Sean Bell's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
Cost of Living | Statements by Senators | Senate debates
The Albanese Labor government has failed the most basic test of economic management. Under Labor, inflation is up, interest rates are up, and families are paying the price. Australians are now...
The Albanese Labor government has failed the most basic test of economic management. Under Labor, inflation is up, interest rates are up, and families are paying the price. Australians are now experiencing the direct result of bad Labor government policy. Labor's reckless energy agenda has driven power prices higher and forced up cost of living across the economy. Where power prices rise, everything rises with them—food at the supermarket, freight logistics, construction, farming and manufacturing. Families feel it at the checkout and feel it again when the mortgage payment comes out. Small businesses feel it through higher overheads and weaker demand. That is how Labor's reckless energy agenda feeds inflation straight into household budgets. Nowhere is this clearer than in New South Wales. Labor's net zero obsession is a disaster. Household power bills are through the roof. Labor forces industry to absorb skyrocketing power costs and then pretends to be shocked when businesses go under. I'm proud to say One Nation has the most comprehensive and practical plan to bring energy costs down, bring inflation under control and protect Australia from Labor's ongoing economic incompetence. This plan is on our website right now. I encourage people to go and have a look. We know that, if you want to defeat inflation and control interest rates, you have to start with energy. That means ending net zero mandates that force prices up, protecting reliable baseload, coalfired power and extending the existing coal generation across places like the Hunter. Labor's ideological obsession with net zero is pushing power bills up. Families pay more and more, and small businesses get squeezed. One Nation will put Australians first by ending net zero, lowering energy costs and bringing inflation down.
Cost of Living | Matters of Urgency | Senate debates
The Albanese Labor government has failed to control interest rates. As a result of Labor's reckless spending, Australians will be dealing with higher inflation for longer, and Australian families...
The Albanese Labor government has failed to control interest rates. As a result of Labor's reckless spending, Australians will be dealing with higher inflation for longer, and Australian families will pay the price. Today, the Reserve Bank lifted interest rates by 25 basis points, and that means mortgage repayments will jump by around $1,000 extra per year for a $500,000 mortgage. For families across NSW and Australia already struggling with groceries, fuel, rent and power prices, this is a cruel blow—another hit to the household budget from a Labor government that is totally out of touch. While groceries, rent, fuel and power keep climbing, Labor keeps spending. Labor keep pushing their devastating net zero ideology, and Labor keep driving mass immigration higher and higher. Families are hurting, mortgage holders are stretched to the limit, home buyers are being locked out of the market, and renters are being crushed under the mistakes of this terrible Albanese Labor government. This Labor economy is failing everyday Australians. One Nation is the only party here with a real plan to rebuild Australia for Australians, because One Nation will cut electricity prices by scrapping Labor's net zero agenda and backing reliable coal-fired power, One Nation will end mass immigration to ease pressure on housing, infrastructure and essential services, and One Nation will slash government waste, pay down debt and make sure that your taxpayer dollars are spent where they're needed. One Nation will not allow Labor to continue to inflict this economic pain on Australians. We will hold them to account. One Nation is united. We are ready. We will put everyday Australians first every single— (Time expired)
Housing | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
Minister, Australians need more housing, but Labor's weak enforcement of protection protects thousands of these foreign-owned ghost homes instead of Australian families. Will Labor put all...
Minister, Australians need more housing, but Labor's weak enforcement of protection protects thousands of these foreign-owned ghost homes instead of Australian families. Will Labor put all Australians first and adopt One Nation's permanent ban on foreign purchases of Australian homes, not just new homes, or will you keep propping up a loophole-ridden system that locks Australian families out of homeownership?
(—) (): I'm happy to also assist in providing some correspondence between Senator Hanson and the Treasurer in relation to this. Off these figures, there are up to $8 billion in potential...
(—) (): I'm happy to also assist in providing some correspondence between Senator Hanson and the Treasurer in relation to this. Off these figures, there are up to $8 billion in potential fines that have not been prosecuted by the Albanese Labor government on this topic. Minister, can you advise the Senate again how many homes in Australia are owned by foreigners, and, in the last financial year and given the Treasurer now admits foreign owners are evading vacancy rules, will the minister advise the Senate how many fines— (Time expired)
My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Under Labor, homes are more expensive and harder to find, yet foreign owners are allowed to dodge the vacancy rules...
My question is to the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Under Labor, homes are more expensive and harder to find, yet foreign owners are allowed to dodge the vacancy rules and keep thousands of ghost homes off market while Australians struggle to find a home for their families. Documents obtained by One Nation under freedom of information expose Labor's failure to enforce foreign homeownership rules. According to the government records, there are at least 50,000 foreign owned ghost homes across Australia. Worse still, the Treasurer has admitted in writing that foreign owners are evading the rules, with 83 per cent or more not lodging compulsory vacancy reports with the ATO. Minister, why has the Albanese Labor government allowed thousands of foreign owned ghost homes to go unpoliced and unpunished in the middle of a housing crisis while Australian families suffer?
Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Bill 2026; Limitation of Debate | Bills | Senate debates
I ask that the amendment on sheet 3583 be put separately, as we intend to vote differently on that to the others.
Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
To every law-abiding firearm owner and to every Australian watching what is happening right now: One Nation's position on this legislation, on this policy issue, is very straightforward. One...
To every law-abiding firearm owner and to every Australian watching what is happening right now: One Nation's position on this legislation, on this policy issue, is very straightforward. One Nation supports law-abiding gun owners. One Nation believes we should be punishing extremists and not punishing law-abiding gun owners. The Albanese Labor government has dumped on us this major gun reform package, the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026, and they are expecting everyone to simply accept this while ignoring the normal processes of scrutiny. The truth is the people who will be affected by this first will not be terrorists or criminals; it will be you. It will be farmers. It will be regional Australians. It will be pest controllers. It will be sporting shooters. It'll be collectors. It will be licence holders—law-abiding citizens who have never committed a crime in their lives and who would never commit a crime. They will be the ones who will be punished. These are the people that do the training. They keep their firearms secure, they comply with inspections and they live by the law. To those people: know that you are not the problem and we have your back. One Nation knows that criminals do not line up for gun buybacks. Criminals do not register illegal weapons. Criminals do not care about new paperwork, new rules or new announcements. They operate in the shadows, through trafficking, importation and organised crime, and they will keep doing it while the government is focused on quick headlines instead of criminals. I'll say it again. One Nation's position is straightforward. We support law-abiding gun owners. One Nation believes we need to punish extremists, not shooters. We need to punish the root cause of the things that happened in Bondi—radical Islamic extremism—not law-abiding Australians who have never committed a crime in their life. If the Albanese Labor government is genuinely concerned about public safety, it needs to be honest about this. It needs to be honest about what is driving the violence that we saw in Bondi and this extremism. We should be confronting it directly. We should not be dodging it with vague language and political slogans. Unfortunately, what we've seen is Labor's instinct has been to punish people who are already doing the right thing—law-abiding Australians who have never committed and never would commit a crime in their life. The other issue here is One Nation is not prepared to sign you up for a blank cheque. We actually don't know how much this is going to cost. We know that a lot of the states are rejecting this proposal. We know that Queensland, the Northern Territory and Tasmania are not on board with this. Here is what One Nation wants instead: we want policies that actually target criminals and protect the public. That is how you improve safety, not by scapegoating farmers and licence holders, not by punishing law-abiding Australians and not by pretending criminals and terrorists will comply with a gun buyback. Again, to the law-abiding firearm community: One Nation hears you, and we will stand with you. And to the wider public: do not be fooled by this farce. Do not be fooled, because real safety comes from confronting the cause of the threats and enforcing laws against criminals, not cracking down on the people who are already abiding by the law. One Nation opposes this buyback, and we will keep fighting for common sense and fairness. We will keep standing with farmers, regional Australians, pest controllers, sporting shooters and collectors. We are not about to support a policy where we don't know how many billions it's going to cost—and it's in the billions. How many regional hospitals could we be funding?
Bondi Beach: Attack | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
Minister, you talk about passing legislation to deal with the problem, but what we've actually seen today occur in this parliament is a farce. Your government, with help from the Liberals on one...
Minister, you talk about passing legislation to deal with the problem, but what we've actually seen today occur in this parliament is a farce. Your government, with help from the Liberals on one hand and the Greens on the other, are rushing through massive changes to our nation's laws with no real scrutiny—two bills—and you are shutting down debate. When will your prime minister accept responsibility for this farce and resign?
The refusal to unequivocally call out radical Islamic ideology, driving antisemitism in Australia, has allowed this problem to escalate into a terrorist attack on Jewish Australians. When will...
The refusal to unequivocally call out radical Islamic ideology, driving antisemitism in Australia, has allowed this problem to escalate into a terrorist attack on Jewish Australians. When will this government accept responsibility?
Minister, you talk about hatred and you talk about perversions, but we want you to talk clearly about radical Islamic extremism and this government's failure to enforce existing laws since the...
Minister, you talk about hatred and you talk about perversions, but we want you to talk clearly about radical Islamic extremism and this government's failure to enforce existing laws since the October 7 attacks two years ago.
My question goes to the Minister representing the Prime Minister. Minister, following the terrorist attacks in Bondi—the deadliest in our nation's history—the Prime Minister has...
My question goes to the Minister representing the Prime Minister. Minister, following the terrorist attacks in Bondi—the deadliest in our nation's history—the Prime Minister has failed to acknowledge that radical Islamic extremism was the driving ideology behind it. You cannot defeat what you won't define. The Prime Minister has muddied the waters. This refusal to clearly name the threat has allowed this threat to spread unchecked, and as a result Australians have been placed in danger. When will the Prime Minister finally concede that refusing to name radical Islamic extremism as the driver of this terrorist attack on Australians makes future attacks more likely and helps antisemitism continue to spread unchecked?
Bondi Beach: Attack | Condolences | Senate debates
I rise today with a heavy heart to offer One Nation's sincerest and deepest condolences following the radical Islamist terrorist attack at Bondi. Before I begin, I will address that Senator...
