Sue Lines

The question is that the remainder of the government business motion as moved by Minister Gallagher be agreed to.

Karen Grogan

I present the third report of 2026 of the Selection of Bills Committee, and I seek leave to have the report incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The report read as follows—

Selection of Bills Committee

REPORT NO. 3 OF 2026

12 March 2026

MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE

Senator Tony Sheldon (Government Whip, Chair)

Senator Wendy Askew (Opposition Whip)

Senator Sean Bell (One Nation Whip)

Senator Nick McKim (Australian Greens Whip)

Senator Ralph Babet

Senator Leah Blyth

Senator the Hon. Matt Canavan (Nationals Whip)

Senator Susan McDonald (Acting Nationals Whip)

Senator the Hon. Anthony Chisholm

Senator Jessica Collins

Senator the Hon. Katy Gallagher

Senator Jacqui Lambie

Senator Fatima Payman

Senator David Pocock

Senator Lidia Thorpe

Secretary: Tim Bryant 02 6277 3020

SELECTION OF BILLS COMMITTEE

REPORT NO. 3 OF 2026

1. The committee met in private session on Wednesday, 11 March 2026 at 7.11 pm.

2. The committee made no recommendations to refer bills to committees.

3. The committee recommends that the following bill not be referred to a committee:

4. The committee deferred consideration of the following bills to its next meeting:

Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Amendment (Consideration of UNDRIP) Bill 2023

1. The committee considered the following bill but was unable to reach agreement.

(Tony Sheldon)

Chair

11 March 2026

I move:

That the report be adopted.

Katy Gallagher

I move the following amendment:

At the end of the motion, add ", and the Migration Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Bill 2026 not be referred to a committee".

David Shoebridge

I move the amendment circulated in Senator McKim's name:

At the end of the motion, add: "and, in respect of the Migration Amendment (2026 Measures No. 1) Bill 2026, the bill be referred immediately to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 27 June 2026".

We can see what's happening here. Labor, the coalition—and, no doubt, with their race-baiting friends in One Nation—have—

Sue Lines

Senator Shoebridge, withdraw that remark.

David Shoebridge

I withdraw that. Labor, the coalition and One Nation have all come together to try and shut the door today on 7,200 Iranians who have been granted visas that would entitle them to come to this country and then, when they're onshore, seek the protection of this country from a brutal regime and the bombs falling from Israeli and US planes and the missiles coming from Israeli and US warships and installations.

This is a war that all three of the war parties—Labor, the coalition and One Nation—support. You all support the war. You support your Uncle Donald, the fascist duck over in the United States, who has commenced this war in gross breach of international law—in obscene breach of international law. Now you see the consequences of the war that you support, congratulate and endorse. You see the consequences of this war in real people's lives. People are seeing their country destroyed from the air and attacked by its own regime. People are seeing black rain falling from the sky because of the Israeli and US bombs and missiles that have taken out huge oil reservoirs near Teheran.

You've seen the images of the school that was blown up by a US missile, now admitted to by the US—maybe not by Donald Trump, who's still pretending that the missile was stolen by some Iranian secret agent. But you don't mind the lies. You don't mind Donald Trump's lies, because you're supporting a war based on those lies, and now you see the consequences of it: the dead schoolkids, the grieving mums, the country in despair, the ripple of chaos around the region. With all of that, with that wave of despair passing over the Middle East, you then shut the door on 7,200 Iranians who could have had a chance for some safety.

Labor are trumpeting the fact that they gave a life raft to five or six incredibly brave Iranian women's football team players. It seems to me that Labor's position on helping the Iranian people—refugees that are coming from Iran—is that they will only help refugees if they can excel at sport and Labor can manipulate that for a media moment, or if Donald Trump rings them up at 2 am and tells them to. Unless you get the phone call from Donald Trump or you see it as a media opportunity, you do not care about Iranian people fleeing their regime or fleeing the war that you support—the war that the Albanese Labor government supports and has now made Australia a part of by deploying Australian troops.

Maybe next time, before you three war parties—Labor, the coalition and one Nation—support another illegal US war, you should reflect just for a moment upon the actual lives that you are destroying, the countries whose tearing apart you are supporting and the misery that you support every time you support another US forever war. Think about where it will end—because it turns out that, once your mate Donald starts one of these wars, the other side gets a vote in it too—and the unpredictability, chaos and violence that comes every time a nation starts a war.

