Senator KENEALLY (New South Wales) (12:25): Let's talk about Wentworth. Specifically, let's talk about the most recent member for Wentworth, Malcolm Turnbull. He used to be fond of saying that we, in Australia, are the most successful multicultural nation on earth. How the times have changed. How they have changed in the Liberal Party in just a few short weeks. How they have changed in Australia thanks to the lack of leadership from the government when it comes to the issue of race. John Howard, a former leader of the Liberal Party and a former Prime Minister of this country, knew that One Nation and its divisive and racist rhetoric was the wrong prescription for this country. He shunned them. He rejected the racist rhetoric. How times have changed. Yesterday, the Liberal Party did a complete 180. They walked into this chamber and, instead of following the lead of John Howard and of Malcolm Turnbull, they followed the lead of Pauline Hanson. They followed the lead of One Nation. They deliberately chose, knowing exactly what they were doing. Does anyone in this chamber or this country really believe that Senator Cormann and the ministers and the senators in the Liberal Party are so poorly prepared and so ill equipped to be senators and officeholders in this country that they don't know what they're voting on? They walked into this chamber and knowingly voted with white supremacist racist rhetoric, to stand with Pauline Hanson and One Nation. We have a by-election in Wentworth this Saturday. We have a by-election in Wentworth where the Liberal Party has endorsed a Jewish candidate. He must be appalled. Senator Molan: He's not Jewish. He's Indian. Senator KENEALLY: He was the ambassador to Israel. He has strong links to the Jewish community, and he must be appalled. He must be appalled by what is happening to the Liberal Party. It's no surprise, given the by-election reality that the Liberal Party is facing in Bennelong, that they came in here with this fiction that somehow they didn't know and that somehow they were unaware that we were talking about white supremacy rhetoric, white supremacy positioning and white supremacy ideology when we were looking at that motion moved by Senator Hanson yesterday. What is their excuse? The excuse from Minister Cormann was that it was an administrative error. An administrative error? Come on. This is the man who's the minister for finance. He's in charge of the nation's finances and he can't even manage a simple motion that comes before the Senate? It was a motion, as Senator Hinch said, that was only two lines. It wasn't hard to read. What was Minister Porter's argument? Minister Porter's argument today was to blame the help. What a classic Liberal approach: blame the help. They say, 'It's the staff who got me into this trouble.' Senator Cameron: The Michaelia Cash excuse. It's the Michaelia. Senator KENEALLY: As Senator Cameron observes, it's a tactic that's been used by Senator Cash. Senator Porter picked it up yesterday. While we are on the subject of Minister Porter: Minister Porter, the Attorney-General of this nation, is the one who tweeted yesterday in support of the vote taken by his Liberal Party colleagues in the Senate to back in One Nation and their divisive, white supremacist, racist rhetoric. Senator Cormann retweeted Minister Porter's tweet. Minister Porter was quite happy to own this yesterday. And why do you think Minister Porter might have had a view that yesterday the Liberal Party should back in a One Nation motion supporting white supremacy? Is it by any happenstance that, just on the weekend, One Nation endorsed their candidate for Pearce, which is Minister Porter's seat? He's running scared—he's got a close race there and he's up against One Nation, so what does he do? He thinks he can just pull a fast one and throw the One Nation Party a bone—and no-one's going to notice, are they? Well, guess what Minister Porter? Guess what, Senator Cormann? This Senate noticed. We were gobsmacked when you all sat over there backing in One Nation's white supremacy rhetoric. We were gobsmacked. And the nation noticed. That is why you're in here today with this humiliating backdown—'Oh, it was an administrative error;' 'Oh, I'm blaming the staff';' 'Oh, it wasn't me.' How can you look at this motion and not see it for what it is? It is divisive white supremacist rhetoric. If you don't know that, let me acquaint you with recent history. A report from the Anti-Defamation League last year said: On top of everything else, the phrase 'It's okay to be white' actually has a fairly long history in the white supremacist movement. While far from the most common white supremacist slogan, it was in use enough that white power music band Aggressive Force even used the phrase as the title of one of its songs—a song that dates back at least to 2001, if not earlier. ADL has tracked white supremacist fliers featuring the phrase 'It's okay to be white' as long ago as 2005. In 2012, a member of Ku Klux Klan group United Klans of America actually even used the hashtag #IOTBW on Twitter. Newsweek, November 2017, discussed the recent history of the phrase: 'It's Okay to Be White' started on the imageboard site 4chan, a favorite online hub for young, white males who consider themselves part of the so-called alt-right movement. Anonymous users of that site posted a 'game plan' urging people to hang 'It's Okay to Be White' signs on college campuses in an attempt to bait people into an overreaction against an ostensibly benign statement. It is not an ostensibly benign statement, Minister Cormann. You should know that. Minister Porter should know that. Every single one of your senators and ministers should know that. It is a white supremacist statement. David Duke, former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, tweeted on 29 July 2018, 'Never forget it's okay to be white.' He went on to say: Our clear goal must be the advancement of the white race and separation of the white and black races. This goal must include freeing of the American media and government from subservient Jewish interests. This is where the white supremacy movement marries up with the anti-Semitic movement. Understand this: this dissembling by Minister Cormann is nothing more than an attempt to try and distance the government from the anti-Semitic movement while they are facing a tight by-election in an electorate that has a high Jewish population. If we weren't facing a by-election this Saturday, I have no doubt that they would stand by this motion and they would stand by One Nation. They are only in here today because they have been caught out just days away from a crucial by-election in a seat with a high Jewish population. It is not principle that brings Minister Cormann to the chamber today to attempt to clean this up; it is political necessity and convenience. It is not principle at all. The people of Wentworth, as they are looking at their choices this weekend, have the opportunity to send a clear message to Minister Cormann, to Minister Porter and to the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison. They have a great opportunity to send a message on behalf of the whole nation: 'We reject racism. We reject the divisive rhetoric of One Nation. We reject any suggestion of white supremacy entering into the mainstream of Australian politics.' It is the Liberal Party that brought white supremacy into the mainstream of our political debate yesterday. It is the Liberal Party that brought white supremacy into this Senate yesterday and endorsed it. It is not just up to us who are privileged to serve here in this Senate but it is also up to our nation to send a clear message to the Liberal Party: 'We reject it.' As the people of Wentworth go to the polls this weekend, they know that they have a choice and that they can send a clear message. They know that if they vote for Dave Sharma, they are actually voting for a party that stands with One Nation and some of the most divisive rhetoric that we have seen enter this chamber. Minister Cormann may well seek here to reverse this vote. Senator Wong has opened the opportunity for him to do so. Senator Jacinta Collins: She recommended it. Senator KENEALLY: Indeed, Senator Wong, in fact, recommended it. If Minister Cormann takes up that recommendation, it is just another step in his humiliating backdown. It is not a backdown of principle. It is a backdown of convenience. Minister Cormann got up today and said: 'I'm not racist. I'm just sloppy.' Frankly, we don't believe you're sloppy. We believe the Liberal Party yesterday showed us their racist colours. They deserve to be condemned, and I am very happy to stand with those senators—Hinch, Wong, Di Natale and Patrick—who have spoken today to condemn yesterday's vote.