I rise today with a heavy heart to offer One Nation's sincerest and deepest condolences following the radical Islamist terrorist attack at Bondi. Before I begin, I will address that Senator Hanson is not here to speak to this motion because I know she deeply wishes she could be here. Senator Hanson, as leader of One Nation, would ordinarily be the first in this chamber to speak on behalf of One Nation. If she were in this chamber, she would be the first to stand in solidarity with Australia's Jewish community and to condemn the evil that has been done. However, she is currently excluded from the Senate for raising the very serious threats facing every Australian community. It is an evil that has been exposed that permeates in Australia today, an evil that was directed towards Jewish Australians at Bondi Beach 36 days ago: the evil of radical Islamic terrorism. It is an evil that took the lives of 15 innocent Australians. It is an evil that our Prime Minister is refusing to name. So I say directly to the Jewish community, Pauline Hanson stands with you. She has your back. One Nation's door remains open to you not only in the immediate days of grief but in the longer months of recovery and the hard work of restoring confidence and safety. Today is first and foremost a moment for mourning. To the families who have lost loved ones, there is no speech that can ease the weight that you carry. There are no words that restore what has been taken. There is only the truth that your loved ones mattered, their lives were precious and that this nation grieves with you. To those who were injured and to those who witnessed scenes that will never leave them, we acknowledge the trauma that terrorism inflicts. It does not end at the scene; it follows people home. It returns in the quiet moments. It changes the way regular, everyday places feel. This parliament must not forget you when the vigils end and the media's attention shifts elsewhere. We also acknowledge the extraordinary courage and decency shown in the middle of this horror—those unarmed civilians who ran towards danger, our first responders and the everyday Australians who help shield strangers instinctively, without hesitation and without regard for their own lives or personal safety. This act of radical Islamic terrorism leaves a distinct wound for Australia's Jewish community because it struck at a moment that should have been defined by family, faith and light. Hanukkah is a festival of light. It is festival to celebrate identity, faith and the collective courage of the Jewish people. It should have been a safe, joyful gathering, a community celebration by the sea. Instead, it was turned into a scene of terror and grief. To the Jewish community in Australia, particularly those in and around Bondi, One Nation stands with you. We see your grief. We recognise the fear that follows an attack like this, and we affirm, without qualification, that Jewish Australians have the right to live openly, safely and proudly in this country without intimidation and without threat. No Australian should have to calculate a risk to their lives or their safety before attending a community event. No parent should have to wonder whether a celebration is safe for their children to attend. This is not acceptable, and it must never become normal. Today we grieve and we honour 15 victims whose lives were taken. They were not a headline. They were not a statistic. They were people with names, families, histories, hopes and futures that have been stolen. Each of these lives mattered. Each one leaves a space that cannot be filled. We hold each of them in our hearts and we hold their families in our prayers. Jewish Australians have contributed immeasurably to our national life. You have built businesses, served in medicine and law, enriched culture and scholarship, strengthened civil society and helped shape the Australia that we are proud of. And you have done so while carrying a history that makes the threat of antisemitism especially frightening and especially personal. So let me say this without hesitation: you belong here. Your right to gather, to worship, to celebrate, to live openly and proudly as Jews in Australia is not negotiable. It's not conditional. It's not something granted by the goodwill of others. It is your right as Australians. Australians of many backgrounds have stood with the Jewish community after this attack, and we acknowledge and respect that solidarity. But we cannot respond to a radical Islamic terrorism with soft language or comfortable evasions. We cannot protect communities if we will not confront the drivers of this violence: radicalisation, indoctrination and the organised spread of an extremist Islamic ideology that claims this violence is righteous—because this was not a random attack; it was terrorism animated by an extremist worldview that treats civilians as legitimate targets and treats Jewish life as something to intimidate and drive from public spaces. Radical Islamists sought to terrorise a community and send a message of fear. One Nation condemns, without reservation, this violent ideology that preaches extremism, glorifies terror and incites religious violence in our home. We condemn the ideological network that seeks to 'globalise the intifada', celebrate violence and encourage sedition and hostility towards Australians living peacefully in our own country. When violence is tolerated, excused or romanticised, it becomes permission, it becomes recruitment, it becomes actions and, across time, when it isn't named, called out or confronted, it festers until it chooses the terms of engagement. If you refuse to name the causes of antisemitism and refuse to name the ideology driving it—radical Islamic extremism and radical left-wing agendas—you are not being neutral; you are giving it room to grow. When a group of thugs stands on the steps of the Opera House and chants, 'Gas the Jews,' you must confront it. When firebombs are thrown at synagogues by thugs acting on behalf of a radical Islamic foreign power, we must take action. And, when protesters march in our streets calling for a globalised intifada, we must deal with them. But we have not seen any of this done in a timely fashion by the Albanese Labor government. What we have seen is this government call people who demand action at the time—they called them alarmist; they even called them racist. History is blunt about what happens when warnings about these dangers are treated as alarmist. A threat doesn't become less real because people find it awkward to say out loud. In 1963, Winston Churchill gave a warning about delay in confronting extremism, and it is as relevant today as it was then. The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedience, of delays is coming to its close. In its place, we are entering a period of consequences. And, on 14 December, we saw the consequences of this Labor government's inaction. So we will stand with the Jewish community. We will stand with you as you mourn, as you rebuild and as you seek reassurance that Australia remains a place where Jewish people can gather freely, worship freely and celebrate freely. We will insist that the government and institutions focus on prevention, identifying Islamic extremist radicalisation early, disrupting networks that promote violence, enforcing our existing laws and ensuring our Border Force, law enforcement and security agencies have the resources and support they need to stop those who hold radical Islamic beliefs from coming to Australia; deport those who share these dangerous, violent beliefs from Australia; and stop future attacks before they occur. And we will speak plainly about the need to confront the Islamist extremist recruitment and incitement that is taking place in our communities and the need to stamp it out, because the safety of our own people matters more than any hurt feelings, cultural tensions or political games that may be going on. So we say today with sorrow but with steel, 'We will confront it, we will disrupt it, we will drive it back and we will not allow extremists to set the boundaries of Australian life.' To the families who have lost: we cannot remove your grief, but we can honour your loved ones by refusing to forget them, by refusing to excuse what happened and by doing the hard work required to prevent another family from receiving the same awful news. To the Jewish community: you are not alone. You are not expected to carry this quietly. You have allies in this country and you have an open door with One Nation as you navigate the path forward. May God comfort the grieving, heal the injured and strengthen our nation.