So of course we want this to go to an inquiry. Let's be clear: we will do everything we can to stop you three war parties shutting the door on Iranian refugees. That's one of the reasons we want this to go to an inquiry which would report by 27 June. I would have shot this bill to the moon if we could have, to keep the door open so that this country can show some decency. As for those 7,200 Iranians, think about the grief that they're in and about this country shutting the door on them like this, Labor.

Nick McKim

Under Labor, Australia is at war with Iran, and, entirely predictably, that means the missiles, the armaments and the acid rain coming down not just on military installations in Iran but on the Iranian people—women, children and men. Innocent people, including schoolchildren, are being slaughtered in their droves, entirely predictably, and, entirely predictably, are being displaced in their tens and hundreds of thousands from their homes. And what is Labor doing to address the consequences—the predictable consequences—of its decision to enter Australia into a war with Iran, supported by the war parties in this place—the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation, led by Labor, the unholy alliance of war parties in this place? What is Labor doing to respond to the entirely predictable consequences of going to war with Iran? It is slamming the door closed in the faces of the very Iranians that are being displaced.

Sue Lines

Senator McKim, please resume your seat. Senator O'Sullivan.

Matt O'Sullivan

President, a point of order on relevance: this is a debate about the selection of bills and the Migration Act. We're hearing—

Sue Lines

Thank you, Senator O'Sullivan. This has been a wide-ranging debate, but, Senator McKim, if you could also talk about why it needs to go to a committee, thank you very much. Please continue.

Nick McKim

Thanks very much, President. As I was saying, this bill slams the door closed on Iranian people who are suffering the entirely predictable consequences of a war that Labor has let Australia into, full-throatedly supported by the coalition and by One Nation, and that is why this bill needs to go before a committee for a long and robust inquiry, because this parliament should hear the voices of the people that Labor, with the support of the coalition and one Nation, is slamming the door closed on. Let's be very clear: this is a bill that exposes that Labor is not prepared to face the consequences of its decision to send Australia into a war on Iran, a decision roundly supported by the war parties in this place: the Liberals, the Nationals and One Nation.

This bill slams the door closed on innocent people who may well be trying to flee based on a well-founded fear of persecution and may well be intending to seek asylum in Australia. Andto be clear: they potentially need protection not only from matters internal to Iran but also from the bombs that Australia is playing a role in raining down on Iran. Of course the Iranian women's football team should have been offered asylum in Australia. Of course they should. But how cynical is it that the relevant minister, Mr Burke, would fly up and leverage that opportunity for his own media and for the government's media at the same time and on the same day that the government introduced legislation into this place to slam the door closed on many other Iranian women, children and men who were in an identical position except for the media profile?

They were instead taking shelter under their beds or any other place they could find to try to dodge the weapons from the military assault on Iran that Labor has joined Australia to. The hypocrisy from Labor is rank here. They join Australia to a war on Iran, rain the bombs down, rain the firestorm down, rain the acid down on the Iranian people and then slam the door closed on the consequences of a war that Labor was the first government in the world to cheer on and that Labor has subsequently joined Australia to. It's time for Labor to accept the consequences of its actions, and one of the consequences of its actions, entirely predictably, was the displacement of large numbers of Iranian people. Rather than slamming the door closed on them, we should be ensuring that we face up to the consequences, and Labor should be ensuring that it faces up to the consequences of its actions and provides an opportunity for them to claim asylum in this country.

Long debate text truncated.

Sue Lines

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Hanson be agreed to.

Pauline Hanson

I seek leave to move a motion relating to consideration of a motion concerning the domestic gas reserve, as circulated.

Leave granted.

I move:

That:

(a) the consideration of private senators' bills not proceed today; and

(b) instead the question be put on the following motion after 70 minutes of debate.

The motion reads as follows:

That the Senate:

(a) notes that:

(i) Australian gas should benefit Australians first; and

(ii) the petroleum resource rent tax has fundamentally failed to properly tax gas exports and must be changed to apply to production volume; and

(b) calls on the Government to subject all gas production to a 15% minimum domestic reserve.

Murray Watt

I move:

That the motion be put.

Sue Lines

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

Senator Henderson, I have put a vote and I can't determine the outcome because of your rude interjections.

Question agreed to.

The question is that the motion as moved by Senator Hanson be agreed to.

