Tyron Whitten's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
Privileges Committee; Report | Committees | Senate debates
I move: That the Senate take note of the report. On Tuesday 28 October last year, I gave an adjournment speech that discussed the governance failings and questionable conduct of the Shire of...
I move: That the Senate take note of the report. On Tuesday 28 October last year, I gave an adjournment speech that discussed the governance failings and questionable conduct of the Shire of Augusta Margaret River in Western Australia regarding the proposed Scott River wind farm, a wind farm that has the potential to desecrate the Scott River wetlands and, in turn, Blackwood River. I did not name the CEO of the shire, Ms Andrea Selvey, as this issue covers the last 10 years of the shire's dealings, so I was surprised to receive correspondence. However, Ms Selvey took it upon herself to accuse me of making unsubstantiated allegations and inaccurate and inappropriate remarks during my speech. Ms Selvey then published a statement on the shire's website proclaiming that my comments are misleading, irresponsible, unfair and completely without foundation. She claimed that my lack of evidence 'shows a lack of personal and professional integrity'. One would think Ms Selvey might have investigated the actions of the shire before she made these allegations against me, as she has publicly defamed me. Who knows? Ms Selvey might have been led into believing that I do not have the evidence by people who had already removed the evidence from their websites. I have 3,624 pages of evidence, which I tried to table on Tuesday. In Ms Selvey's submission to the Committee of Privileges, she doesn't deny the allegations but claims (1) that the public officers embedded a wind farm into the shire's corporate plan and then outsourced the project directly to their own private not-for-profit incorporation—well, they did do this; (2) that the officers exploited their roles in public office to provide AMRCCE with public policy and public funding—well, they did; (3) that the shire outsourced the wind farm to bypass obligations that would otherwise apply to a government body—well, they did; and (4) that the statement 'birds of a corrupt feather work out how to make a profit together'—I think taking all the evidence down from the websites might be seen as corrupt, but maybe it's just me. Ms Selvey is claiming that these remarks have caused her personal distress and reputational damage. As I understand it, all of these governance failings and misconduct began before Ms Selvey was even appointed as the shire's CEO, but perhaps I am mistaken. Perhaps the efforts to suppress the evidence have taken place only recently. Community members were approached by Ms Selvey, asking them for evidence. Ms Selvey also contacted Facebook community group administrators, requesting that they delete the recording of my speech. Clearly, the public officers of the shire are worried about what I said in my speech. They should be. I refer to the Local Government Act 1995, an act of the WA parliament, whereby the CEO is an employee of the local government and subject to the shire's employee code of conduct and the councillors are legally bound to 'act lawfully, honestly and in good faith; avoid improper influence, misuse of office or confidential information; manage or disclose conflicts of interest, gifts and impartiality interests; treat others with respect and courtesy; refrain from harassment, bullying or victimisation; and comply with meeting procedures and standards of debate'. I think I've made myself clear. I take my role as a senator of the federal government representing the people of Western Australia very seriously. In this instance, my constituents, who have legitimate concerns and have farmed in the Scott River region for multiple generations, have been run over roughshod in the reckless pursuit of building a wind farm in an ecologically sensitive area. I will not stop shedding light on this issue. I will pursue the corruption that is rife within all levels of government on behalf of all Western Australians. Australians have had enough. One Nation will abolish the reckless pursuit of net zero and lower the price of power for all Australians. Our energy policy puts Australia and Australians first. It creates more reliable and affordable power for households, businesses, manufacturing and farming. Cheaper power makes Australia competitive again. Cheaper power makes Australia more productive and simply better off. I seek leave to continue my remarks. Leave granted; debate adjourned.
Competition and Consumer Amendment (Make Price Gouging Illegal) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
This bill, the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Make Price Gouging Illegal) Bill 2024, makes a mockery of this place. The Senate is a place for serious debate on the issues that affect this...
This bill, the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Make Price Gouging Illegal) Bill 2024, makes a mockery of this place. The Senate is a place for serious debate on the issues that affect this country, not a place for socialist dog whistles. They've titled the bill with a name that no-one could disagree with—after all, who wants price gouging?—and filled it with pure socialist government control. Let me be clear: One Nation cares deeply about the people of Australia and making a dollar go as far as possible, but this bill will not achieve that. They call economics the dismal science because economics ignores utopian dreams and follows the ironclad laws of supply and demand. Capping prices does not work. Price caps destroy supply, kill competition, reduce quality and limit choice. What actually drives down prices is greater competition and innovation. The Greens quite rightly point out that we have a concentrated supermarket sector, but that is because of government regulation. More government regulation will not solve this problem. The only businesses that can afford to comply are the big players. Mum-and-dad stores, cooperatives, are locked out. Who in their right mind would start a business under this Labor government? Every step of the way you are hamstrung by regulation, navigating a broken tax system. Income tax, payroll tax, fringe benefits tax, goods and services tax—the list goes on. You need to navigate oppressive industrial relations laws, green tape and compulsory surveys. There is no relief for small business, so guess what—they're disappearing. I know the Greens will say, 'This is only targeting the big end of town,' but where do you think the big end of town starts? It starts with small businesses that grow into big businesses and provide people with choice. I should know; I started a business with only me and my brother and ended up with over a thousand employees. I can tell you this: I don't think I'd be able to do it again under the current laws. I would be crushed by the red, green and black tape. The government already controls every aspect of business. Now the Greens want to control prices. We have seen this show before, in Mao's China and Stalin's Soviet Union. This is not a recipe for human flourishing; it's a road map to deprivation. The real price gouging in Australia comes from those that are trying to push these bills—the government. If you want a real monopoly, look at the taxman. Look at those that are able to charge you what they like. The real villain, taking money out of the pocket of everyday Australians, is the Labor government. This government is the reason that people can't afford the basics. Those opposite have fuelled inflation through their reckless spending. They are the root cause of the cost-of-living crisis. If the government is silly enough to go down this path, the shareholders of these companies will make their profits, and they will do so by pushing down on suppliers, cutting costs and quality. The farmers will be the ones that are squeezed out, and when they're gone they're gone for good. One Nation will deliver real cost relief to Australians—less tax, less red and green tape, more money in your pocket and more choice for all Australians.
