My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Home Affairs. Minister, since your government came in, you've worked with Peter Dutton to forcibly remove people under a corrupt deal to Nauru and then, this year, to get a Trump like power to ban travel from countries. You are now preparing a package of migration changes as part of a race to the bottom on immigration with One Nation's Pauline Hanson, of all people. Why is it, when there's a choice between supporting multicultural Australia and the nasty, mean Right, you keep choosing the mean and nasty Right?

What a pathetic question. What a pathetic attempt from the Greens political party to try yet again to get their social media hits by making completely inaccurate claims. The suggestion that this government is copying One Nation policies on any matter is so ludicrous. Senator Shoebridge, I remember it was last week that some of your senators voted with One Nation to stop protection of native forests, so if you want to talk about people voting with One Nation or copying One Nation ideas, have a look in your own party room.

Minister, please resume your seat. Senator Shoebridge?

A point of order on relevance. You know it's not relevant.

Thank you, Senator Shoebridge, I will draw the minister back to the question. Minister Watt, please continue.

What this government is doing in our migration policy settings is dealing with the reality that, post-COVID and post the former coalition government, we had a migration system that was completely broken, that was being rorted and that was reaching unsustainable numbers. Now, if the Greens political party believe that continuing to have net overseas migration figures of more than half a million a year is a sustainable migration policy then they're on their own. It wasn't. It's not sustainable from a population point of view. It's certainly not sustainable from an environmental point of view to have those kind of numbers every year. That's why we've taken action. We've taken action in a calm, considered and non-divisive way, which is very different to what we've seen from other parties here. What we've done at the same time is ensure that we manage the economic factors arising from our migration policy. We have taken this action without demonising any group within the community, and that's exactly the way we intend to take it from here.

Senator Shoebridge first supplementary?

No-one believes that. Temporary visas have drastically increased, in part due to massive delays in processing substantive visas under your government, while at the same time your government has overseen an unprecedented slowdown in permanent family visa processing. Do you want migration to help build an inclusive Australia and a place for families, or one just to treat migrants as economic levers you turn on and turn off?

Senator Shoebridge, I'm not going to take the bait. We are going to put in place a migration policy that is calm, that is considered, that puts the national interest first, and that recognises the needs of families for reunion and for reunification at sustainable levels, while ensuring that we can fill the workforce needs of this country. We're not interested—in fact, I think we're the only party in this chamber that isn't interested in using migration as a political football. We know that the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation want to use migration as a political football to divide the Australian community and, particularly, to isolate migrants.

On a point of order on relevance, my question was about their failure to fund the processing that caused them—

Thank you, Senator Shoebridge.

I know he's embarrassed by it, but, if you could, just answer the question.

Senator Shoebridge, resume your seat. I have reminded you before that it's not an opportunity to stand and make a point of order and follow it up with a statement. The minister is being relevant, and I'll continue listening carefully.

As I say, we're not going to use migration as a political football. We're not going to use it, as the Greens political party do—to use migration as a political football as well. We know that the Greens political party is only interested in stunts. They're never interested in solutions, and we're not going to follow that approach when it comes to migration policy.

Senator Shoebridge, second supplementary?

Again, no-one believes you. Minister, real wages have fallen. People cannot afford rent. Mortgages are impossible. People have record debt. Will your government take responsibility for failing to address the material needs of people, which has allowed the space for the far right and then Labor to scapegoat migrants for your failures?

All Australians remember that it was the Greens political party who teamed up with One Nation and the coalition to block the provision of more public housing. I'll tell you who knows that more than anyone. Mr Max Chandler-Mather knows that it was the Greens political party who stopped housing being built. Stephen Bates, the former member for Brisbane—he knows that it was the Greens political party, and a bloke called Adam Bandt certainly knows that it was the Greens political party who got in the way of public housing being built. That's why they are no longer members of this parliament. For the Greens to come in and, all of a sudden, cry about the needs of renters or cry about the needs of mortgage holders or cry about the housing situation that Australia finds itself in shows an even more staggering lack of self-awareness than we are used to from Senator Shoebridge.