Penny Wong

I move:

That further time be allotted for the remaining stages of the bills listed in the motion agreed to earlier today, as follows:

Commencing from 3.30 pm until 5.00 pm.

I also move:

That the question be now put.

Sue Lines

The question is that the motion to close the debate as moved by Senator Wong be agreed to.

Wendy Askew

At the request of Senator Duniam, I move:

That the following matter be referred to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 30 June 2026:

The illegal tobacco crisis in Australia, with particular reference to:

(a) the scale and nature of the illegal tobacco market, including the volume and value of illicit tobacco trade; sources, distribution channels and methods of smuggling or illegal cultivation; and the involvement of transnational serious and organised crime (TSOC) groups;

(b) the impact of illegal tobacco on public health and on government revenue, including smoking rates and the loss of Commonwealth excise and customs revenue;

(c) law enforcement, intelligence and regulatory responses, including the adequacy of:

(i) penalties and deterrence measures,

(ii) the strategy and effectiveness of onshore and offshore disruption activities, and

(iii) the current legislative and regulatory frameworks and the current levels of inter-government and inter-agency co-operation;

(d) the social and economic impacts, including on legitimate retailers, especially small businesses in regional and rural areas; the public health implications arising from the spread of unregulated tobacco products; and the safety implications for communities affected by illegal operations;

(e) forecasts, modelling and plausible future scenarios concerning the potential evolution of the illicit tobacco threat, including the prospect for increased violence and the effect of illicit tobacco on the wider TSOC threat;

(f) options for reform, including potential amendments to existing policies and to taxation, customs and/or criminal laws; and

(g) any other related matters.

Sue Lines

The question is that business of the Senate No. 9, standing in the name of Senator Duniam, be agreed to.

Anne Ruston

Pursuant to contingent notice of motion standing in the name of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, I move:

That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent further consideration of the bills without limitation of time.

What we've seen here today, for the people who are watching, is that the government has done a dirty deal with the Greens under the cloak of darkness. None of us should really have been particularly surprised by this, because it is not the first time it has happened. This week we saw the minister, who I would have liked to think would be standing behind a piece of legislation he believed in, just point around the chamber and say, 'Well, I'll do a deal with you, or I'll do a deal with you,' knowing darn well that the issues of concern to the coalition were completely different to the issues of concern to the Greens. But he didn't care; he just wanted his deal.

Really, the question that Australians should be asking today is, 'What does this government really believe in when it comes to our environmental protection act?' They were prepared to do a deal with anybody just so they could get this bill through. This is an absolute hallmark of this government—avoiding scrutiny. We had no bills pass this place until midday yesterday, when eventually they got the first bill of the week through. They have passed nothing since, and then this morning they come in with a guillotine of nine bills.

Nine bills will receive no scrutiny at all. We have nine bills this afternoon, some of which are very significant bills that have very significant impacts. There will be no scrutiny at all of any of these bills. Instead, we will have extremely shortened scrutiny on a series of a bills—seven of them, with 1,500 pages in the primary bill—in the next hour or so. But no-one should be surprised, because this government thinks that the guillotine is actually a standard part of it doing business. In the last parliament alone, 230 bills were guillotined by this government. They don't even seem to care about the processes, the procedures, the conventions or the reports of committees. We found out that the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills have serious concerns about the lack of scrutiny undertaken on this series of bills.

As I said, there are many thousands of pages of bills being put forward here. Firstly, the primary scrutiny body of this parliament has expressed concerns about this series of bills, and the government is completely ignoring those concerns. Secondly, the secondary scrutiny body of this parliament, the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation, has also raised concerns about the fact that so much of what would normally be considered in primary legislation has been delegated to subordinate legislation. This is a government that is absolutely allergic to scrutiny. They are more than happy to bring bill after bill after bill into this place, with all of the headlines in them, but there is absolutely nothing in any detail. Who knows what might be coming. As we stand here today, we don't even know the details of the amendments that have been agreed with the Greens in order to get their support for this bill or what they mean. Of course, there is absolutely no scrutiny at all of these bills.

I remind the leader in this place that just a few weeks ago, on 6 November, she said:

What I would say to the chamber is that we shouldn't forget history. The committee system has been a really important part of our parliament.

There's no committee system and no committee report, and the two really, really important committees have been ignored when it comes to scrutiny. The thing that is really interesting here is the hypocrisy of what's going on. Senator Wong, back in 2021, said:

This is really undemocratic to turn up and say, 'We're going to roll over the Senate program.' … I am quite astounded at this way of managing the chamber. I am quite astounded that the government thinks it can just rock up with a few minutes notice … and say: 'We've got the numbers. We're going to ram this through.' … What sort of way is this to run government? I hope that for once you might actually tell us what the dirty deal is; usually we have to try and grab it out of you.

