Greens senator ‘broken’ by ‘racism’ of parliament as Gaza visa debate draws on

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi has accused her fellow parliamentarians of “hate and racism” following a sitting fortnight dominated by debate over visas granted to Palestinians fleeing war-torn Gaza.

Senator Faruqi on Thursday told the Senate parliament had “broken” her.

“This place has broken me with its racism, this place has broken me with its attacks on Muslims, on Palestinian refugees, on disabled people and on women,” she said.

“Those who are not piling on hate and racism are standing on the sidelines or gaslighting or worse, trying to shut us up.”

She said parliament was the “root” of racism and problems in Australia, singling out Opposition Leader Peter Dutton for his “outrageous comments.”

Turning to her Senate colleagues, Senator Faruqi went after independent Jacqui Lambie and Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

“I had to sit here and listen to Senator Lambie attack and vilify Muslims and she couldn’t even pronounce my name,” she said.

“We see Senator Penny Wong falsely accusing us of politicising an issue when we actually call out racism and when we call out a genocide in Gaza.”

But Senator Faruqi said she was not “broken” enough to quit, saying she “will dust” herself off and “be here tomorrow”.

The opposition has pitched question after question at the government over the processing of nearly 3000 visas granted to Palestinians from Gaza since Hamas’ brutal October 7 attacks on Israel.

Despite the government’s repeated assurances proper vetting had been carried out under the same processes used by the former Coalition government, Liberal and National parliamentarians have not let up.

Consequently, domestic issues have taken a back seat despite a packed legislative agenda with fiery verbal barbs being exchanged across the floor of both Houses of Parliament.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faced another barrage of questions on the visas during Question Time on Thursday, with Mr Dutton accusing him of “cutting corners” and placing “domestic political considerations ahead of national security”.

Mr Albanese urged the opposition to cut back on their line of questioning, stating that “national security is too important to be used as a political football”.

“The targeting of any group based upon hate is a bad thing, whether that’s people of Jewish faith, people of Islamic faith, people of whatever colour or creed,” he said.

“It is a bad thing. And we see the consequences of hate in too many places of the world at the moment.”

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke also confirmed all 20 tourist visas which were cancelled and reinstated to Palestinians fleeing Gaza between October 7, 2023 and July 31, 2024 were done so without ministerial intervention, and made by ASIO.

Asked if Australia would offer tourist visas to Palestinians once the Rafah border between Egypt and Gaza is reopened, Mr Albanese said while it was “possible” the border would re-open, it was “unlikely”.

He his government’s focus was on acting as “advocates for peace and security and for humanitarian values and for the protection of all innocent life, whether it be Israeli or Palestinian.”