Industry | Statements by Senators | Senate debates
Today we have seen the betrayal of Australian workers. Labor and the Greens, in their coalition, have stitched up a dirty backroom deal and sacrificed our forestry industry because they want to...
Today we have seen the betrayal of Australian workers. Labor and the Greens, in their coalition, have stitched up a dirty backroom deal and sacrificed our forestry industry because they want to ram through legislation with as little scrutiny as possible. We know this is what they're doing. We know it's about shutting down a lawful, sustainable industry to keep the Greens happy, because the Greens are boasting about in their press release and in the chamber. Timber workers, mill operators, truckies, contractors and whole timber communities have been treated as expendable. Forestry supports thousands of Australian jobs and provide the timber we need to build homes. It's a renewable, tightly regulated and essential industry to our housing supply, but Labor has decided those jobs, those communities and the timber they provide are collateral damage in their rush to do a deal with the Greens. And it's not just the forestry industry that is in the firing line. This is not just about saving trees; it's about making it harder for Aussies who actually do the work in timber, in mining, in fishing, on farms, in factories and on building sites. If you wear steel caps or high-vis to work, this legislation is going to hit you. This deal will push up the cost of building materials, tighten housing supply and make it harder to open and expand projects that actually produce things. At the same time, Labor and the Greens are rolling out the red carpet foreign owned solar and wind companies to cover prime agricultural land with panels and wind turbines contaminated with asbestos. They're showing a blatant disregard to local communities. So One Nation will not support this rushed legislation. We'll stand with the workers who keep this country going. We'll stand for real jobs, real industries and regional communities because Labor and the Greens will talk to each other and do their deals but won't speak for working Australians. One Nation will.
Bell, Senator Sean | First Speech | Senate debates
I rise to address this chamber with gratitude and a deep sense of duty for the people of New South Wales and Australia, who I am here to serve and to my party, One Nation, that I'm here to...
I rise to address this chamber with gratitude and a deep sense of duty for the people of New South Wales and Australia, who I am here to serve and to my party, One Nation, that I'm here to represent. First I want to thank my wife, Amelia. None of this would be possible without your sacrifice, your dedication as a mother to our daughter, Rosetta, your patience and your constant support, especially during the long days and even longer nights of work with campaigning. You have stood by me, supported me, defended me and provided me with encouragement, advice and love, and I would not be standing here today without you. To my parents, Elizabeth and Lindsay, thank you for teaching me the values of hard work, self-discipline and responsibility. The values that I bring into this chamber were shaped around our family's kitchen table, and I carry them with me today. I would not be here today if it were not for both of you. To my brothers, my wider family and my friends, thank you for standing with me, for supporting me, for reminding me where I come from and for keeping me relatively grounded. To the One Nation parliamentary staff with whom I've had the privilege of working in this building, some of you for nearly a decade, thank you for mentoring me, for supporting me and for preparing me for this moment. Thank you to the One Nation head office staff and the One Nation state teams. I have seen firsthand the dedication and the commitment that you show, which keeps our movement running. You work harder than big parties with a fraction of the resources. You do not ask for praise. You just get the job done, day in, day out. And you get it done. To Senator Warwick Stacey, whose vacancy I now fill, I want to acknowledge your service to this party and to thank you for the campaign you fought. I know your strength and determination—your commitment to the people of New South Wales and this country—and I'm honoured to follow in your footsteps as a representative of One Nation in this chamber. And to my fellow One Nation senators and to our leader, Senator Hanson, I want to thank you for your trust, your support and your unwavering commitment to the people of Australia. It is an honour to join you in this chamber. I've worked beside you, I've learnt from you and I've seen firsthand the integrity and determination you bring to this parliament every day. I enter the Senate by way of a casual vacancy, and I am fully aware of what that means. I was not elected by name on a ballot paper, but I was elected on principle, on a platform of policy and belief carried by the party that I represent. That party is Pauline Hanson's One Nation, and I am proud to be here under that banner. Like many One Nation members and supporters, I never thought I would be in politics. I did not grow up dreaming of holding elected office. I did not follow the usual path to this place, because the truth is I haven't always applied myself the way I should have. I didn't make the most of the opportunities my parents gave me, and I didn't honour the sacrifices they made the way I should have. I dropped out of university, I have wasted time in my life and I have often not taken things as seriously as I should have. Then one day I lost my job working shifts at a video store, after the march of technology carried on and video stores across the country disappeared almost overnight. I was out of work with no degree, no trade and no back-up plan. So I took work in catering, I worked mowing lawns and eventually I signed on with a labour hire company, and for the next four years I worked unloading shipping containers by hand at factories and warehouses, stacking pallets, wrapping them up, sometimes unloading 20-foot containers and sometimes 40-foot containers. It was four years of waking up at 3.30 in the morning, working hard and reflecting on the choices I had made and what I wanted to do with my life. I can tell you this: I learnt more in those four years about what matters in life than I ever did at university. Eventually, while working that job, I went back to part-time study and picked up a few qualifications. I got a chance to work as a claims assessor, contracting, working for myself and doing what I could to stay