Economy | Statements by Senators | Senate debates
Could this be the worst economic management of the Australian economy in history? It has to be close. Let's start with forecasting. One of the most important jobs that the parliament has is to...
Could this be the worst economic management of the Australian economy in history? It has to be close. Let's start with forecasting. One of the most important jobs that the parliament has is to decide on the direction we want to take the country, figure out how to get there and tell everyone what it's going to cost them. It is of vital importance to the country that we get those costings right. After all, it is the Australian people that pay for the decisions of the government. What has Labor's record looked like since they've come to government? They've missed their budget forecast in five out of seven budget releases, with the last four adding an average of $30 billion to net spending. These are historic misses. Labor chronically understate their outrageous spending, only admitting the true cost when they can no longer hide. The 2025-26 MYEFO includes the single largest adjustment in history—$47.8 billion in the space of six months. That sort of blowout would get anyone in the real world sacked on the spot. There would be investigations, investors would lose faith, share prices would tank, auditors would be sacked and regulators would get involved. How can this government defend this negligence to the Australian people? They are spending like drunken sailors, with no signs of slowing down. But is that additional spending going to those who are doing it tough? No. Their policy blowouts are going to fund tax cuts for luxury items. Look at the government's FBT tax break on electric vehicles. It is a tax break for some of the wealthiest Australians, which was forecast to cost the government a mere $90 million. Instead, it has cost 15 times that, clocking in at $1.35 billion. Or how about the home battery scheme? They've had to raise it from an initial $2.3 billion to $7.3 billion. That's an additional $5 billion of taxpayer money exclusively to those who can afford a home and then can afford the home batteries. It's too bad if you're struggling to pay the bills with Labor's rocketing energy prices and you don't have a spare $10,000 to spend. Labor have no idea what their own policies are going to cost Australia. At this point, they clearly do not care. It has gotten to the point where economists are doubting the forecasting abilities of the Treasury. No-one expects perfection, but understating government spending has become a habit. How do we expect the RBA to make timely, informed decisions when each release of the government financials contains massive blowouts? Because of Labor's recklessness, Australians are heading into a cycle of fresh rate hikes. The rest of the developed world is heading for rate cuts. Enough of Labor's rhetoric around inflation being a global issue. It is now clear that this is a Labor government issue. Day-to-day government spending is over 23 per cent of GDP, up from 19 per cent only a decade ago. That is a 21 per cent increase in the cost of government. And what do Australian people have to show for it? A housing crisis, a cost-of-living crisis and more rate rises. What a disaster! Their forecasting is a basket case. What about debt? We're hearing the outrageous claims that debt is $177 billion lower than forecast—but which forecast? The 2022 pre-election fiscal outlook, during the doom and gloom of the COVID years. The reality is that they have saved nothing. They're using an outrageous comparison year to trick the Australian people into believing they have managed the economy. The reality is that Australia's on track to hit $1 trillion in debt, with a record debt-to-GDP ratio outside of the COVID years. By the 2028-29 year, Australia is forecast to hit its maximum debt limit of $1.2 trillion and will need to either stop issuing debt or raise the debt ceiling. There is no handbrake with Labor. They will burn the economy to the ground, crush the future of Australians and hand it over to another government to clean up the mess, again—all of this from a government that has slugged Australia with record total taxes in every consecutive year of government. In the last six months, they have upgraded the estimates of tax taken through individual and company tax by $6.1 billion for the 2025-26 year and $10.7 billion over the next two years. That's on top of already record taxation. That's money out of the pockets of hardworking Australians. Labor's only budget repair measure is bracket creep. What an outrageous way to fix their mess! There is a way out of this economic ruin. There is a party that will make the hard decisions and get Australia back on track, and that party is One Nation.
On Tuesday 28 October last year, I gave an adjournment speech which discussed the governance failings and questionable conduct at the Shire of Augusta Margaret River in Western Australia. Ten...
