I too look at the people in the gallery who have joined us today and the many millions
of Australians who are watching what's going on in this parliament. What they're watching
is a national embarrassment. It's a disgrace. It's utterly shameful.
We haven't had a stable government in this country for a decade now. I've got a 10-year-old
boy, and he's seen half a dozen different prime ministers. We have politicians in this
joint who are far more concerned about themselves and their own self-interest than about governing
the country. While the Liberal Party have been tearing themselves apart, 100 per cent
of New South Wales is in drought; the Great Barrier Reef is on the brink of collapse;
there are floods in India; we've got a 12-year-old girl setting herself alight in Nauru; and
we've got kids who are in a catatonic state because they've given up hope, locked away
in those offshore hellholes. And what's the Liberal Party doing? They're focusing on vengeance
and on payback. They're focusing on themselves. We've got people who can't afford to pay their
medical bills right now. We've got young people who are being priced out of an education.
There are 100,000 people in this country who are homeless. There are women who fear going
home tonight because one woman a week is killed at the hands of a violent partner. And what
have we got? We've got this spectacle, this disgrace! You should be ashamed of yourselves.
We have people across the country who are suffering, and look what you're doing. You
are so focused on yourselves that you have forgotten what the country elected you to
do, and that is to govern—for them, not for you. You don't deserve to govern; you
deserve to be turfed out. That's what you deserve.
You walked away from climate change. You walked away from an energy policy. You ditched your
economic plan. And why? Because those dinosaurs inside your party room held the Prime Minister
to ransom, and he didn't have the guts to take them on. And what has he done instead?
What has your party done? We now have the prospect of Peter Dutton or Scott Morrison
as the next Prime Minister of this country. Things are pretty crook right now, but they're
going to get a hell of a lot worse. I fear for those people in this country who have
come from overseas, because we're going to have an election that focuses on rights and
fans the flames of racism and division. That's what's coming right now. We're going to have
an election campaign in which people are divided and neighbour is pitted against neighbour
because you haven't got the guts to stand up and lead in this country.
People have a right to be angry. I understand why people feel angry. Of course they're angry.
We haven't seen an investment in infrastructure. Our roads are choking. We haven't got a waste
policy. Energy prices are going up. Of course they're angry. Young people can't afford to
buy their own home. We've got young people who can't afford to get an education. No wonder
people are feeling crook. No wonder they want to turf this mob out. But, let me tell you:
the answer is not your neighbour; it's not the person who's come from overseas; it's
not the Italian or the Greek or the African; it's not someone who doesn't share your religion.
It's this mob right here that you should look at who are doing the bidding of the big end
of town and who are more interested in looking after their corporate mates than they are
in looking after the people who elected them to this place.
And there was one person in this place who was more unhappy than those members sitting
over there, and it was Senator Hanson.
Do you know why you know why Senator Hanson was unhappy? She's unhappy because she's seen
a party adopt her policies rather than stand up to her. Rather than taking a stand against
One Nation, the Liberal Party are becoming just like them: a bunch of anti-immigrant
climate deniers with no economic plan. You are a disgrace. You should hang your heads
in shame. Make no mistake: we are going to take it right up to you mob in the next election.
To all those people who are listening right now who feel scared—
The PRESIDENT: Senator Di Natale, I have shown a liberal approach in this debate, but comments
should be directed to and through the chair, and members in the other place referred to
by their appropriate titles. Senator DI NATALE: Make no mistake: right
now many people across this country are frightened and worried about what the next election has
in store for them. That speech we heard from Fraser Anning last week is a taste of things
to come. When we have a Prime Minister whipping up fear around African immigrants—
The PRESIDENT: Senator Williams, on a point of order.
Senator Williams: You just made a point of order to Senator Di Natale to refer to those
in the other place by their correct titles. I ask that he does the same for here as well.
Civility costs absolutely nothing.
The PRESIDENT: Very true, Senator Williams. Senator Di Natale, you know the rules of debate.
Please refer to people by their appropriate titles.
Senator DI NATALE: When the potential future Prime Minister of this country
says that bringing Lebanese Muslims into this country was a mistake, and blames refugees
for both taking people's jobs and taking welfare, we know what's in store. The next election
is going to be an ugly, calculated attempt at race-baiting to win over One Nation voters,
who have a right to be angry at governments for letting them down, but the enemy is not
their neighbour who has chosen Australia to make their home; the enemy is the political
and economic system that has bought by vested interests and big corporations, who make massive
donations to both sides of politics so that they can get what they want—everybody else
be damned! That's what we're facing. In a few months we'll be facing an election. I
say to the people of Australia, to all of you in the gallery: the Greens are with you.
We'll fight them every step of the way, and we will not let them win.