Question agreed to.

Pauline Hanson

I rise to speak to my Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Domestic Reserve) Bill 2026. With this legislation I deliver on my commitment to ensure the Australian people benefit from the national energy and mineral resources they own.

I have been fighting for this for many years. Australia has tremendous reserves of natural energy resources, which are some of the largest in the world, yet we face energy shortages, driving up our energy prices to among the highest in the world. This makes no sense. This natural wealth, which should make every Australian rich, has been squandered by successive Labor and coalition governments over decades, allowing other countries to use our continent as a cheap dirt mine. It is fundamentally wrong any way you look at it. It is a betrayal of the Australian people, it is incredibly damaging to our economy and it makes us an international laughing stock.

I can only imagine what Norwegians think of Australia's approach. They are laughing all the way to the bank. Norway's sovereign wealth fund, built on revenue from the country's oil deposits in the North Sea, is now valued at over $2.17 trillion. That's almost $400,000 per Norwegian. It's easily twice as much as most Australians' superannuation balances, although that's probably an unfair comparison because our super comes from our individual earnings and Norwegians contribute nothing personally. All that wealth comes from their natural resources and governments which have wisely invested in them. When I think about the wealth Australia could have generated from natural resources, which dwarf Norway's, I get very angry.

This criminal waste of our natural wealth is an outrage. It's why I introduced my Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Benefit to Australia) Bill in 2022, hoping to generate more revenue for the nation from the exportation of our resources. The main parties voted against it, faithfully serving their pay masters in the resources sector and continuing the betrayal of the Australian people.

There has been one small step in the right direction recently, and it is something for which I lobbied the past three prime ministers. On my first meeting with the current Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, I pleaded with him with regard to the PRRT in relation to the North West Shelf, and then he proposed changes to the petroleum resource rent tax that are forecast to increase revenue by about $2.4 million. That was delivered in the budget of 2023. Originally all we were getting was about $200 million to $300 million a year, but I lobbied the prime ministers. I even lobbied the Morrison government over this. It is something I have been passionate about. The PRRT was reduced from 100 per cent to 90 per cent. That's why we are starting to get some money on it.

Australia has some of the largest reserves of natural gas on the planet, and we're the world biggest exporter of it. About 93 per cent of these reserves are in Commonwealth waters concentrated in the North West Shelf of Western Australia. The majority of it is exported to Asian markets, so much in fact that Asian countries' customers pay less for our gas than Australians do. How can that be? Here we are exporting our gas, and now we are going to have to import our own gas to supply our needs in Australia. How stupid are we? How ridiculous is it to actually do that in the cost-of-living crisis that we have? A small amount is kept in the west thanks to the policy of the Western Australian government to ensure 15 per cent domestic gas supply is processed in the state and kept in the domestic reserve. This has been done for decades. They were smart enough to do it. But what annoys me is that that gas is in Commonwealth waters. That gas should be 15 per cent domestic gas supplied to all Australians, with not just those in Western Australia getting the cheaper gas.

That's why I have proposed a bill for a pipeline from Western Australia to the east coast so we can bring the gas across so all Australians can use it. My bill also proposes that the 15 per cent domestic gas supply should be on the east coast as well. Wherever we actually utilise our gas, even by foreign investors, it must give us a 15 per cent domestic gas supply here in Australia.

My bill will amend section 95 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 and include references to a condition that petroleum and gas producers must enter into a domestic reserve agreement with the Commonwealth. The substantial amendment is to introduce a new section, 162A. This new section provides that licences will have 12 months to enter into a domestic reserve agreement. If the licence was generated before then, that licensee will still have 12 months to enter an agreement from the day the licence is granted if this happens after 1 January next year. For each year the agreement or licence operates, the licensee must reserve an amount of petroleum or gas equivalent to 15 per cent of the amount exported by the licensee the previous year. Such agreements must operate for a minimum of 10 years. If the first contract expires but the production licence is still enforced, licensees will be required to enter a new agreement.

A lot of you will vote against this. I have no doubt the Greens and Labor will vote against this. I know your attitude. Because One Nation puts up these bills, you won't support them. You don't care about the Australian people. You're not economic managers of this country. You have no idea how to utilise our resources here. You're running this country into a hell of a debt that future generations won't be able to pay down. You're overspending money. You can't control the credit card. You keep handing it over. We're going higher and higher in the debt—more interest that we are paying a year in paying off our debt. And we will not be able to provide these services that future Australians will need with an ageing population, with nursing homes, hospitals, schools, roads, infrastructure, bridges—all this that needs to be done. And we won't be able to do it because you're so—what can I say? Your attitude towards this is unbelievable, and you do not care about the Australian people that are struggling out there.