afloat. But then something happened: Malcolm Turnbull, the Prime Minister at the time, called a snap double-dissolution election, Pauline Hanson was returned to parliament and One Nation won four Senate seats. The very next day, I walked into the One Nation head office and handed them my resume. That's when I met Senator Roberts for the first time, as they were still counting the votes to see if he would be joining Senator Hanson in parliament. I didn't hear anything for a few months, and then one day I got a phone call from Senator Hanson's chief of staff, James Ashby, who has, for better or worse, had to put up with me ever since. It was a phone call that changed my life, because the next day I met Senator Pauline Hanson and that afternoon I was offered a job. For the next nine years, I had the honour of working for Senator Hanson and One Nation in this place and across the country, fighting for the people of Australia and the future of this great nation. To anyone watching today who is doing it tough, who's lost their job, who's failed an exam or who feels like they've missed their shot, I want you to know something: it is never too late to turn things around. You can get knocked down and you can make mistakes, but, with hard work, a bit of luck and a willingness to keep going, you can find your way. I never imagined I would be standing here in the Australian Senate, but I kept showing up, I kept working and, when the chances came, I took them. If I can do it, so can you. Now I want to take a moment to properly acknowledge Senator Hanson, the founder of the party I represent and my greatest mentor, who should be sitting here today were it not for others in this place deciding that the conventions on tabling legislation and the conventions on allowing others to speak, debate and be heard apply to others but not her. Now some may think that, by shutting her down, by banning her and by abusing her, they have won some victory. The truth is you have won nothing and only made Senator Hanson stronger—and that is hard to do, because she is already one of the strongest women I know. You have failed because despite the best efforts of the political establishment to remove Senator Hanson from this place, be it through the legal system, jailing her, or by dirty political tricks, banning her from taking her rightful place in this chamber, Senator Hanson is still here, because the people chose her. She is still here, that is still her seat, and it remains her seat by the will of the people and not by the whims of the Senate. She is still here, and with every year the number of people in this place and around the country standing with her is growing. From her first speech in the House of Representatives in 1996 to the near decade of service to this chamber, she has never backed down—not once and certainly not this week. For her courage, she has faced more abuse, more slander and more misrepresentation than any politician in living memory, and through it all she has continued to speak up clearly, directly and with unmatched bravery for the people this place so often forgets. The longer the years go on, the more Australians can see that she was right all along—right on immigration, right on energy, right on national security, right on our national sovereignty, right on foreign ownership and right on protecting the freedoms of this nation. Her contribution to this country dwarfs nearly all others and her legacy will endure through generations because, when Senator Hanson speaks, she speaks for the forgotten people of this country—the workers, the farmers, the small-business owners, the pensioners and the mums and dads who play by the rules and just want a fair go. She has not just given them a voice but given them the courage to use their voice. That is what she has taught me to do, and that is what I am doing today. I believe Australia is the greatest country on earth and it is home to the greatest people on earth. Australians don't ask for much—just a fair go, a country that works and leaders that put the people first. But, right across this nation, people are angry. And they have every right to be angry. They are not angry because of some hate for Australia; it is because they love Australia, and they see it slipping away. They see their towns and suburbs transformed without ever being asked. They see house prices and rents exploding while wages stay flat. They see power bills soaring while our coal and gas exports are sent overseas. They see crime rising and our standard of living falling. They see their values mocked, their history trashed and their kids taught to be ashamed of who they are. They see a country that once worked now struggling under the weight of bad policy, weak leadership and politicians and political parties that seem to serve the interests of everyone but the people of this country. They see the major parties bow to corporate interests, foreign investors, globalist think tanks, the United Nations and a woke agenda while ordinary Australians are lectured, insulted and told to shut up. Well, we will not shut up, and One Nation will continue to give the people a voice. I stand here as a proud Australian who loves this country. I believe this country belongs to the people who built it, who defend it and who call it home. It should be a government's first duty to protect them and to serve them, not to serve foreign nations or the interests of the United Nations, left-wing radicals, activist judges or unelected bureaucrats pushing an imperialistic, progressive political agenda. It should be to the Australian people, first and foremost. I believe strong families, secure borders, local jobs, personal responsibility and the rule of law are some of the foundations of this nation. I believe the Anglo-Celtic values that built this country and the Christian bedrock upon which so much of this great nation stands must be defended. I will fight to protect these institutions from the radical ideologies and globalist forces that threaten to tear them down. Much of what has made this nation great has been torn down, which is why I believe we need to not only defend these things but restore these things, which made our nation great but have been neglected and undermined. We must restore what drove our standard of living—cheap, reliable, Australian energy. We must restore control of our nation's borders because our immigration and investment policies, which were once about building a nation, have become a betrayal driven by big business, global pressure and the politics of greed and cowardice. We must restore our national identity to one grounded in a shared culture, a proud