Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We are seeing a hotly contested race to the fringe of politics—a race to the bottom and a race to the far right. There was a time when the Liberal Party had the courage to draw a line. Former prime minister John Howard had the courage to disendorse Senator Hanson in 1996 and the courage to put One Nation last in 2001. But, somewhere along the way, that courage has been lost. They once understood that some rhetoric has no place in mainstream Australia.

We all have a responsibility to lead by example, to behave in a way that reflects the standards that the vast majority of Australians expect from their representatives, to refrain from stoking fear and spreading misinformation in the way that Senator Hanson has just done in this place, and to refrain from pitting Australians against one another in the pursuit of political gain. Never has this been more important than it is right now, but, instead of showing the leadership that this country needs, the opposition are so committed to outflanking One Nation on the far right that they could not bring themselves to support our motion to censure Senator Hanson on Monday. So the question must be asked: are they so afraid that they will face electoral obliteration if they lose this race to the fringe, to the far right wing?

Senator Cash and the opposition say that they condemn the rhetoric of Senator Hanson, but they will not take decisive action to really show it. For them, the political calculation remains the same. I'm sure we will see more of the same old playbook at the upcoming Farrer by-election: a backroom preference deal designed to hold out and wedge the independent. They might say they're against Senator Hanson's words, but I am sure they will still rely on her preferences at the ballot box. Condemning the rhetoric here in Canberra while relying on the politics of division in the electorate is not true leadership.

In Western Australia, we see Senator Hanson's colleagues are no different. What they say is actually dangerous misinformation and often dangerous conspiracies. There is an endless number of ways that we can get this wrong. One Nation's divisive rhetoric doesn't stop at attacking our country's social cohesion. While this government is working to keep energy prices down to reach our target of net zero, One Nation is also spreading misinformation about our clean energy transition, claiming that Australians are footing the bill and subsidising wind turbines. The fact is that renewables like solar and wind are the cheapest form of new energy.

In recent weeks we heard from Senator Whitten in this place that the science isn't settled and that only bureaucrats and ideologues fear debate, but that is a line that climate deniers use when, in fact, denying climate change is the ideology at play. Senator Whitten, in a further attempt to pit Western Australians against each other, accused a hardworking local shire of deceiving its community after it established a clean energy action group, describing the initiative as a front for Synergy and suggesting that that local government and its officers are taking a cut of supplier contracts—accusing them of corruption. These are extraordinary and outrageous claims made in this place by Senator Whitten. Picking fights with local governments like the hardworking Shire of Augusta Margaret River is just another way with which One Nation, Senator Hanson and Senator Whitten seek to stoke division in communities.

While One Nation spreads this misinformation, our government is getting on with the job. We're investing in cleaner energy, we're strengthening the grid and we're making sure that Australian households and businesses have access to reliable and affordable power. I congratulate the local shires, like the Shire of Augusta Margaret River and many others in my home state of Western Australia, who are working hard to bring renewable energy to their communities.

Right now, Australians deserve serious leadership and expect our leaders and the alternative government to bring Australians together. It's a responsibility we must carry.