On Tuesday 28 October last year, I gave an adjournment speech which discussed the governance failings and questionable conduct at the Shire of Augusta Margaret River in Western Australia. Ten years ago public officers from this local government set the objective of developing a wind farm and then outsourced the project directly to their own external corporation, known as AMRCCE. The same people then used public resources to support their project. For these ten years the shire and AMRCCE only ever promoted a community-owned 10-megawatt project, but last year the wind farm was secretly sold to Synergy, who is now advancing a project more than ten times larger right in the heart of the Blackwood River and Scott River seasonal wetlands. The community and I have both received direct responses from the shire in relation to my speech. The shire CEO, Ms Andrea Selvey, attacked me through a public statement on the shire website and through a hostile letter attacking my personal integrity. The community was also on the receiving end. Selvey contacted Facebook community group administrators to censor my speech and information from the community. In the 26 November council meeting, the shire president, Ms Julia Jean-Rice, can be watched on YouTube threatening residents with claims that there are certain procedures they can follow in relation to what she terms 'defamatory misinformation'. These are the standard buzzwords for when somebody's on to you. Ms Jean-Rice also says that the shire pursuing a large-scale renewable energy project without a guiding policy would be bad governance. We'll, that's exactly what they've been up to at the shire since 2017. These shire leaders want these matters to go away. Not only are they trying to censor information but they are covering up their tracks. For example, the key minuted records which showcase AMRCCE's overlap with the shire are no longer on the shire's website. The sustainability advisory committee and reference group meetings across 2017 to 2021 are one such example. AMRCCE's conduct is also questionable. This so-called community spirited, publicly funded organisation took its records offline in April last year, including annual reports, AGM minutes and full membership list, but we have all of them. We have the skeletons and the smoking guns. Today I'm going to discuss the two key policies the shire used to endorse AMRCCE, namely the local energy action plan and the climate action plan. Then I'm going to talk about the decade-long deception led by the shire. The policies which supported the shire outsourcing its multimillion dollar wind farm to AMRCCE began in October 2014, when the shire embedded the goal of a community-owned wind farm into its local action plan. By 2016 these ambitions were added to the corporate plan, and the shire assembled a group of 20 people to advance the project. On 17 May 2017 this group separated and created AMRCCE Inc. By 14 June former councillor and AMRCCE's chairperson Ms Lyn Serventy wrote a letter to the shire requesting policy and funding support. The very next day, the shire's sustainability advisory committee met and reviewed Serventy's letter. Not only did Serventy sit on the committee herself; she led the motion to endorse her own letter. Another AMRCCE member, Ms Laura Bailey, seconded the motion. In fact, the meeting was attended by nine AMRCCE members, and five of them sat on the committee. Unsurprisingly, they supported the letter's requests. Two weeks later, at 28 June 2017 council meeting, councillors also approved the letter's request, endorsed AMRCCE as the external vehicle to achieve the local energy action plan and outsourced the windfarm directly to AMRCCE. In both council and committee meetings, not one interest declaration is recorded, despite at least 10 public officers involved being AMRCCE members. If I move to 2018, on 14 November the council adopted the final local energy action plan. The community consultation section shows that three out of four groups the shire consulted with were all the same people hiding behind different names. This included AMRCCE itself; AMRCCE's chairperson, Lyn Serventy, on behalf of herself yet again; and Transition Margaet River, a group aligned with AMRCCE in both people and ambitions. By 2019 the shire had worked to replace the local energy action plan with a climate action plan. To develop this new policy, the shire partnered with another external organisation created by its own public officers, this time climate action Augusta Margaret River. Together the group and the shire hosted a summit on 28 May 2019, where they put together the climate action plan and made sure it suited AMRCCE's windfarm goals. AMRCCE, Transition Margaret River and climate action Augusta Margaret River all share overlapping members made up of people who hold or have held shire roles. These public officers at this shire have established a culture of creating their own external organisations to support shire activities. The shire supports these groups with public resources and then uses them to help shape community consultation and shire initiatives. Some of these organisations bypass policies and use public money in a very private way, just like AMRCCE's windfarm in the absence of a renewable energy policy. Now I want to discuss the mistruths by the shire and AMRCCE about the Scott River windfarm. Synergy first announced its commercial scale Scott River windfarm in February 2024, but for 10 years prior the shire and AMRCCE led this windfarm proposal. Together they only ever disclosed aspirations for a community owned 10-megawatt project, but AMRCCE was just a front for Synergy, and there was never going to be a small community project. The four key stakeholders in this include the shire, AMRCCE, Synergy and WALGA. In 2018 AMRCCE's first annual report already acknowledges Synergy, Western Power and multiple windfarm hosts of today, and thanks Synergy's lawyers, Herbert Smith Freehills, for their free legal support. AMRCCE's 2019 annual report cites progress at signing up multiple land-access agreements, even though the 10-megawatt project would only require one property. In October 2019 then shire president and AMRCCE member Ms Pam Townshend is credited with signing away the shire's energy procurement rights to WALGA through the Cities Power Partnership. In AMRCCE's 2020 annual report, Herbert Smith Freehills are thanked again for even more free legal support. Across 2021 and 2022, AMRCCE signed commercial marketing deals with one of its own member's, Mr Rodney Littlejohn's, private companies—Tersum Energy Pty Ltd and Clear Energy Pty Ltd. The shareholders among his two companies are very interesting and include big-time energy developers and policy players such as Mr Dermott Costello, who is not only the group global general manager of a wind turbine development company called Galetech but also chief executive officer for the Clean Energy Council in Western Australia, and Mr Greg Allen, who is the director of project development and the deal origination for Vestas. Vestas is the very company that builds windfarms for Synergy. By AMRCCE's 2022 annual report, the group had applied for 22.5 megawatts with Western Power in April. But the shire continued pushing mistruths about the 10-megawatt community project in their 21 June Sustainability Advisory Committee meeting. In 2023 and 2024, Synergy's lawyers turn up again. This time Herbert Smith Freehills lodged windfarm land-access caveats over properties on behalf of Synergy before the community ever knew the project was coming. In February 2024 Synergy finally announces its Scott River windfarm policy, the project scale increases more than tenfold, and the community ownership component vanishes. Western Australian parliamentary Hansard records from 19 September 2024 show AMRCCE handed over multiple landowner agreements to Synergy. On 16 September 2025 the Western Australian minister for energy claimed Synergy acquired the rights to AMRCCE's windfarm on 23 February 2023, but we see Synergy's own EPA submission documents include dates which indicate Synergy was working on the project much earlier than this. It should surprise nobody that the wind farm has ended up in the hands of Synergy and its partner Enel. Both are among WALGA's preferred suppliers, and this ties everything back to 2018 and 2019, WALGA's Cities Power Partnership and all that free legal support. Nothing will go to the project's neighbours, and the environment will be subject to fibreglass and epoxy based turbines degrading into pristine pasture, forests and the groundwaters of the Blackwood River catchment. And the endangered birds and bats are another story. The foreign oil and gas companies who own 80 per cent of Synergy's renewable energy portfolio must be absolutely laughing. This is a betrayal of the community and the environment. All the evidence will be made available at my office, and I will also forward copies directly to the Shire. I seek leave to table the evidence. Leave not granted. I seek leave to continue my remarks later. Leave granted; debate adjourned.
