QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS

Senator FARUQI (New South Wales—Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens) (15:35): Labor, the Liberals and One Nation have made migrants the bogeyman. Migrants are not the problem. Amy Remeikis put it aptly when she wrote that the 'fuss about migrants is just a painful hot-button topic looking for an issue'.

That's how back-to-front this whole debate is. Labor's changes today won't build a single new public home. They won't bring down the price of groceries.

They won't bring down rent. They won't make Australia a fairer or better place to live in. But what they will do is this: they will hurt people, they will separate families, they will punish students, they will add to the fear and uncertainty that so many people on temporary visas face, they will make it harder for people to build a life here, and they will compound the racism and hate that migrants in this country are facing every single day.

This is the Albanese Labor government's playbook: punish people with the least power so they never have to confront those with the most; pander to Pauline Hanson and the far right by punching down on migrants or disabled people—or people on Centrelink for that matter. These changes will see new immigration jails run by the same multinational corporations overseeing human rights abuses here and abroad.

They will see families ripped apart and people locked up. If Minister Burke doesn't want us drawing comparisons with ICE then he should stop introducing ICE-like policies. Across this country, we are seeing relentless efforts to divide and distract us.

While politicians and the media point the finger at migrants, those who are destroying the planet for profit are gleefully rubbing their hands together. As a migrant myself, I say to the migrant communities in Australia and to the international students: the Greens have your back, and we will not let these heartless politicians reduce our lives to mere numbers.

Question agreed to.