Senator FARUQI (New South Wales) (14:41): My question without notice is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. Yesterday the report of Aotearoa New Zealand's Royal Commission of Inquiry into the terrorist attack on Christchurch masjidain was released. This report makes for highly disturbing reading. It details how an Australian man was radicalised and came to commit this horrific terrorist attack.

I'd like to inform the chamber that Senator McKim will be co-sponsoring this motion with me. I, and also on behalf of Senator McKim, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) 2020 has been an incredibly tough year for temporary visa holders in Australia, including migrant workers and international students,

(ii) according to the Migrant Worker Justice Initiative, 70% of temporary visa holders lost their jobs or most of their hours after the pandemic hit in March,

The Greens support this motion. What Senator Abetz did was disgraceful. There is no doubt about that. Interrogating a person's loyalty to this country because of their cultural background is unacceptable. It's just as disgraceful that Senator Abetz has dug his heels in and refuses to engage in self-reflection. It's even more disgraceful that not one single minister of this government has condemned Senator Abetz for his racist targeting of Chinese Australians.

I would like to speak tonight about the recent tragic deaths and serious injuries of food delivery workers in Sydney and across the country. We have seen a tragedy unfolding on our streets over the last few months. At least five delivery riders have been killed on the roads since the end of September. Four of those deaths were in Sydney.

I rise to make a brief contribution on this urgency motion. What a relief. The US election result is a good thing for humanity. Donald Trump is a poisonous force in global politics. While it has become something of a cliche to say that Trump is a symptom not the cause of the far Right extremism he represents, it's also clear that the racism and white supremacy he stands for have been dealt a big blow. We can't dismiss the symbolic and practical importance of his removal from office. All who believe in equity, freedom, social justice and climate justice cheered on Trump's defeat.

Senator FARUQI (New South Wales) (14:37): My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Home Affairs.

Government senators interjecting—

The PRESIDENT: Order on my right! I'm going to ask Senator Faruqi to start that again. I've asked for silence during questions.

I am so delighted to have Senator Lidia Thorpe join us in parliament. Senator Thorpe and I will be leading the Greens to put antiracist work at the core of everything that we do. We will leave no stone unturned to tackle head-on the rising tide of racism and demand justice for First Nations people and people of colour. Side by side, and alongside communities of colour, we will fight the growing tide of far-right nationalism and tackle systemic racism. In the words of Angela Davis:

In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.

The Greens want a thriving, expanding and green manufacturing sector, but this government's plan for manufacturing is based on a completely unconscionable, climate-wrecking expansion of fossil fuels. They could choose renewables, but they don't. They talk up advanced manufacturing while actively decimating local research and innovation. A manufacturing plan without funding for research and skills isn't worth the paper it's written on. The Liberals and Nationals have defunded TAFEs and gutted research. They're not interested in our future.

Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt, has today announced a portfolio redistribution that will see Lidia Thorpe and Mehreen Faruqi take on a new anti-racism strategy intended to counter Australia’s growing tide of far right nationalism and tackle systemic racism. 

The move comes as Lidia Thorpe attends her first Greens Party Room meeting as a Senator this Wednesday and ahead of a fuller redistribution of portfolios by Adam Bandt on Thursday.

Leader of the Australian Greens, Adam Bandt MP, has today called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to stop being subservient to Donald Trump and instead call out his moves towards fascism and support of white supremacy.

“In the United States they are assaulting Australian journalists, teargassing peaceful protestors for a presidential photo-op and Donald Trump is threatening to use the military against his own people, but Scott Morrison is silent,” Mr Bandt said.