What a place to find ourselves in at the beginning of 2026. In as late as August last year, the Labor government were claiming credit for a recovering economy and touting their fiscal...
What a place to find ourselves in at the beginning of 2026. In as late as August last year, the Labor government were claiming credit for a recovering economy and touting their fiscal responsibility. What a difference six months makes. The can could only be kicked down the road so far before the economic reality of Labor's disastrous policies came to bear—3.8 per cent inflation, out-of-control spending and seemingly no plan to bring it back into line. The MYEFO shows just how badly the Labor government have failed in their economic policy. There has been a record increase in estimated spending of $47.8 billion in just six months. How a government can defend understating their already reckless spending by $47.8 billion is beyond me. These are estimates that are relied upon by the RBA to set fiscal policy. Right now, they'd be better off throwing darts at a dartboard to figure out what spending is going to be. If Mr Chalmers were working in the real world, he would get the chop for a bungle of this magnitude, but, in the world of Labor politics, he's next in line for the top job. The government is trying to hide the bad news, but there's no running from the economic truth. The latest round of inflation figures is a shocking 3.8 per cent, driven by out-of-control public spending that One Nation has warned about for years. This is only the beginning. This will be the year of rate rises. This is the year of the housing default, where the young Australians that Labor sold their 95 per cent home loans to are hit with rate rises that they cannot afford. This is the year that the full force of Labor's economic destruction comes to the homes of Australia. Make no mistake: the Australian people will not and should not tolerate this failure of a government. It is time for a party that is willing to make hard decisions for the good of all Australians. One Nation is ready to answer that call.
Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Bill 2026; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
Well, the people's parliament has descended into chaos today. We've been called to Canberra for an early sitting to vote on an amended bill that was introduced into the house this morning. The...
Well, the people's parliament has descended into chaos today. We've been called to Canberra for an early sitting to vote on an amended bill that was introduced into the house this morning. The Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Bill 2026 is being rammed through parliament without Australians having a chance to form an opinion on it. It is my job to represent the people of Western Australia, yet I haven't been given time to read the bill and listen to Australians. This is not democracy. And this isn't just any bill. Laws relating to terrorism in our country couldn't be more important. The first draft of the bill saw Australians be given only 48 hours to read and comment on it. Despite this, there were over 7,000 submissions, and those are the ones that got through. Now the updated bill is being rammed through without any time to scrutinise it. It's okay for others here to say: 'Everything's alright now. Trust us. We gutted the old one, nobody's losing any rights and we're all going to be safe. Kumbaya.' Well, if we had some time to review it and consider it properly, we could have had an informed opinion. The cynic inside me is wondering: 'Why do you silence your political opponents? What are you scared of?' One Nation has been warning of the rise in antisemitism and radical Islam for years. Antisemitism has surged in Australia under the Albanese Labor government. This bill does not fix the problem. The gun laws don't fix the problem. This bill is a dog's breakfast and won't stop antisemitism. It won't stop radical Islam. What it will stop is legitimate criticism and nationalism. The bill barely mentions antisemitism other than in the title. It is a facade. We know the government already has the powers to stop Nazis and deport them and to stop anyone they want coming here. They don't even like world class tennis players or political commentators. They have done it. This bill is being rushed through this parliament without proper scrutiny or debate. We've come to expect this from Labor. It seems the least transparent government ever is at it again. It seems there have been a lot of backroom parties and One Nation wasn't invited. Now we will be told we didn't support the bill. Well, the bill is fundamentally dishonest, as it diverts attention away from Labor's incompetence. Australia doesn't need new laws; we need a government with the courage to enforce the current laws. As the government have already proven they can't enforce our current laws, we have no confidence in their being able to enforce this bill. Labor's incompetence has led to this mess, and now they are using it as an excuse to rush through a vague bill that doesn't define the very matters it should be addressing. The bill is so vague and rushed that the Australian Jewish Association was urging all members of parliament to reject the bill. This bill, if passed, represents the greatest restriction on free speech that Australia has ever seen. It will result in drastic and draconian restrictions. Hate speech has always been about preventing discussions and censoring opponents. Banning free speech is not the answer, banning more of our rights is not the answer and banning more guns is not the answer. Banning terrorists is the answer. At a time when Islamic terrorism is on the rise, Labor keeps importing more of it. Does 'ISIS brides' ring any bells? This is what is putting our country in danger. Every Australian needs to push for the deportation of the small number of radicalised terrorists that the government have allowed to migrate here. We must stop bringing in more. The Department of Home Affairs has revealed there are 230 potential terrorists living in Australia. They are taking part in anti-extremism programs—taxpayer funded, I'm guessing. One-third of them are under 18 years old, and 40 per cent are primarily motivated by violent extremist ideology. They must be deported. Australia cannot be a home for terrorists. The Labor government are deliberately creating this dangerous situation because it fits their globalist agenda. This bill fits their globalist agenda. Just one day after the massacre, Labor went to the top drawer of their pet projects and pulled out their censorship and gun laws. The Commonwealth Criminal Code already criminalises the urging or advocating of violence against groups or individuals; threats of violence or property damage; and conduct intended to cause, or reckless as to causing, serious harm. These provisions have been in the Criminal Code since 2010. They are not new. Nobody has been prosecuted under sections 80.2A to 80.2BE ever—not once. Prosecutions have been made under state, but not federal, criminal law. Now, the penalties are being increased for provisions that have never been used. The constitutionality of this bill is in doubt. It will result in a referral to the High Court. It seems to be the modus operandi of this Labor government: write a bill that isn't constitutional and ram it through the parliament, guillotining any debate and silencing dissenting voices. The Australian CDC Bill and the environmental reforms bills are examples of this. Now we have the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026—split, redrafted and forced through in one day. Australians are being force-fed globalist control. In the House of Representatives today, Labor voted against an amendment to the proposed bill to make the burning of the Australian flag a crime. Who do you people represent? Prime Minister Albanese and the Labor Party have decided to deflect any and all responsibility at a time when people are at the depths of incredible grief and loss. One Nation are not going away and vow to expose this government's culpability. Albanese has got to go. I intend to move the amendment standing in my name, as circulated in the chamber.
