Parliament

I rise to speak on the Sex Discrimination and Fair Work (Respect at Work) Amendment Bill 2021—a bill this government has had to be dragged to finally bring to the table, though it still leaves much to be desired. Today we are marking Equal Pay Day and shamefully, staring at a gender pay gap of 14.2 per cent.

I for one, Senator Hughes, love New South Wales and Sydney—the harbour and everything else that comes with it—and, I must say, I am a little bit offended by your very weird comments on curry.

Having served in the New South Wales parliament for five years, I can tell you that I have had my fair share of disagreements with Premier Gladys Berejiklian and the New South Wales Liberals, but I have to say on this very rare occasion I do agree with them wholeheartedly: Scott Morrison is a Prime Minister for himself and no-one else.

Over the last two weeks we have seen alarming revelations in the media about the extent and character of far-right organising in this country. The 'Nazis Next Door' investigation conducted by the Nine papers and 60 Minutes in collaboration with antifascist researchers has revealed some dark truths about the growing threat of white supremacy and far-right extremism. The investigation was shocking but not entirely surprising for those of us who have followed the rise of the far-right closely and are impacted by racism and its deadly consequences.

Rach, before I joined this Greens dream team in the Senate, I had heard about a Senator Siewert from others who had met her. I had heard about her fierce advocacy for marginalised people, the environment and oceans. The forced adoptions inquiry is one in particular that so many people and so many women I met were so thankful to you for.

We are in a critical time for climate action, and the Liberals are busy giving handouts to their political donors, for gas giants to frack the Beetaloo basin and plunge us further into a climate emergency. Labor's capitulation on this dodgy, climate-destroying project is yet another terrible decision from the so-called opposition. The Beetaloo slush fund stinks of corruption. It will be deadly for our climate.

I speak to take note of document No. 5 in the Senate Order of Business, the Australian Research Council grant recommendations July 2021. Firstly, I must congratulate those researchers who were successful in the current round of DECRA, as listed in the document. It is not an easy time to be an early-career researcher in this country, and I hope that you're able to conduct your rigorous academic work, which will be of enormous benefit to the community for years to come. But let's be honest about the process for this funding round and the recent Future Fellowships round.

It is difficult to see the rising COVID numbers in New South Wales, and it is also heartbreaking to watch the New South Wales Liberal government shaming people in certain communities in their theatre of compliance because they have failed to control the spread of COVID and, ultimately, because Scott Morrison has failed to roll out a vaccination program early enough. It is having a huge impact. The multicultural communities being overpoliced and singled out by the New South Wales government are also now carrying a disproportionate burden from this outbreak.

The Morrison government have not only botched vaccinations for people living in this country; they are also actively jeopardising the health and lives of millions of people in the Global South. The Liberal-National government have ignored the pleas of more than 100 countries for our support to temporarily lift intellectual property restrictions so poorer countries can manufacture vital vaccines, medicines, masks and ventilators. This waiver is currently being considered at the World Trade Organization, with the TRIPS council meeting again on 14 September.

I rise to make my contribution to this motion. My heart goes out to the Afghan people, who are suffering the harrowing, horrific and tragic consequences of war at the moment—and have been for decades. So let's not try and obliterate this reality. The truth is Australia failed the people of Afghanistan by waging a war on them with our so-called Western allies, and it's failing Afghans today. Mr Morrison, you have left ADF interpreters and their families in extreme danger.