of nastiness that comes from the Dutton coalition.

We all might have a little chuckle at how ludicrous and stupid these points of debate are in the United States from Donald Trump, but you watch—as we get closer and closer to the election, and Peter Dutton is desperate for power, desperate to sow those seeds of hatred and fear in the community, he will start to use those Donald Trump lines. And there will be several on the crossbench here, over on the right-wing corner, who will start using them as well, because they can't think for themselves. They've got no originality. All of this stuff is just imported from the US. They use the same memes; they just put a different head on. That's the thing about people who race-bait—they're not very original. They've been doing it for generations. It's the same old, tired arguments, and it degrades all of us. It degrades the culture and the national spirit of our country. We are a proud multicultural society. Our country is made up of people from all parts of the world, and most of us are proud of it, but not if you're a rabid right-winger wanting to win power, because that's all they've got. And Peter Dutton will revert to type over and over again in the lead-up to this election.

I urge the Labor Party: don't get fooled by the nasty politics of the nasty party. Don't get dragged down into the gutter with them. Don't get dragged into the gutter by the nasty party. Stand up for what makes our nation great, and it is being an inclusive, compassionate multicultural society, one of the most successful in the world. Don't get dragged down into the gutter by Peter Dutton and the nasty party. Don't think you have to match in this race-baiting race.

Of course, Peter Dutton gets pretty upset when people call this out. He's got one of the most fragile glass jaws of all. He's thin skinned and can't take it. He can dish it out to everybody else, but he can never actually stand the heat when it comes directly to him. You watch—this election is going to be pretty horrible, because the only thing that Peter Dutton has going for him is being nasty, dirty and thuggish. That's the only thing that this opposition have going for them, and they won't even come up with it themselves. They will borrow the memes, the lines and the vibe from Donald Trump. Australia is not the United States. We don't need a Donald Trump here. We need leadership that is transparent, that has integrity, that cares about people and that deals with the real struggles that people are facing.

The reason Peter Dutton talks about the fear of migrants and blames migrants for everything is that he does not have a plan for tackling the cost of living. He doesn't have a plan for dealing with the price gouging of our supermarkets. He doesn't have a plan to deal with housing affordability. He doesn't want to talk about that stuff. He wants to blame migrants and refugees for everything because he's lazy. It's lazy politics. It's nasty politics. It belongs in the gutter.

I urge the Labor Party: don't get tricked, and don't fall into the trap of thinking you have to be in a race with him to the bottom. We've seen it happen before and we don't need to see it again. We know how this story goes. Show some spine, show some courage and stare the nasty party down. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.