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

I rise to speak on this matter of urgency, and I commend Senator Thorpe and all my other colleagues for their tremendous efforts in calling out racism wherever it occurs.

I want to highlight a few things that have been said in the chamber. Senator Blyth—I guess she speaks on behalf of all the Liberals—said that the framework and the 63 recommendations that were put into the national antiracism framework commissioned by the government claim that all Australians are racist. Now, there's no truth to that, and I would put this question to Senator Blyth: have you read those 63 recommendations to even say that? Senator Ghosh used, out of the five minutes of his allocated time, the last 49 seconds to mention the national antiracism framework. That just highlights where this government is at when it comes to address the real crux of the problem and the real issues that are underpinning why social cohesion is where it's at.

As a visibly Muslim woman in parliament, I have a live target on my back. I know what racism is and what it feels like, and we've heard that it's not just focused on the Muslim community. We've seen, time and time again, the racism that causes division in our society. If the Prime Minister is so hellbent on addressing social cohesion, then he needs to appreciate and implement the national antiracism framework's recommendations. That's one of the simple things, making it mandatory— (Time expired)