So what is the dirty deal that has been done with those at the other end of the chamber? Is it a new party room or something more that they have been offered in order to get their deal? I think the idea that the Leader of the Government in the Senate can come in here in this hypocritical manner and choose to do what she herself has condemned others for doing—this is absolutely a culture that is running rampant in this place. You would sell your soul for a headline with no regard for the consequences. Quite frankly, if you believe the rumours of a wedding on Saturday, I hope the PM hasn't prioritised the fitting of his tuxedo over scrutiny of these very important bills.

Penny Wong

That was an unnecessary personal gibe.

Opposition Senators

Opposition senators interjecting—

Penny Wong

No, there are some things that are beyond politics, and that should be one of them. But what I would say is this: the coalition have had an opportunity over many months to be in negotiations with the government, but the reality is they couldn't negotiate because that would require them to take out time from their favourite pastime, which is fighting amongst themselves. I move:

That the question be now put.

Sue Lines

The question is that the motion moved by Minister Wong be agreed to.

Sue Lines

The question now is that 1(d)(x) of the motion be agreed to.

Penny Wong

I move the motion as circulated:

(1) That today:

(a) the hours of meeting be 9 am till adjournment;

(b) the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025 and related bills be called on immediately and have precedence over all other business at the following times:

(i) from 9 am till the question on the second reading is resolved, and

(ii) from the conclusion of formal motions or 12.15 pm, whichever is earlier, till 1.30 pm;

(c) the question on the second reading of the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025 and related bills be put at 11 am;

(d) the questions on all remaining stages of the following bills be put at

3.30 pm:

(i) Environment Information Australia Bill 2025

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025 Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025

National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025,

(ii) Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 2) Bill 2025,

(iii) Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025,

(iv) Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Financial Systems and Other Measures) Bill 2025,

(v) Regulatory Reform Omnibus Bill 2025,

(vi) Education Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025,

(vii) Strengthening Oversight of the National Intelligence Community Bill 2025,

(viii) Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025,

(ix) VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025, and

(x) Customs Tariff Amendment (Geelong Treaty Implementation) Bill 2025;

(e) divisions may take place after 4.30 pm until consideration of the bills has concluded;

(f) once consideration of the bills has concluded, the following may be considered:

(i) committee membership,

(ii) messages from the House of Representatives;

(iii) a motion to be moved by a minister relating to the next meeting of the Senate and leave of absence for senators; and

(g) the Senate adjourn without debate on the motion of a minister.

(2) Paragraphs (1)(c) and (1) (d) operate as limitations of debate under standing order 142.

Nick McKim

Could I ask that you please put the question separately in relation to 1(d)(x), the Customs Tariff Amendment (Geelong Treaty Implementation) Bill?

Sue Lines

I will put the rest of the motion first and then 1(d)(x) that you referred to. The question is that the motion, as moved by the minister, without 1(d)(x), be agreed to.

Sue Lines

The question now is that the procedural motion moved by the minister be agreed to.

Penny Wong

I move:

That a motion relating to the consideration of legislation may be moved immediately and determined without amendment or debate.

And I move:

That the question be now put.

Sue Lines

The question is that the question be now put on the procedural motion moved by the minister.

Sue Lines

The question now is that the motion to suspend standing orders be agreed to.

Penny Wong

I seek leave to move a motion relating to the consideration of legislation.

Leave not granted.

Pursuant to contingent notice of motion, I move:

That so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent me moving a motion to provide for the consideration of a matter, namely a motion to allow a motion relating to consideration of legislation to be moved and determined immediately.

And I move:

That the question be now put.

Sue Lines

The question is that the question be now put.

Karen Grogan

The Senate will now consider the proposal, under standing order 75, from Senator Roberts, which has been circulated and is shown on the Dynamic Red:

Dear President

Pursuant to standing order 75, I give notice that today I propose to move "That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

The urgent need to address the failure of the Albanese government to fix home ownership for the next generation, with mass-migration adding to the 4.7 million non-citizens in the country, tax breaks being given to foreign corporate landlords like Blackrock under 'Build to Rent', foreigners continuing to buy Australian homes and red tape stopping tradies from building more."

Yours Sincerely

Senator Malcolm Roberts Senator for the State of Queensland

Is consideration of the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Malcolm Roberts

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

The urgent need to address the failure of the Albanese government to fix home ownership for the next generation, with mass-migration adding to the 4.7 million non-citizens in the country, tax breaks being given to foreign corporate landlords like Blackrock under 'Build to Rent', foreigners continuing to buy Australian homes and red tape stopping tradies from building more.