Bondi Beach: Attack | Condolences | Senate debates
I rise today to express my deepest condolences to the innocent victims of the Bondi shooting and their families, especially those that lost their lives during this horrendous violent attack. All...
I rise today to express my deepest condolences to the innocent victims of the Bondi shooting and their families, especially those that lost their lives during this horrendous violent attack. All Australians grieve with the families of those that have lost their loved ones, because nobody in this country should wake up thinking that today they might lose someone to targeted, hateful terrorism. Bondi Beach, a shining icon of Australian life, has been forever dulled. The only light there now is the memory of those who lost their lives on 14 December. I will never forget visiting the site in the aftermath of the attack. Words cannot describe the sorrow and the grief that hung in the air. It is a stark and brutal reminder of just how fragile our peaceful way of life is in Australia. Our beautiful country was built on the idea that all life is sacred. It is an ideal that Australian people hold dear. Many brave young men and women have gone to war and made the ultimate sacrifice for these ideals, for our freedom, but we have neglected our duty to keep the people of Australia safe from those who hold ideologies that would see the taking of another life as righteous. Those that hold these views have no place in our society yet they have been allowed in. Radical Islam has been tolerated for too long in this country and it is an affront to the victims of this attack but it is not mentioned once in the bills that were proposed to be introduced in response to this tragedy. It was not gun control that caused this, not a lack of hate speech laws that caused this; it was radical Islamists, people who had their heart set on the elimination of Jewish Australians, peaceful Australians. But they not come to the point of bloodshed of their own accord. This ideology is taught by the extreme sects of Islam all over the world and, sadly, now here in Australia. We've seen them chanting in the streets, in front of the Opera House, on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, threatening to kill Jews, to destroy the West. Our suicidal empathy has blinded our leaders to the dangers that were hiding in plain sight, who, instead of putting their finger on the problem, have used this crisis to try and limit freedom of speech. The cure to bad speech is more and better speech. Australians have had enough of giving up their rights. They want action, not more laws. Now, we get called racist, right-wing extremists and divisive, not because we are any of these things but because we have the courage to say what so many Australians are thinking, to stand up against evil. We will not apologise for fighting for Australians, no matter where you are from and no matter the colour of your skin. The only condition to being Australian is loving this country and its people above all else. That is it. If you can't do that, you are the problem. You are the division. You are one not honouring the people who lost lives at Bondi or the brave men and women who serve and give their lives and whose shoulders we stand on today, who gave us this beautiful country and magical way of life. There are too many people in this place who are more interested in what is happening in another country than in their own. To the victims of this atrocity, the dead and the scarred, I am so sorry. More should have been done before it ever got to this point. The tacit endorsement of these extremist ideologies can only lead to what we've seen unfold. To the families left behind, your lives have been touched by true malice, and I'm certain you will be changed forever. I pray your faith will carry you through. While nothing that anyone in here can say will bring back those that you love, please know that I am truly sorry for your loss and that I will fight to ensure that those who seek to hurt good Australians are exposed before it is too late. This country will not waver. We will not be cowed by terrorism. This is a country that will fight to defend its people against those that wish to harm us. We have the tools at hand; we have only to find the will to act. The victims of Bondi will never be forgotten, nor will this stain on the Australia that we hold dear. For the sake of our children and our grandchildren, let us never forget the lessons learned. Let us never forget those Australians.
Housing | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
APRA has had to put the brakes on Labor's subprime lending scheme. Inflation is rocketing. Economists are seeing rate rises in the future. Labor has been lured into a hyperinflated housing...
APRA has had to put the brakes on Labor's subprime lending scheme. Inflation is rocketing. Economists are seeing rate rises in the future. Labor has been lured into a hyperinflated housing market, taking out mega mortgages based on Labor's false promises and outlandish predictions. Has Labor modelled the default rates on the five per cent loan scheme in the event of two rate rises in 2026, and how much will this cost the Australian people? Government senators interjecting—
APRA has had to put the brakes on Labor's subprime lending scheme.
We all remember the GFC. We all remember the destruction that was brought down on the world economy by subprime lending. Now APRA have had to step in. For the first time, they have had to...
We all remember the GFC. We all remember the destruction that was brought down on the world economy by subprime lending. Now APRA have had to step in. For the first time, they have had to introduce debt-to-income limits on lending to slow down the issuing of high-risk debt that is being pumped by Labor. Does Labor accept that APRA's actions are a result of Labor pushing high-risk subprime lending on Australia's most vulnerable borrowers?