What I am saying here is the Australian people are struggling. Their energy costs are going through the roof. People are losing their homes because they can't pay their mortgages due to rising costs, and this all comes down to energy, like I explained. Norway has a tremendous wealth fund gained from their resources. We have been so stupid in this country. We haven't done it. We've had governments and members of parliament who have never had long-term vision as our politicians did a century ago. They're here just for your term, and all they want to do is make sure that they make the right decisions to win their seats back again. But they're all making the right long-term decisions for this nation, and it is a shame, because it is the Australian people who are missing out.

This is a great opportunity that we have to actually recover from our resources some money that we can put to good use. We're struggling with hospitals in rural and regional areas. Hospitals are closing down—schools and infrastructure. The roads are an absolute mess. There's so much waste of government money, and you're scratching around and you're bringing in a productivity commissioner who's talking about a heritage tax. That's a death duty on tax. That's what you're going to consider, whether this budget or the one after—increase taxes. Forget about getting wealth from our resources that other countries pay us—let's hit the Australian people again with another tax, whether it is capital gains tax, let's look at superannuation, let's tax them more on their superannuation, let's look at an inheritance tax or let's look at a death duties tax. All this government can see is tax, tax, tax, more regulation, more red tape, shutting down the farming sector, shutting down business, industries, manufacturing—we've had over 1,400 industries manufacturing shut down under this government and 40,000 small businesses shut down insolvent under this government. Forty-five per cent of businesses are struggling to pay their power bills because of climate change. That is right. Let's, in fear, along with the Greens, climate change—it is all coming to an end, so we actually have to put in all this generation of power of Snowy 2.0. From $2 billion now to $20 billion once the transmission lines—$40 billion Snowy 2.0 is going to cost us with not one extra kilowatt of power delivered. Then all your transmission lines are going through farming sector, which they don't want, so you are destroying the farming land out there. You've destroyed how many millions of hectares of prime agricultural farming land to put your solar panels on that are destroying the land. Where are they going to go? into the ground. Your wind turbines that you destroy land to put up—all this is coming from China. We're just seeing the dollars flow out of this country, going to China to provide these wind turbines and the solar panels that we put on our prime agricultural land that then have to be buried in the ground, because nothing else happens. How much money is being spent on this? How much is it—$50 billion or $60 billion so far in subsidies to multinational companies that you bring out here to Australia and paying them, making sure they get a good deal out of all this?

I cannot believe—I've been a businesswoman most of my life, and what you have done is absolutely disgraceful to this nation. You really have—and then you brainwash the kids in the educational system that they're in fear that the world is coming to an end, which is an absolute rubbish. It's a load of rubbish. You can't back up anything that you put out there, and you play on the fear of people out there, and that is why they're feeling this way. But this is the way that we can move forward to give security to people and lower the gas costs.

Even now, this government and governments in the states—you want to get rid of the gas appliances in the houses and put in electricity. How ridiculous is that? When the wind doesn't blow and your turbines don't work, especially in South Australia, the only thing you've got left is gas because you got rid of the coal-fired power stations. If you don't have enough gas here, what's going to happen? Blackouts. Oh, that's right—it's already happening. If you get short of electricity—oh, that's right; I spoke to a cotton farmer, and guess what? He said, 'They ring us up and say, "If you turn off your power, we're going to pay you $150,000 so that we can actually deliver power to other Australians without being seen as incompetent because we can't deliver the power that this nation needs."' That's where you run this country into the ground.

Gas is so important to us, but utilise that gas to the best of your ability so that we get a return for Australians, because it's our resource, and you're not using it to the best of your ability. Gas is so important. This bill that I'm putting up here shows that we can use basic business common sense to deliver gas to the Australian people, get money back on our returns and be a wealthy nation to pay down your debt that you made along with the coalition over the years. Both of you are to blame for the state of this nation, which is absolutely disgraceful. You haven't been thinking. You haven't used your brains. Politicians should have this problem solved, and the lot of you have no background or experience in running a business. You wouldn't have a clue.