The government has offered young Australians starting out in life two equally terrible options: either become a debt slave to the banks forever or rent from a foreign corporate landlord like BlackRock and never actually own a home. Successive Liberal-National and Labor-Greens governments—uniparty governments, that is—have failed to address the root cause of the housing crisis: mass immigration. Why would they do that? The answer is simple: necessity. After years of selling Australia out to their foreign masters, such as BlackRock Inc, Australia's domestic economy was performing so badly that immigration became the government's lifeline.

Australia has had negative per capita income for five successive quarters. What that means is that everyday Australians are going backwards. Their small pay rises do not compensate for inflation.

The reason the Australian economy as a whole is not in recession is the spending from new arrivals, as they furnish their homes and buy clothes, appliances and so on. This feeds on the GDP. But, per capita, we're in recession. It's economic sherbet. Once the sugar hit wears off, these new arrivals wind up in the same cost-of-living recession as Australians.

Instead of developing infrastructure, reducing red tape, reducing green tape, reducing blue UN tape and getting private employment going again, the government takes the easy way out: more migrants, and more, and more. Decades of mass immigration have led us to this place we are in today, where we have 4.7 million visa holders in the country who are not citizens of Australia. We now have absolute confirmation that neither Labor nor the Greens, the Liberals or the Nationals are capable of solving, nor can they be trusted to solve, the real cause of the housing crisis: mass immigration.

And it's a crisis. The latest CPI data shows that housing has now risen 5.9 per cent in the last year—an accelerating rate of increase. And electricity, by the way, went up 37 per cent, as those election bribes Labor gave you—sorry, electricity 'subsidies'—started to expire. According to CoreLogic, it now takes someone on the average wage 12 years to save for a home deposit on the outskirts of Sydney and 30 years to save for the deposit on a home close to the city—30 years, for a deposit! Servicing a home loan now costs 42 per cent of income. The point at which a mortgage is considered to be impaired used to be 30 per cent. That's insane! It's a tragedy for young Australians.

The blame for this rests squarely with the Liberal-National and Labor-Greens parties. You have taken the option of homeownership away from young people with your insane mass immigration and your net zero agendas. You, and you, have allowed foreign multinational corporations and superannuation funds to bid up the price of Australian homes, and you've stood idly by while young people have walked away from auctions in tears. Instead, you make cringeworthy TikTok videos. You make promises that are not and cannot be kept, because you run and hide from the real reasons for the crisis: the Ponzi scheme that mass immigration has become. You run and hide.

Here's what One Nation wanted this parliament to vote on today:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:

The urgent need to address the failure of the Albanese government to fix home ownership for the next generation, with mass-migration adding to the 4.7 million non-citizens in the country, tax breaks being given to foreign corporate landlords like Blackrock under 'Build to Rent', foreigners continuing to buy Australian homes and red tape stopping tradies from building more.

Yet the other parties want to remove the facts, the data, from One Nation's motion. No-one wants to talk about the fact that there are 4.7 million visa holders—people who are not Australian citizens—in the country right now, all needing homes. No-one wants to talk about the tax breaks being given to foreign corporate landlords BlackRock Inc. No-one wants to talk about foreign ownership of Australian homes—no-one, except One Nation.

There is a reason why One Nation is the most trusted party in the country on the issue of migration—that's what the polls are saying quite clearly. The reason is simple: we care; they don't. One Nation will govern for everyday Australians. It's time for a One Nation government now.

Anne Ruston

The coalition is the party of homeownership. We want to see every single Australian—especially younger Australians—realise their dream of owning their own home. Labor has created the worst housing affordability crisis in decades, driven by an historic collapse in homebuilding and by record migration for which the government has completely failed to plan. It is Labor's failure to manage and plan for migration, and Labor's failure to deliver meaningful housing reforms—and that is what is impacting on housing availability today. When we're talking about a housing crisis in this country, we must focus on why we are here in this situation, and the real reason is clear: it is the mismanagement of the Albanese Labor government, it is Labor's uncontrolled migration policies that are reducing the availability of homes in this country, and it's the Prime Minister's red and green tape policies that are strangling new construction, driving the great Australian dream out of reach. This is urgent because it means many young Australians have lost hope of owning a home of their own.

Migration has always been central to our story. We are a migrant nation built on generations who chose this country and made it their home. But migration must be managed responsibly, with stable settings and long-term planning to ensure housing, jobs, services and infrastructure keep pace. While migration has ballooned, this government has overseen a historic housing construction collapse. Communities are feeling the strain, and the cost of poor planning is being carried by every single Australian, leaving many disappointed at the Prime Minister's lack of leadership. Locking in uncontrolled migration without addressing housing and infrastructure pressures is reckless, and, quite frankly, Australians deserve better.