My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Minister Gallagher. Minister, at the last sitting week, I put it to you that Labor was putting young people at risk of mortgage stress...
My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Minister Gallagher. Minister, at the last sitting week, I put it to you that Labor was putting young people at risk of mortgage stress with the five per cent deposit scheme, given all the economic indicators pointing to a rate hike. The economists agree with me after the latest disastrous inflation numbers driven by housing. Now they're saying there will be up to two rate rises in 2026, just in time for Labor to start cutting jobs. Will Labor now accept that they have put people, especially young people, at risk of mortgage stress with their housing Ponzi scheme?
Housing | Matters of Urgency | Senate debates
I rise to support Senator Roberts' matter of urgency, because the Albanese Labor government has utterly betrayed the next generation of Australians. For the record, we don't blame migrants. We...
I rise to support Senator Roberts' matter of urgency, because the Albanese Labor government has utterly betrayed the next generation of Australians. For the record, we don't blame migrants. We don't blame migrants. I think there is a comprehension problem in here. We blame the people in here. This is the problem, not the migrants. We are not blaming migrants. The Albanese Labor government has betrayed the young families who dream of stability, the students who hope one day to put down roots, and the hardworking Australians, and migrants, who want nothing more radical than a chance to buy a modest home in the country they love. Young people now stare down the barrel of million-dollar house prices, mortgage repayments that swallow half their wage and a future where home ownership has become a distant and almost abstract dream—something spoken about, but rarely achieved. What used to be the great Australian dream has become a luxury available only to the wealthy, the lucky or a foreign investor. In Perth the situation has become downright desperate. Rents are up more than 50 per cent in just five years. House prices have risen by 8.8 per cent, year to date. Vacancy rates scrape along at 0.7 per cent. At a single rental inspection, 92 desperate locals turned up—families, pensioners, students, young workers, migrants. People who once would have had reasonable options are now competing like it's the hunger games. This is not normal or health, and it's clearly not inevitable, yet Labor pours petrol on the fire, with record mass immigration. We now have 4.7 million noncitizens competing for the same limited pool of homes, the same rental listings and the same public services. While Australians struggle, Labor hands out massive tax breaks to foreign corporate giants like BlackRock through the so-called build-to-rent scheme, an arrangement that sounds helpful but in practice delivers a stable stream of profits to offshore landlords while leaving ordinary Australians further behind. Worse still, Labor's reckless five per cent deposit scheme encourages young buyers to borrow 95 per cent of an already inflated price. Does that sound familiar? This saddles them with monstrous mortgages, six to eight times their income—double or more what their parents ever faced. It is not help; it is a debt sentence. It locks young workers into decades of financial servitude simply for wanting a roof over their head. Meanwhile, foreign buyers continue snapping up our homes with near impunity. Red tape strangles our tradies and builders, and supply cannot possibly keep up. This is market sabotage, and Australians are paying the price. In Western Australia, where I come from, families scramble for shelter in a market with just 0.7 per cent vacancy. Rents have exploded, more than 50 per cent in five years, adding thousands to the bills that working families can barely afford. Today, right on cue, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the complete monthly CPI for October 2025. Annual inflation has climbed to 3.8 per cent, up from 3.6 per cent in September and higher than the market expected. Any lingering hope of early interest rate relief has just been crushed. The single biggest driver is housing, up a staggering 5.9 per cent this year. This is a direct and predictable result of Labor's demand-side madness. This is year 6 maths—supply and demand. How can this government claim to care about cost-of-living pressures when its own policies are the biggest contributor to the inflation spike now hitting every Australian household? They create the problem and then feign sympathy for those suffering under it. Labor's arrogance knows no bounds. They prioritise global agendas and corporate mates over the aspirations of ordinary Australians. A two-year ban on some foreign home purchases is a bandaid on a gaping wound. Red tape burdens our tradies under mountains of compliance, halting construction and worsening the very shortages Labor pretends don't exist. We need homes built, not more paperwork. Mass immigration at this pace is not sustainable. It outpaces our ability to house, educate and employ people. The people coming here—the immigrants—also need somewhere to live. I'm not sure how people in this place don't understand that. It's supply and demand. Question negatived.
Energy | Statements by Senators | Senate debates
Recently, I was in the market for a new air conditioner when I came across an acronym I had never seen before—DRED, Demand Response Enabling Device. Spoiler: it's as bad as it sounds. I...
Recently, I was in the market for a new air conditioner when I came across an acronym I had never seen before—DRED, Demand Response Enabling Device. Spoiler: it's as bad as it sounds. I jumped online to see exactly what DRED was all about. The Daikin website gave a great overview: A Demand Enabled Response (DRED) air conditioner allows your electricity provider to control the system at various pre-programmed levels, to manage your demand on the power grid during peak periods. What could go wrong with that? The next article I found was from the ABC. They reported that Queensland's state owned Energex remotely throttled down nearly 170,000 air conditioners six times in just two months, slashing their power to 50 per cent during sweltering heat to protect the grid. How does a power company send a signal to your house to turn down the air con specifically? Smart meters. In my home state of Western Australia, they are coming to a meter box near you. You may be able to have the remote communications removed if you meet certain criteria. If you do, you'll have to read the meter yourself—a massive step backwards and a major inconvenience. But you don't even get that option if you have solar panels, an electric car or a home battery system. Thanks to Labor's brutal attack on our power grids, governments are scrambling to find ways to stop them collapsing. Your batteries, your panels, your electric cars and your air conditioners will no longer be yours to control. They have been hijacked for the greater good, whether you voted for it or not. This is coming to your house. This is the future of energy under Labor. Total government control is coming. DRED is coming.