You're absolutely brain dead when it comes to things like this that can make money for this country. Start listening to the grassroots Australian people. Start caring about the grassroots Australian people. Start making them some money instead of spending it all the time. As far as I'm concerned, it's an absolutely disgraceful waste. Start learning how to make money instead of spending the Australian taxpayers' money. That's what One Nation stands for: putting up good policies that are for the benefit of the Australian people. There's no denying that we need to do something about it. Give us the 15 per cent domestic gas reserve. Australians get cheaper gas.

Have your investments in Australia by all means. I've got Australian companies that want to start working here, but you shut it down. The Labor Party shuts everything down here in Australia, whether it's gas on land or—you're not looking after the North West Shelf at all. You're not using your common sense. That should reduce your PRRT again there. You dropped it 10 per cent, and guess what? We made $2.4 billion by dropping it 10 per cent. This is only giving more benefit to the multinationals setting up and taking our gas. That's a resource that belongs to the Australian people. If you can't do your job properly here, then I think that we need to get rid of the ministers who make these incompetent decisions and cost Australian taxpayers billions of dollars. I think you should lose your jobs and go back to the backbench.

Long debate text truncated.

Sue Lines

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Hanson be agreed to.

Sue Lines

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Cash to suspend standing orders be agreed to.

Sue Lines

The question is that the motion as moved by Senator Bragg be agreed to.

Richard Colbeck

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

The need for the Government to issue an official response to the National Anti-Racism Framework by the end of the month, given this comprehensive and actionable approach to racism was handed down in November 2024 and the Government has so far failed to respond to or action the recommendations in the report.

Is consideration of the proposal supported?

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

With the concurrence of the Senate, the clerks will set the clock in line with the informal arrangements made by the whips.

Lidia Thorpe

I move:

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

The need for the Government to issue an official response to the National Anti-Racism Framework by the end of the month, given this comprehensive and actionable approach to racism was handed down in November 2024 and the Government has so far failed to respond to or action the recommendations in the report.

On Sunday, at a peaceful iftar celebration in Ballarat, a white supremacist attacked Muslim community members, storming into the event, threatening children and throwing punches while yelling hateful, deeply racist abuse. Children who were there have since been too traumatised to sleep in their own beds. What did the police do? They gave the perpetrator a move-on order. This is one of the latest examples of rising racism and hate in this country and how it's not being taken seriously.

In the past few years, we've seen racism become increasingly vile and blatant. We've seen the Neo-Nazi attack on Camp Sovereignty, the white-supremacist bombing of Aboriginal people at the Invasion Day rally in Boorloo, threats and planned attacks on mosques and the horrific Bondi massacre. Racism in this country is everywhere, but Labor refuses to act.

This government has a solution sitting on a shelf, but, despite the frightening rise in racism, you have done nothing. Sixteen months ago, in November 2024, the Race Discrimination Commissioner handed down the National anti-racism framework, a road map for how this country can tackle racism. The work was funded by this government, and you patted yourself on the back for it at the time. The framework is based on extensive community consultations, hearing from those most affected by racism about how it manifests and what can be done to address it. It is an actionable framework, presenting 63 clear recommendations across areas such as law, justice, health, education, media and workplaces—including parliament as a workplace, of course. The framework provides a holistic, whole-of-society approach to tackling racism.

The government has been served the solutions on a platter, ready to go, but Labor has gone missing. It's typical Labor—happy to commission plenty of reports and inquiries to kick the can down the road but completely silent when it comes to taking action. That's what we have seen. Sixteen months after the National anti-racism framework was handed down, the government has not formally responded to the recommendations. There has been no acknowledgement of this piece of work at all, let alone any implementation or real action to address racism in this country. So much, Labor, for your commitment to tackling racism! Shame.

Lask week, a group of 12 fellow crossbenchers and I wrote to the Prime Minister, Minister Aly, the Attorney-General and Minister McCarthy about the framework, requesting an official government response by the end of March. My motion here today mirrors this request and couldn't be more timely. We know that the government itself perpetrates racism every day in this very place by shutting down women of colour such as Senators Faruqi, Payman and I and by enabling racism in the chamber rather than addressing it. Last week, you shut down a motion by Senator Faruqi and I calling for racism, sexism and discrimination in the Senate chamber to be addressed. What have you done? You've just introduced a racist migration bill that is blatantly Islamophobic and will prevent people whose lives are currently threatened by a war this government is a part of from being able to seek asylum in this country. Shame.

