Fatima Payman (WA, Australia's Voice) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Acting Deputy President. I think I struck a nerve there. Anyway, back to this bill. This bill is not designed to fix problems. As I have outlined through those facts, very calmly and factually, it is designed to distract Australians from addressing those who are actually causing this problem and who are responsible. The moment Australians direct their anger upwards to the billionaires and all the vested interests who actually created this mess, politicians who serve those billionaires would have a serious problem. Working people, whether they look like me or whether they wear high-vis, a hard hat or a business shirt, have a lot more in common with each other than with the billionaires who bankroll these fear campaigns. Immigrants didn't privatise public assets. They didn't sell off social housing. They didn't freeze wages. Blaming migrants won't lower your rent, put food on your table or put a roof over your head.

Decent Australians deserve better than fear campaigns like this, dressed up as policy that somehow miraculously changes systemic problems without the actual reforms that we need to tackle. This bill is divisive, it's very misleading and it's entirely disconnected from economic reality. Once again, it should be rejected. I implore all my Senate colleagues to think very carefully, to look at what modern day Australia looks like, to reflect on who you're representing in your constituencies and to reject this bill as it should be rejected.