ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT - MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE - National Security, Economy, Cost of Living

I listened closely to the contribution of the member for Solomon, and I thank him for his service; I thank him for being a veteran. Veterans should be lauded and applauded for the fact that they have kept our country safe. So, for his efforts, and for the efforts of the member for Braddon, I thank them for their service, and all other members in this place.

The topic of today's matter of public importance discussion is this incompetent government's inability to keep Australians safe and to keep inflation under control, moved by the member for Dixon. I would ask: do Australians feel safer now than they did prior to May 2022? Do Australians feel poorer now than they did prior to 2022? I think there would be resounding answers to both of those questions. Today in question time I asked the Prime Minister about the 2,900 people from the terrorist controlled Gaza war zone who were issued visas, primarily let in by the former immigration minister, the member for Scullin. The primary word in the question—which was whether all of them have been subjected to a biometric test and an in-person interview—was 'all'. He came up with a good example of one of those people who have come into Australia and contributed greatly to our nation. And we thank our migrants for what they do. But the fact remains that Australians do not feel safer, because this government is allowing into this country people who have not had the in-person interviews or the biometric testing. That is of great concern, particularly given research and evidence from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research report of June this year, from Dr Khalil Shikaki, who is their director and was interviewed on ABC Radio, who said:

For the third time since October 7, we asked the respondents in this poll what they thought of Hamas' decision to launch the October the 7th offensive. Two thirds, compared to 71% in March 2024 and 72% in December 2023, say it was correct.

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… almost all Palestinians (97%) think Israel has committed war crimes during the current war … 88% think Hamas did not commit war crimes during the current war.

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When asked who the public would prefer to control the Gaza Strip after the war, 61% (71% in the West Bank and 46% in the Gaza Strip) said it was Hamas.

That is disturbing. By any measure, that is alarming. The respondents to the poll are living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. They are right there on the ground, witnessing and suffering from this conflict. While they rightfully deserve sympathy, humanitarian aid and efforts to bring an end to the violence, what deeply concerns me and, moreover, many, many Australians is just how many of the respondents condone Hamas and its attacks on Israel. It's not just in capital cities; it's right throughout Australia. It's in regional Australia. It's in Wagga Wagga, where we have a group of Greens who are protesting outside my office every Sunday under the guise of Sundays for Peace. It's quite a misnomer for the organisation. They are marching in the streets. They are putting things on Facebook which are beyond belief. Then we have the Prime Minister, who selectively quotes the Director-General of Security in charge of ASIO, Mike Burgess, someone who is beyond reproach and someone who has been doing an outstanding job since 2019 and does not deserve to be selectively quoted. He should be quoted in his entirety. He should be quoted to the fullest.

What we are seeing in this country is social disruption. It is not cohesion. We are genuinely concerned that people who are coming in are not having the proper testing of their validity and that what we will be seeing in the future as a result of that is unrest. What we saw on 9 October on the steps of the Opera House and elsewhere throughout this nation since those revolting, disgraceful attacks on 7 October was social unrest in our country. We are a free and democratic country. We welcome migrants who want to do the right thing by our nation, but Hamas is a terrorist organisation. What the Greens have done and what indecisiveness by the Labor government has done is make sure that we'll disgracefully allow future unrest to occur. (Time expired)