history and an Australian way of life. These pillars matter because, if they crumble and fall, the nation falls with them. If we do not act to defend our borders, to end mass immigration, to put our people first, then Australia is lost. We must act urgently because Australia is at risk of being swamped by mass immigration. Under this Albanese Labor government, we have been subject to one of the most reckless and careless immigration experiments in our nation's history. The reason this has been allowed to happen is that others in this place do not truly see Australia as a sovereign nation. They see nothing special or unique, nothing worth preserving. But I do. A nation is not an economic market. It is not a workforce. It is not a population that is too old that needs to be replaced. It is not a population target dreamed up by bureaucrats or bankers that we must hit. A nation is a people bound by a shared history, a shared culture and a shared way of life. It is a contract between the living, the dead and those yet to be born. A nation is a gift we inherit from our ancestors, and it is our duty to protect and preserve it for those who come after us. For years now, that contract has been torn up. Under this government, over one million people having been brought into this country in the middle of a housing crisis, an energy crisis and a cost-of-living crisis. The result? Skyrocketing rents, crumbling services, overloaded infrastructure and neighbourhoods that change beyond recognition in just a few short years. This is not an immigration policy; this is a betrayal. It's a betrayal of Aussie families, mums and dads, who feel like they are being pushed aside in their own country, be it through mass immigration or weak laws on foreign investment. A young mum and dad with two kids should not have to compete with every millionaire from China, India or the United States or compete with global investment firms just to buy a home in suburban Sydney, but that is what is happening around the country every day because so many politicians in this place believe Australia should not have real borders—that anyone can come here, in any number, and that anyone can buy a home here, whether they live here or not. This is a disgrace. Housing in this country should be for Australians trying to build a life and raise their family, because this is our home. This is not some abstract global marketplace; this is our home. This nation is home for our people, the people of Australia, and to act otherwise is a betrayal. The Australian people have never asked for or approved of this betrayal. They did not ask for their suburbs to be reshaped. They didn't ask for their kids to be priced out of the housing market. They didn't ask for their hospitals or schools to be pushed to breaking point. But is happening anyway because political parties in this place, for their own reasons, for their own special interests, have decided they will not listen to the people of Australia. I am proud to say One Nation is listening, and that is why we will not apologise for putting Australia first. We will not apologise for demanding that illegal migrants be deported and that government make the necessary cuts to immigration. We will not apologise for defending our borders, our values and our way of life. It is our duty to defend these things. It is our duty to the people of Australia and to our future generations. This is the responsibility I have to my daughter—to protect and defend the Australia that I have inherited, that she has inherited, before the Australia that was gifted to us by our ancestors is gone forever. No nation can survive without defending its borders and without a shared language, a shared culture and a shared sense of who we are. We are not just an economy. We are not just a labour pool. We are a people with roots, with loyalties and with an Australian way of life that is worth defending. If we lose that, we lose the nation itself. I will fight with everything I have to make sure that such a tragedy never comes to pass. To be clear, this is not the only threat posed to the future of this nation. Another is the steady, deliberate failure to manage our energy system, a failure that goes far beyond net zero. Australia should have the cheapest, most reliable energy in the world. We are blessed with abundant natural resources. Coal, gas, uranium—we have the lot. We should be a powerhouse. Instead, we are becoming powerless. For years governments of both stripes have torn down what worked and replaced it with slogans, subsidies, foreign-made solar panels, and wind turbines contaminated with asbestos, and net zero is the excuse being used to cover this up. Let us be clear: net zero is not a climate policy; it is an economic wrecking ball, and it is being swung with force at the heart of this nation's prosperity. Families who once had steady jobs, affordable power and a sense of security now face the exact opposite. Power bills are soaring. Manufacturing has been shut down. Industry that is the backbone of our economy, such as Tomago Aluminium, is on the brink. Coalmining jobs that have sustained regions like the Hunter and helped to fuel our future are being sacrificed and thrown away for nothing. Farmers in regions like New England are being strangled by green tape, torn apart by industrial wind and solar projects, and pushed off their land to make way for energy infrastructure that is fuelled by an obsession. Regional towns are being gutted, losing their jobs, losing people and losing hope. The lights are flickering on a power grid that used to be the envy of the world. Why? It's because both major parties surrendered to a fantasy. Labor pushes it and the Liberals pretend to oppose it, while signing up to the exact same targets and treaties and supporting the exact same policies that are causing the damage and the decline. Australians are being told to sacrifice everything for net zero, and they are getting nothing in return—just more pain. In New South Wales, we once had some of the cheapest, most reliable energy in the world because we used our own coal and gas and we believed in self-reliance. Now these same industries are under attack, while we are told to rely on Chinese-made solar panels and foreign supply chains. This is national self-harm, and it must end. I believe in cheap, reliable energy not just because it's good economics; I believe it is a moral obligation. I believe that restoring our energy system and delivering cheap energy to the people of Australia is the greatest moral obligation of our time. We must decide what we value more: destructive international treaties like the Paris Agreement