Renewable Energy | Statements by Senators | Senate debates
Asbestos has been found in the brake pads in the shaft of wind turbines at Cattle Hill wind farm in Tasmania. It's another catastrophe in an unregulated wind turbine industry. Goldwind is a...
Asbestos has been found in the brake pads in the shaft of wind turbines at Cattle Hill wind farm in Tasmania. It's another catastrophe in an unregulated wind turbine industry. Goldwind is a Chinese wind turbine manufacturer and wind farm developer, which already has a history of breaching the conditions of its planning permit at the Gullen Range Wind Farm in Gurrundah, in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales. Goldwind moved the placement of 69 of their 73 turbines, having a significant adverse effect on neighbouring properties. Goldwind doesn't have regard for our rules and regulations. Goldwind is a major supplier of wind turbines in Australia. It supplies wind turbines across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania, including in White Rock, Gullen Range and Biala in New South Wales, Clarke Creek in Queensland and Moorabool and Stockyard Hill in Victoria. There are more than 600 turbines in operation and 120 turbines in development. Now we have found asbestos in the brake pads in the wind turbine tower lifts at Cattle Hill. WorkSafe Victoria and SafeWork NSW confirmed on Friday that asbestos has been found in a number of wind farm sites and that investigations are underway. At Cattle Hill, the turbines have been isolated from access for maintenance and asbestos removers have been employed. How many people have been exposed to date? The question has to be raised as to how a prohibited hazardous material—asbestos, which has been banned since 2003—has been imported into our country. What steps have the Albanese government and the Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, taken to stop this importation? What has the Minister for Health and Ageing had to say? I've heard nothing but crickets so far. What steps have been taken to advise people of the risks? Have neighbours to the wind farms been advised? Have rural communities been exposed? What has the Australian Border Force commissioner had to say about this? Did Border Force take samples when these Chinese wind turbine components were imported? Did Border Force know about this prohibited importation? Has the documentation been falsified by Goldwind? Border Force is required to issue a public safety notice. Have all of the states been notified of the importation of asbestos and the risk to their workers? Again, I've heard crickets. There is no defence against the importation of prohibited hazardous materials. Unlawful importation of asbestos can be prosecuted under the relevant criminal offence provisions. The Australian Border Force issued a notice titled 'Prescription of asbestos as a tier 1 good', which stated: From 26 March 2019, asbestos, and goods containing asbestos, are prescribed as Tier 1 Goods … of the Customs Regulation 2015 … As a result … the unlawful importation and exportation of asbestos can be prosecuted … under subsections 233BAA(4) and (5) of the Customs Act. These tier 1 import regulations carry penalties of five years imprisonment and 5,000 penalty units for each offence. That's a fine of $1,650,000 or 15 times the value of the goods—whichever is the greater. With over 600 turbines already imported, that penalty could, and should, be astronomical. These components cannot be buried here. They must be safely removed and exported back out of the country. Has an order been sought to have the importer, Goldwind, dismantle and remove these components from Australia at their own cost, or will the bill be footed by Australians, who are already footing the bill of subsidising these wind turbines to the tune of a million dollars per turbine per year through their electricity bills? Notice the difference in the way this importation of asbestos has been handled compared to the recall of 23,000 Chinese cars in 2012. Where is the ACCC comment on this risk? Why aren't we hearing about this from the Albanese government? Are the unions supporting WorkSafe Victoria and SafeWork NSW in their investigations to protect the safety of workers, or are they protecting their superannuation fund investments in the wind farms? The brakes need to be put on this corrupt industry, which continues to go unregulated in their reckless pursuit of net zero. One Nation will deliver that.
Plebiscite (Future Migration Level) Bill 2018; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
I've watched the fabric of Australian life stretch and tear under the weight of Labor's disastrous mass immigration policies, policies the Australian people no longer stand behind. The Plebiscite...
I've watched the fabric of Australian life stretch and tear under the weight of Labor's disastrous mass immigration policies, policies the Australian people no longer stand behind. The Plebiscite (Future Migration Level) Bill 2018 represents a beacon of democracy in an era where the voices of everyday Australians are being drowned out. One Nation has been asking for this since 2018, and it remains as relevant as ever, calling for a simple question to be put to the Australian people. Should Australia adopt a policy of zero net migration for a period of five years? How it has come to this is beyond me. Look about our cities. Rentals have a hundred people showing up, scrambling for shelter. Australians are suffering. Why not let Australians decide what they want for the future of their country? Let the young decide, as they stare down million-dollar mortgages for a dog box 30 kilometres from town. Let the families decide, as both parents have to work full time or work two jobs and are forced to put their babies into day care just to afford a family home. This chamber has shamefully voted down this plebiscite twice already, with Labor and the coalition turning their backs on the very people they claim to represent. As Senator Hanson herself said when she first asked for a plebiscite all the way back in 2018, this bill is simply saying: give Australians a say. That's all we want. We want to listen to the people, but listening seems to be the last thing this government is willing to do. In my home state of Western Australia, I see the shattered lives left in the wake of mass immigration—the people and families living in tents or in the cars or on the streets. These people are not abstract statistics; they are Australians that have had their dreams crushed. With rental vacancies at a dismal one per cent in Western Australia, families are forced to compete fiercely for shelter against the waves of mass immigration unleashed by Labor. Rents have skyrocketed by 43.8 per cent in five years, adding thousands to annual costs for struggling families. This is no accident. It is the direct consequence of Labor's reckless policies, flooding the market with record net overseas migration while ignoring the iron laws of supply and demand. In the 12 months to September 2025, we saw net long-term arrivals