Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want the people listening to this, including those in the gallery, to understand that it is a blow to our democracy and the use of this parliament for all of us to look at this legislation which is going to be proposed and the impact it's going to have. For us to only just have received a draft of this in the last hour—and I haven't seen it—is uncommon for this parliament. We are rushing bills through and guillotining. There's no debate. There's nothing happening. And this is a real shame.

We're talking about the youth of this nation. We're going to shut them out from any internet or activity on social media whatsoever, because you want to be the nanny state. You want to take the control parents have over their children. Okay—there are things they're watching on the internet and social media. And you talk about bullying. Until you can actually deal with bullying in classrooms, what gives you the right to control what they watch on the internet, Facebook or these other social media outlets? You can't even control the classrooms, but you want to control what they watch.

I've pushed in this place four times to have a Senate inquiry into gender dysphoria, puberty blockers and hormone treatments for our children. Parents came here crying because of what it's done to their children. I wanted a Senate inquiry into that. You all voted against it initially. There were only three of us that voted for it. Last time, the coalition woke up themselves, but the Greens, the Labor Party and some of the crossbench still oppose it. You wouldn't even have an investigation into that. If you really care about the children, why don't you have a Senate inquiry into that? You're more worried about shutting them down. Why? It's because you want to control what they see, and that is why the misinformation and disinformation bill is all about control. Digital ID is about control. You only want them to see what you want them to see. You take control out of the parents' hands. Parents should be the ones to decide.

Not only that—what about the kids who benefit from social media, which I believe is possibly the majority? You want to take away from them what they can actually access. What about all the good things that they could be watching? You want to take that away from them. This is not a nanny state. This is not communist bloody China. This is Australia. This is what you're doing. You're shutting down parents' rights over their children constantly, day in and day out, and that has to stop. We are going to support this inquiry to take it up to February next year.

What I'm saying here also is that it is indicative of the politicians, both Labor and the coalition, going to your meetings and outside to the public, telling the people one thing and then acting totally different on the floor of parliament. The majority of Australians don't know what happens in this place. They don't know how you vote, what you vote for and or what you stand for. Half the time, I don't even know what the hell you stand for. I don't believe it's in the best interests of this country or the Australian people.

Stop pushing legislation and everything through this parliament just because we're coming to the end of this sitting term. Don't do this to the Australian people. Give them right to have their say. The Albanese government said, 'We're going to be open, honest and accountable,' but accountability is one thing that I have never seen in this parliament. It is just ridiculous. I hope that people understand that. You're the worst government I've ever seen. Stop taking control of the people and telling them how they should run their lives. Governments were set up for three things: the economic stability of the country, the rule of law and the Constitution. Let's adhere to the Constitution. Get out of telling people how to run their lives and their businesses.