Senate debates
Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers
Defence Procurement
3:25 pm
David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) | Hansard source
Three times, the leader of the Albanese government in this place was asked, 'What are you doing about Palantir?' How have you let Palantir and the US tech bros, who no doubt are funding and pumping the tires of One Nation, come in here and get their teeth, their contracts, into the defence department, into AUSTRAC?
I hear Senator Hanson over there wanting to go to the defence of Palantir. She always does the same. Why? Because Palantir is also funding Donald Trump, the same bloke that One Nation flies off to Mar-a-Lago for. They're of a type. Is it any wonder Australians are suspicious about the online activities of One Nation, when they come into this place and defend the likes of Palantir? Palantir have said what their priorities are. Their priorities aren't to back in Aussie battlers and to back in the Australian economy. One Nation and Labor's mates in Palantir have made clear what their priorities are. Their priorities are to back in the US military and to back in the US government.
What is really extraordinary is that they haven't been hiding it. They published a manifesto. They put a manifesto out online talking about their basic plans to push fascism—to push this hard-right politics. Their having published that, what does the Albanese Labor government do? It gets the Future Fund to buy $160 million of shares in Palantir. It signs more defence department contracts to literally bring the wolves inside the defence—Palantir is the same company that is giving targeting data to Israel to kill people in Gaza. Palantir is the same company that's giving targeting information to ICE in the United States to deport Americans. That's who the Albanese Labor government has invited in. That's who they keep signing contracts with.
It's the Greens in this place who are saying: 'What about Australia? What about protecting our national interests?' Why would you let in these international bottom feeders, who have said their interests are serving Washington, not Australia? We want a full public audit, and table the results here, because the Australian public want politicians on their side, not some US tech bro's side. (Time expired)
Question agreed to.
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