of over 468,000—the equivalent of adding the population of Hobart to the country twice. Labor have stuck their heads in the sand, fabricating narratives about how record demand isn't fuelling the housing explosion—that you need this sky-high immigration. They would have you believe that we need more skilled workers to build the houses we desperately need, despite their immigration plan being found to include only 12 per cent of genuinely skilled migrants. That 12 per cent is all skilled migrants, not just construction. The actual numbers in construction are minuscule. I have a background in construction, and I can assure you tradies are not sitting around waiting for a phone call from the Labor government. This government will spin the truth like a top. They're happy to gaslight their own citizens to avoid asking this simple question we are proposing. Productivity suffers too, as low skilled workers outpace capital investment, depriving the workers of the Australia of the investment they need to be productive, leading to the real wages of Australians falling back to 2011 levels. Our kids are no longer doing as well as generations that came before them, but we are told time and time again by Labor how much they care and how much they are doing for young people. So why would they not pull the single most important lever to kids their future back? The reasons they pump immigration are glaringly obvious. Polling from Redbridge Group showed that immigrants overwhelmingly support Labor. Knowing that, they'll keep the taps on. They are happy to burn down the country we love and rule over the ashes. This plebiscite would cut through the political fog. It will leave no doubt over what the Australian people want to see from their elected members of parliament. The members of this chamber need to remember that they are here to carry out the will of the people. If you are sick of hearing us speak on immigration numbers, support this plebiscite. If Australians agree with your policies, support this plebiscite. When we get the answer that Australians are done with mass immigration, cease and desist your economic and cultural suicide. This plebiscite is not just a vote; it is a reclamation of sovereignty, a chance for the people to demand accountability from the government that has long since forgotten who is in charge here. It doesn't matter what experts or economists think or say. It doesn't matter what politicians in here say. Heck, it doesn't matter what I say. It matters what the Australian public says. One Nation is committed to this fight, because when Australians speak we listen.
Parliamentary Standards | Adjournment | Senate debates
Many of the members in this Senate are in fact perpetrators of the very crimes that they claim to oppose. This is a classic example of when it is okay to use the crimes of Senate sanctioned...
Many of the members in this Senate are in fact perpetrators of the very crimes that they claim to oppose. This is a classic example of when it is okay to use the crimes of Senate sanctioned intimidation and violence when it is convenient to do so. What mess has our Australian Senate descended into? The question of why the Senate is scared to let Senator Hanson represent the people of Australia has to be asked. One Nation has the preview event tonight for our animated movie on political life, ASuper Progressive Movie, booked at the Parliament House theatre since 16 October. This afternoon, just hours before the event, we were advised that the screening was cancelled owing to the risk of offensive material in the trailer. People have flown from all around the country to attend this event. The administration of Parliament House and its venues must be beyond reproach. One Nation has every right to consider this was a political decision. If it was not, they would have simply asked to see the trailer. One Nation would like to now know who was behind the decision.
And what did the Senate do about this? Was Senator Faruqi censured, gagged and suspended from the Senate for seven days? No. She wasn't asked to leave the chamber. She wasn't censured. She wasn't...
And what did the Senate do about this? Was Senator Faruqi censured, gagged and suspended from the Senate for seven days? No. She wasn't asked to leave the chamber. She wasn't censured. She wasn't denied the right to speak. She wasn't suspended for seven sitting days. But Senator Hanson was. The suspension and the violent antics that we saw from the Senate yesterday could only be described as premeditated bullying and intimidation of the very kind that the liars and the hypocrites in this place claim to want to stamp out. Many of the members in this Senate are in fact—
And what did the Senate do about this?
When I was elected as a senator for our great country earlier this year, I was honoured to represent Australians in the chamber. Yesterday I witnessed our Senate censure, gag and suspend our...
When I was elected as a senator for our great country earlier this year, I was honoured to represent Australians in the chamber. Yesterday I witnessed our Senate censure, gag and suspend our leader, Senator Hanson, for seven days. Senator Hanson was denied the introduction of a bill, the Criminal Code Amendment (Prohibition of the Burqa and Other Full Face Coverings in Public Places) Bill 2025, in the Senate. The bill bans the wearing of a burqa in a public place in Australia. In a move of absolute hypocrisy, the Senate decided that Senator Hanson would be denied her right to speak to the bill—in effect, stopping debate and gagging Senator Hanson. To bring attention to this complete and utter hypocrisy, Senator Hanson wore the burqa into the chamber. The Senate descended into chaos and suspended proceedings. Senator Hanson was again denied her right to speak when she was named for wearing the burqa. The Senate today decided that Senator Hanson would be suspended for seven days, denying her the right to represent the people of Australia—the people she was elected to represent. The leader of One Nation was denied her right to hold this government to account. It is apparent that freedom of speech does not apply in this chamber. If you think— Really? Yes. If you think we have problems with our current government, well, just imagine for a moment how bad they would be without Senator Hanson, my colleagues Senator Roberts and Senator Bell and me to question the governance of Australian people. Consider for a minute how the rules of the Senate are being applied by the Senate. Senator Faruqi was wearing a keffiyeh in the Senate the same morning, yesterday morning. The keffiyeh has a history of being an internationally recognised insignia and symbol of racist and violent jihad that openly calls for the murder and genocide of an entire demographic of people based on their religious beliefs. I would bring to the attention the President the state of this chamber yesterday morning. Given the violent, genocidal significance of this keffiyeh, Senator Faruqi was wearing this very symbol of hatred in her own stunt to bring political props into the Senate.