STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator HODGINS-MAY (Victoria) (13:46): Most Australians are worse off in real terms than they were a decade ago. The cost of living is rising faster than wages. We're working harder, we're running faster and watching our paycheques buy less while billionaires get richer and multinational corporations post massive profits.

It doesn't take a genius to ask why: multinational corporations and billionaires aren't just buying wealth; they are buying political power. The ALP, the coalition and One Nation are all on the take from massive corporations—'the corporate parties', we call them. When they all take donations from gambling interests, is it any wonder even modest gambling reform hasn't been achieved.

When they all take money from big gas, is it any wonder we don't have a gas tax raising $17 billion a year. It is no surprise that people are looking for alternatives to the major parties. When the corporate media give One Nation a platform, you could be mistaken for thinking that they're your only other option.

But—looking up here—young Australians know better. They know that neighbours, colleagues and friends from overseas are not the reason housing is unaffordable. They're not the reason groceries cost more and wages are falling behind.

The real problem is multinational corporations and billionaires hoarding wealth and property while ordinary Australians struggle to get ahead. And the corporate parties—Labor, Liberal, One Nation—are not challenging the system; they are protecting the system, which is working exactly as they designed it to work. Young Australians are saying, 'Enough.' They've had a gutful.

They're turning out on the streets—and good on them. We stand with them. We're fighting for an Australia where power belongs to people.

You shouldn't even have to say it: power belongs to people, not to corporations. To those young Australians: we are fighting by your side.