that say we must sacrifice our nation's prosperity so other nations may profit, or the future and wellbeing of our own children. Nothing will rebuild this nation faster than affordable power in the hands of its people. That is the path to a stronger Australia, and that is the fight One Nation is here to lead. But it is not the only fight we will lead. We must also fight to defend what it means to be Australian, because our culture and national identity are also under siege. Children are taught to feel ashamed of our history. They are taught that the statues of great men and women who helped build this country should be torn down. They are taught our national flag can be burnt. They are taught to hate Australia Day, our national day—a day that has been hijacked by extremists to promote their agenda of hatred and division. This must stop. Australia is the most generous, free and fair-minded nation on earth. We do not need to rewrite our past to build a better future. We need to honour the legacy of our ancestors. That is what we should be teaching our children, because that is how we build a better future for our children. That legacy includes all of us. It includes Indigenous Australians. It includes the British settlers who founded our institutions and brought our democratic traditions. It includes generations of Australians from all backgrounds who worked, served, sacrificed and made this nation what it is. We must teach our children to be proud of their country and not ashamed of it, because Australians should be proud of their country. That pride should be passed on, not torn down. Our children should be raised to honour what came before them: the soldiers who fought, the values that built the nation and the culture that holds it all together. We are not here to apologise for Australia. We're here to defend it, preserve it and teach the next generation to do the same. If others will not do that, then One Nation will. We are a nation, with an identity, with roots and with a way of life that must be protected, because what is the point of bringing down the cost of living if the life we are left with isn't worth living? To the people of Australia, my mission in this place is simple: to put you first always, to defend and conserve the values that made this country strong, to speak for the millions of Australians who've been ignored for too long, and to carry forward the fight that Senator Pauline Hanson began when she stood alone in this building many years ago and spoke truth others would not dare say. Senator Hanson has started a movement: one of courage, conviction and plain old common sense. The light of that movement burns like a light on a hill that guides us, and I will do everything I can to keep that light burning, in our towns, on our farms, in our factories and in the hearts of every Australian—and right here in the Senate, and right beside her when she returns. I am here to represent the people who sent me, as Senator Hanson taught me: loudly, clearly and without apology—and unashamedly One Nation. I thank the Senate.
Plebiscite (Future Migration Level) Bill 2018; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
Point of order: that's clearly an improper personal reflection on the One Nation senators. I ask that it be withdrawn.
I just ask that Senator Payman address her comments to the chair when she's speaking about Senator Hanson.
This is not my first speech. That will come later today. This bill is very simple. It's simply to give Australians a say in determining the level of immigration we want into this country, and One...
This is not my first speech. That will come later today. This bill is very simple. It's simply to give Australians a say in determining the level of immigration we want into this country, and One Nation is simply respecting all Australians in proposing we give them a voice. The reason we need to ask this question, and the reason we need answers, is because the other parties in this place have stopped listening. They have stopped listening to the people, and the people have had enough. They want to be heard. The Albanese government, along with the Liberals and the Nationals—take your pick—have waved through, year after year, mass immigration, and they have done it while ignoring every warning sign. And One Nation has been warning them for a very long time. They have ignored every stressed neighbourhood, every congested highway, every family priced out of a home, every hospital bed shortage and every Australian pushed to the back of the queue. One Nation sees you and we hear you. You have been ignored for too long. We have been raising the alarm time and time again, and we do so again today. The other parties have ignored the concerns and the pleas for help from everyday Australians struggling against mass immigration and the pressure it puts on this country. It is time that it stops. This debate is about how many people should come to this country. This debate is about the manner in which they come to this country, the levels in which they come. We have proposed a net zero pause for five years. That is a reasonable suggestion, and it is a reasonable question to put to the Australian people so as to give them a voice. The fact is our population, driven by mass immigration, is surging far too quickly for our infrastructure, our hospitals, our schools, our roads and our wages to keep up. Let's talk about a truth that the government doesn't like to talk about. These mass migration policies that they have supported have led to one of the longest periods of GDP-per-capita recession in our nation's history. One Nation have said it before, and we'll say it again: this mass immigration agenda by the Albanese government has been done to artificially pump up headline GDP, and without it we'll be staring at negative growth, quarter after quarter. This immigration policy, pushed by the Albanese government, is to hide their economic mismanagement. They know that without it they would be blamed for a recession that their poor economic management would have caused. So, instead of fixing the economy, instead of dealing with some of the underlying issues within the economy, they are pulling the mass immigration lever to fix what is essentially numbers on a page at the expense of the standard of living of Australians in this country. The consequences of mass immigration are everywhere. The people of Australia see them every single day—congested roads and overloaded infrastructure. Even Infrastructure Australia, a government body, have admitted that lags in infrastructure investment as they struggle to keep up with a surging population driven