Today, we will see whether you will stand by a report that you funded and commissioned, whether you stand by your word that your government takes racism seriously or whether you're all talk and no action. It is a small ask—just, at least, respond to the framework's recommendations. It's not much to do, it's not hard, but it's something. Racism stops with me, but does racism stop with the Labor government?

Leah Blyth

I think I will start where I will finish on this, and that's that a constructive national conversation about racism should focus on strengthening fairness and opportunity for all Australians and not encourage narratives that pit communities against one another. The coalition believes that there is no place for racism in our society and that people should be treated equally and fairly no matter what their background is. We stand against racism. It is contrary to Australian values and the Australian dream. But we do not agree with the National anti-racism framework's sweeping generalisations, the divisive language and the attacks on Australia as a whole. Australia is one of the most successful blends of cultures in the world, and we should be very proud of the country that we can all call home. We have seen just this week the number of people who want to call Australia home. They are trying to escape their oppressive governments in other countries far away from here, and they look to Australia and want to call it home.

Since the 1950s, to the 1990s, this country has undertaken one of the most ambitious and successful immigration programs in the world. Millions of people from every corner of the globe have come to Australia seeking opportunity, freedom and a better life for their families. They've come here to assimilate. Migrants have built businesses, strengthened communities, enriched our culture and contributed enormously to the prosperity and stability of this nation. From our suburbs to our universities, from our hospitals to our small businesses, Australians of every background are working side by side and building a shared future.

So it is fair to say that Australians are appalled when racism occurs. There is no place for racism in our society, and no-one should ever be discriminated against because of their race. Australians overwhelmingly fight against racism because it runs directly against our country's core values of fairness, respect and equality. From an early age, Australians are taught the importance of giving everyone a fair go regardless of their background, ethnicity or religion. This principle is deeply embedded in the national culture and informs how Australians think about justice, opportunity and community life. When racism occurs, it is widely condemned because it violates the fundamental belief that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity.

Millions of Australians are migrants or the children of migrants, and communities from across the world now form an integral part of the nation's social fabric. In workplaces, in schools and in neighbourhoods, Australians interact daily with people of different cultures and different backgrounds. These everyday connections reinforce the understanding that diversity is normal, it's valuable and it actually strengthens our nation as a whole.

As to the problems with this National anti-racism framework, we have very deep concerns about this report because the framework tries to paint the whole of Australia as racist. We strongly oppose Senator Thorpe's motion because it describes this report as a comprehensive and actionable approach to racism, and in our opinion this could not be further from the truth. This report does not help social cohesion. All it does is foster division. It starts off with the quote:

Racism isn't killing the Australian dream. The Australian dream was founded on racism.

This could not be further from the truth. The Australian dream is a dream shared by people of all backgrounds, religions and cultures. The idea that you can work hard, get ahead, provide for your family, own your own home and enjoy a fair go is one that we all aspire to. To suggest that the Australian dream is founded on racism is an insult to every single Australian. The Australian dream has been built on ideas of opportunity, hard work, democratic governance and the belief that people can build a better life for themselves and their families. To define it through the lens of racism is to ignore the many values and achievements that have shaped modern Australia. The coalition will not be supporting this motion.

Varun Ghosh

My starting point today is that Senator Thorpe, like me and all of those on this side of the chamber—and most Australians, I think—abhors racism and detests its power to destroy and its capacity to cause deep and lasting injury. Every Australian, no matter their race or religion, should be able to enjoy their life in any Australian community without prejudice or discrimination. We are debating this motion at a time when there are troubling portents in our society and around the world. We saw the attack on Indigenous Australians and their supporters on 26 January at Forrest Place in Perth, and we've witnessed a spate of antisemitic attacks across this country, including the horrific targeting of Jewish Australians on Sydney's Bondi Beach which left 15 people dead and dozens injured. We have witnessed the growth of Islamophobia, with women targeted by strangers for wearing headscarves or dressing in a way consistent with their religion, and we have seen Islamic leaders attacked in this country. We have seen Indian Australians, Asian Australians and African Australians subjected to racist abuse and assault from strangers on our streets. And we have witnessed Neo-Nazis chanting racist slogans on the steps of the New South Wales parliament.

