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

I withdraw. But we have seen her build her political career on demonising sections of our community. She started with Asian people, decades ago, demonising Asian people for her own base political purposes. Then she moved on to Muslim people, and she has demonised Muslim people for their religion and their culture for her own base political purposes. Now she's moving on to trans folk. The Australian Greens see Senator Hanson for what she is, and we see her business model for what it is: built on bigotry, built on racism—that is what history shows us about Senator Hanson, and here we find ourselves again today.

The Australian Greens are not going to have a bar of Senator Hanson setting up an inquiry to allow trans people in this country to be demonised under parliamentary privilege. We're not going to have a bar of setting up a court for Senator Hanson to hold court in, so she can run her radical anti-trans agenda.

Trans rights are human rights. Trans folk in this country have every right to be celebrated, to be supported, to be loved, to be valued and to be nurtured.

I want to say to trans people in Australia that the Australian Greens are with you. We have your backs against this kind of demonisation and bigotry that Senator Hanson is trying to peddle in this chamber today—cheap gutter politics from Senator Hanson. The Australian Greens will always have the back of trans and gender-diverse and queer folks in this country. We are the only party that has a track record of every MP, every time, on every vote, whether it be in state or territory or Commonwealth parliaments, voting for marriage equality. We spearheaded that campaign, and we will use that foundation to spearhead the resistance against the kind of bigotry and hatred that trans people are now facing from Senator Hanson and her cohort.

Trans rights are human rights. Trans folk are beautiful.

My handsome, funny stepson Jasper is a young trans man, and I am so proud of him. He's making his way in life, like so many other young people are, with all of the difficulties young people are facing right now, through the environmental and climate calamity that we are living through, through being unfairly priced out of the housing market—through all of the challenges that young people are facing. I'm so proud of Jasper. He's moved to Melbourne. He's got himself a good job in politics—not with the Greens, I might add; I just want to rule out the nepotism angle there! I am so proud of him. He's a smart, funny, awesome young human. Honestly, Senator Hanson, I'd be happy, and I'm sure Jasper would be happy, to sit down with you and have a conversation about his journey through life and the challenges he's had to face.