However, we will seek to amend this motion so that the blame for Australia's housing affordability crisis is entirely sheeted home to the government. The failures of housing policy are not the fault of our migrant communities; they are the fault of the Albanese Labor government. That is why I am seeking leave to move an amendment circulated in my name that changes this motion to read:

"The urgent need to address the failure of the Albanese Government to fix home ownership for the next generation, with Labor's uncontrolled migration policies reducing the availability of homes and Albanese's red and green tape policies strangling new construction and driving the great Australian dream out of reach."

This amendment reflects the urgent need to address the failure of the Albanese government's immigration and housing policies. I seek leave to move the amendment.

Leave granted.

I move the amendment standing in my name:

Omit all words after "the following is a matter of urgency", substitute:

"The urgent need to address the failure of the Albanese Government to fix home ownership for the next generation, with Labor's uncontrolled migration policies reducing the availability of homes and Albanese's red and green tape policies strangling new construction and driving the great Australian dream out of reach."

Corinne Mulholland

Here we go again. We have the same right-wing politicians reaching for the same old political stunts. Once again, they're trying to use migrants as a political punching bag, the oldest and saddest trick in the book. It's not new, it's not original and history has shown over and over again that it is wrong. It is dead wrong. When those opposite in the coalition join forces with One Nation on their policy offerings, we know that they have nothing new to offer the Australian people. They are all out of ideas and desperately searching for relevancy. They're looking for someone to blame for their current situation, and, all too often, that someone to blame is a hardworking migrant family in this country. It is a tale as old as time, and we all know the truth.

The simple fact is that a dog whistle is just lazy politics. It's nothing more than a policy shortcut for One Nation and the coalition, who are not interested in doing the real work of governing in this country. If you cannot solve Australia's big challenges off the back of a bumper sticker, they're not interested. If you can't fix an issue by playing dress-up, they don't want it. If it takes showing up in this place day after day and doing the real policy work, they ain't interested.

We know that it takes real policy work, record investment and having all levels of government working together to solve the great challenges of our time. That is how we build the homes that Australians need after a decade of inaction under the coalition. That is how we are going to deliver ongoing cost-of-living relief. That is how we're going to build the infrastructure our communities need now and into the future. You're not going to get that on a bumper sticker. It takes hard work.

Senator Roberts knows this. He himself is a proud migrant to this country. He knows that migrants aren't the problem, and he knows the facts support this. Net overseas migration has declined by more than 40 per cent from 2022-23. Those opposite left migration teeming with rorts. We all remember the Liberal Party fundraisers during the last election. Peter Dutton was beside conversations, offering up golden tickets to wealthy investors. That's their record in migration—a record of rorts. Our government has restored integrity to the system while ensuring that there is a sustainable level that delivers the skills that we need.

New housing approvals are up by 15 per cent from this time last year. More new homes are being built right around Australia. Senator Roberts knows this, but he chooses to come into this place and move motions like this, aided and abetted by the coalition, in a race to the bottom. We have seen the coalition try and climb their way out of some pretty disastrous polling lately. We have seen them try and tear down the new Australians. That's not leadership; that is weakness.

I will come to an Essential poll that was released in the last couple of days. It asks who the best person to lead the Liberal Party in this country would be, and 14 per cent of people said opposition leader Sussan Ley.

Karen Grogan

Senator Bragg, do you have a point of order?

Andrew Bragg

I do. I fail to see how polling has anything to do with the motion at hand.

Karen Grogan

I think Senator Mulholland is definitely within the bounds of this motion, but I will remind Senator Mulholland to stick to the content.

Corinne Mulholland

Thank you, Acting Deputy President. I was interested that, in that poll, a whopping 45 per cent of people said they were unsure who should lead the Liberal Party, and a further 10 per cent said they just didn't know. It's not a real ringing endorsement, is it? But, rather than turning inward and doing the work in this place, they are seeking to move motions with One Nation. We've got the Acting Leader of the Opposition in the Senate speaking on this One Nation motion, we've got the shadow minister for housing speaking on this motion—

Matt O'Sullivan

Don't mislead the parliament!

Karen Grogan

And don't interject. It is unparliamentary.

Thank you, Senator Bragg. We will allow Senator Mulholland to complete her contribution in silence.

Corinne Mulholland

If Australians want an idea of what the modern Liberal Party in this country is looking like, look no further. They're coming in here, aiding and abetting One Nation on migration policies. But this motion, whether it be the amended motion or the original motion from One Nation, is not going to build a single home. While One Nation moves motions like this with the coalition, it's not going to help build a single home.

This government is getting on with the job. On the weekend, we announced the third round of HAFF funding to deliver more than 21,000 new social and affordable homes around Australia. Labor are building more homes, we are making it easier to rent and we are making it easier to get into your own home.

Long debate text truncated.