In this parliament, we have seen the embers of prejudice come to life in Australia's political parties and in the contemplation of all manner of Faustian bargains in which opposition to racism may be jettisoned for political relevance or advantage. It is time—and this is the point I would like to make—for all of us to oppose racism in all its forms and to stand together and be united against the evil of prejudice.

That's why, Senator Thorpe, while I respect you tremendously, I think some of the criticisms you've levelled at the government are not well placed. I think the Australian people know and should have confidence in the Australian Labor Party's commitment to fighting racism. The Labor Party has embodied that creed for generations. It was a Labor government that abolished the White Australia policy and passed the Racial Discrimination Act. That legislation made, among other things, racial discrimination unlawful in Australia, and that was groundbreaking legislation.

That piece of legislation was also essential to the landmark decision in Mabo No. 1, which declared the Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act and the purported retrospective abolition of native title rights for the Meriam people invalid. It was a Labor government that paved the way for the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act and, following the decision of the High Court in Mabo No. 2, legislated the Native Title Act. It is the same Labor Party that has fought the coalition's efforts to weaken the Racial Discrimination Act and permit discriminatory speech in this country.

That commitment to equality is not just a matter of legislation for our party. It is no accident that the Labor Party caucus is the most culturally diverse to ever represent this country in this parliament. It's a caucus that reflects modern Australia, a caucus that is committed to fighting racism in Australia and a caucus that lives its values, that selects people from all different colours and creeds to be members of this parliament.

I also disagree with Senator Thorpe in relation to saying the government is doing nothing. The approach of the government to date has been multifaceted and is ongoing. There is a range of different measures, including funding for the Respect at uni report, which examined the prevalence, nature and impact of racism in Australian universities. It's been delivered to the government and is being considered. There's $2 million for the Australian Human Rights Commission's Seen and Heard project, supporting communities affected by the conflict in the Middle East. There is funding for the commission to deliver its antiracism campaign, There's Nothing Casual About Racism. There's a focused review of the Australian curriculum to embed antiracism principles in it. I will just pause on that for one moment. There are lots of things that the passage of a law can do. But, ultimately, stamping out racism in this country needs to be community based and it needs to start at a level of education.

The government has provided funding to the Australian Human Rights Commission to develop a national antiracism strategy, of which the national antiracism framework will be a part. That framework is an important and comprehensive document proposing reform across a range of different public policy sectors. It requires systemic change and reform. It is the kind of reform that the Labor Party delivers.

I will finish by saying that this is a deep and difficult challenge that's emerging in our society. It's not to say that it has not existed, but it's emerging in a particularly alarming way at the moment. In order to address it, it takes time and it takes collaboration. It takes nuance and it takes stamina. It is important work. It is important that it is done well. I'll close on the words of the Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Wong:

We have built this country because we have stood for unity, for a collective, for community and for values of acceptance and respect, values that are intrinsic to who we are.

Long debate text truncated.

Pauline Hanson

I move:

That the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Domestic Reserve) Bill 2026 be considered during the time for private senators' bills on Thursday, 12 March 2026.

Sue Lines

The question is that general business notice of motion No. 427 be agreed to.

Sue Lines

I will now deal with the committee of the whole amendments to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026, starting with the amendment circulated by Australia's Voice. The question is that amendments on sheet 3643 be agreed to.

Australia's Voice's circulated amendment—

(1) Schedule 3, page 61 (before line 5), before item 1, insert:

1A Subdivision 290-D

Repeal the Subdivision.

1B Section 291-1 (paragraph beginning "You can carry forward")

Repeal the paragraph.

1C Subsections 291-20(3) to (7)

Repeal the subsections.

(2) Schedule 3, page 61 (after line 24), after item 2, insert:

2A Application of amendments — spouse contributions and unused concessional contributions

The repeal of the following provisions of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 by this Schedule applies in relation to the 2026-27 income year and later income years:

(a) Subdivision 290-D;

(b) subsections 291-20(3) to (7).

(3) Schedule 3, page 62 (line 1), omit "Application of amendments", substitute "Application of amendments—other".

(4) Schedule 3, page 62 (after line 6), at the end of the Schedule, add:

5 Subsection 995-1(1) (definition of unused concessional contributions cap )

Repeal the definition.

Question negatived.

The question now is that schedules 1 to 3 of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 stand as printed.