by mass immigration are damaging the economy and negatively impacting the quality of life of Australians. This is what millions of Australians live with daily. Housing affordability is at breaking point, and it is breaking their hearts. Every Australian knows someone who cannot get into the housing market—their sons, their daughters, their family and friends. They know people who cannot find a rental because we've reached a national vacancy rate of 1.2 per cent, with some capital cities as low as 0.6 per cent. That is unacceptable. And it is caused by mass immigration pushed by the Albanese Labor government and the Liberals and the Nationals and the Greens. So why are we not seriously looking at immigration levels and putting Australians first? All that is before we even consider stagnant wages and job competition. We have approximately 670,000 unemployed Australians in this country and nearly a million more who want additional hours. We are dealing with a labour market flooded by foreign visa holders, and we know that the big businesses, the multinationals, love this. Why wouldn't they? More workers artificially flooded into the market mean lower wages for Aussie workers and fewer jobs for Aussie workers. Australians at the lower end of the jobs market are left behind, and we will see much more of this unless the mass immigration tap is not turned off. The suffering will continue. Our services will continue to be strained. Australia has grown by five million people since 2007, a 25 per cent increase. More than 60 per cent of that growth has come from immigration. This is not manageable; it is reckless. The worst part about it is that it has been deliberate. Now, we no longer have the services and infrastructure to match our population, because these were not delivered by the government. So this bill is to give people a say on this. Do they want what we've had to continue—the reckless mass immigration agenda—or do we try something different? This bill will give the people a say, and that is something that politicians in this place seem terrified of. Why shouldn't Australians have the right to vote on whether immigration levels are too high? Politicians know the answer; they know the answer they will get. They know the Australian people will overwhelmingly reject the mass immigration agenda pushed on them by the major parties. It was very interesting listening to some contributions in this place. I listened very carefully to Senator Scarr, from the Liberals. One of the things he said was that the question of immigration is far too complicated for the Australian people to address. It's far too complicated, and they can't be trusted to come up with an adequate policy solution. That notion that everyday Australians should be denied the right to have a say on a question because 'it's too complicated for them' goes to one of the fundamental differences between One Nation and the Liberal Party: we actually believe that the Australian people are smart enough to understand these problems, that they do understand these problems and that they've been demanding solutions. They've been demanding things like a net zero immigration pause. Some of those matters that Senator Scarr raised in relation to family reunion visas and things like that would not be difficult to resolve. Government have forward projections. They understand how many people come in through the system via those categories and they could take that into account. They could make allowances in the number of people coming into the country. To raise that as a particular issue—it is simply not something that should stand in the way of a sensible policy that would end mass migration, and a proposal for net zero migration. One Nation was the first political party pushing this idea, long before others even muttered the words, because we believe, genuinely and unapologetically, in giving the Australian people a voice. We will always ask for you to have a voice. That is why we're asking a simple question: should Australia adopt a policy of zero net migration for a period of five years—yes or no? It's a simple question. We know Australians want a say because mass immigration is affecting every aspect of our economy and quality of life. Australians deserve the respect of being asked and being given a say. If we do not give them their voice we are telling them that their voice does not matter—that we do not care about their concerns and that we do not care to adequately represent the views of the people. I recall another point that was brought up by Senator Scarr. He said that one of the reasons that we couldn't implement a zero net migration policy is that we've signed some international treaties. We have signed some international treaties and therefore other countries get to have a say in our immigration rate. Other countries get to decide how many people come here, but the Australian people don't have the right to a say. They have been superseded by demands from foreign countries. I think that gets to the heart of this matter: we are listening to everyone but the Australian people. I say again: the Australian people deserve a voice. They deserve to have their concerns heard. One Nation hears them. We will always give you a voice, and we will always put Australians first.
Migration | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
Is the minister suggesting that the net zero policy is related to the cyclone?
Minister, Infrastructure Australia's net zero workforce report says around 130,000 skilled workers are tied up in net zero infrastructure projects. Will you admit that Labor's ideological rush to...
Minister, Infrastructure Australia's net zero workforce report says around 130,000 skilled workers are tied up in net zero infrastructure projects. Will you admit that Labor's ideological rush to net zero is not only driving up power bills but also hoovering up the very tradies and specialists we need for housing and infrastructure? Will you back One Nation's policy of ending the net zero madness so those workers can be redirected to fixing our housing and infrastructure crises?
Another 300,000 migrants cannot fix a crisis made worse by the 1.2 million you have already brought in, which turbocharged the demand for housing, roads, hospitals and schools. Minister, this is...
Another 300,000 migrants cannot fix a crisis made worse by the 1.2 million you have already brought in, which turbocharged the demand for housing, roads, hospitals and schools. Minister, this is madness. Why is the Albanese Labor government trying to fix a housing and infrastructure crisis created by mass immigration with even more mass immigration?