MATTERS OF URGENCY

Senator WHITTEN (Western Australia) (18:08): Labor has an addiction that is crippling Australia. As this urgency motion notes, the government has added 1.6 million people to Australia since they came to office. That is the equivalent of more than six Hobarts.

But Labor didn't build six more Hobarts; they piled those people on top of the people already living in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide—every city in the country. They drove up housing costs to unimaginable levels beyond what so many young people in Australia could even hope to pay. Record rents have dragged people back into poverty.

Massive increases in demand for all goods and services mean we are living with the highest inflation in the developed world. With all the signs flashing red, Minister Burke couldn't even get his own party room to agree on cuts. He had to cancel his presser when his own party room revolted.

I can't wait till tomorrow! Labor has no intention of stopping. Their targets are going to add another one million people in the next four years.

That's just their target, and we know how good they are at hitting a target. This is not normal. We lead the OECD in immigration.

This is a concerted effort by Labor to hide its failures. They are trying to mask their economic failures by pumping more people into the country to keep up headline GDP. But look at the metrics that are the best indicators of standard of living: productivity and per capita GDP.

We have gone backwards under this Labor government. Do they course correct? No, they double down.

This arrogant Labor government is planning to keep the pain coming for Australians and has the gall to say that our immigration plan is reckless. Australians disagree. One Nation is the party Australians trust to get immigration right.

We have listened, and we will deliver net negative migration for three years while we reset Australia's immigration system. We have spoken with industry and made sure that the cuts we are making are responsible and targeted. When we make policy, we put the flourishing of Australians at the heart of our plans.

This is no different. We want the people who live here, the Australian people, to see their standard of living improve. We want Australians to have the first crack at housing, jobs and a better life.

Labor wants another million people in the country. One Nation is putting the Australian people first.