Australian Greens Anti-Racism spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that the Scanlon Foundation’s Mapping Social Cohesion report for 2020 contains alarming findings with respect to racism felt towards and experienced by culturally diverse Australians.

I rise tonight to speak about the global shark fin trade and inhumane practise of shark finning. For some years I have spoken out about shark finning, its inherent cruelty and the need for Australia to reject this terrible practice in every way we can. Shark finning involves cutting off a shark's fins, often while it is still alive, then throwing it back into the sea, where it is left to die painfully. This is a horrendous and a barbaric practice. The shark suffers hugely, usually dying from blood loss, suffocation or targeted by another predator.

I rise to speak on the matter of urgency before the chamber. As senators would know, this is an issue that is front of my mind as the Greens spokesperson for antiracism and as the only Muslim senator in this place.

First, I think the most critical aspect of this urgency motion, which I thank Senator Lines for bringing on, relates to the Prime Minister and Mr Dutton taking action to combat far Right extremism within their own party. In my first speech to the Senate, back in August 2018, I said:

Wednesday, 3 Feb 2021

Australian Greens DIsability spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has labelled comments made this morning by Minister Robert about the NDIS as cynical, misleading and offensive.

"Minister Robert's comments about our NDIS are deeply concerning and a smokescreen for a much broader power grab from the Morrison government," Steele-John said.

I inform the chamber that Senator Keneally will also sponsor the motion. I, and also on behalf of Senator Keneally, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) Australia is a hugely diverse country of First Nations people and migrants from every corner of the world,

(ii) far-right political activity is on the rise in western democracies and, last month, far-right extremists stormed the United States Capitol building in a deadly attack,

Following threats from Google to withdraw services from Australia, the Greens have called on the Morrison Government to investigate the establishment of a publicly owned search engine.

“Google’s threat to shut down their search services if they don’t get the laws they want shows that the corporate giant has far too much power – not just over the market but across the community,” Greens spokesperson for Media and Communications Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

New figures released by Universities Australia today that more than 17,000 university jobs have been lost in the past year are devastating but unsurprising, the Greens say, as the impacts of the Morrison Government’s abandonment of universities has been made clear. All eyes are on the new minister, Alan Tudge, to prevent further carnage.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Greens Education spokesperson, said:

I rise tonight to speak about the scourge of far Right extremism and its normalisation in our politics and our culture. A couple of weeks ago we saw the end of the catastrophic Trump presidency in the United States. The litany of policy failures, corruption scandals, criminal investigations into senior officers, and a fundamentally racist political agenda was topped off by Donald Trump trying to steal an election and incite a violent far Right insurrection at the US Capitol Building.

This morning the people's climate rally came to the lawns of Parliament House. They came to the people's house today to make sure that politicians are confronted with the reality of the climate crisis at the start of the parliamentary year, because they know that two centuries of colonisation have undone the millennia of management and care of country by First Nations people.

The Greens welcome Labor’s calls to limit political donations, and look forward to their support for the Greens bill to cap all donations at $1,000 a year when it is debated on 15 February.
 
Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson for democracy, Senator Larissa Waters, said:
 
“The Greens have fought for years to clean up our democracy and put a cap on donations of $1,000 a year no matter who you are: big corporation, union, or individual. We’re glad that, after years of opposing Greens moves to cap donations, Labor has decided to change their tune.