Mr BANDT (Melbourne—Leader of the Australian Greens) (16:15): This referendum is an opportunity for this country to take a step on the road towards justice for First Nations people. But what is clear, from motions in this place, from speeches in this place and from the interviews being given to right-wing shock jocks, is that there are those in this country who want to deny justice to First Nations people. Unfortunately, and sadly, the Leader of the Opposition has taken this opportunity to divide, instead of to unite—to continue to use a long and tragic tradition of seeking to use race to try to win votes. And why is this? Well, let's remember that the Leader of the Opposition claims there's sexual abuse in Alice Springs but refuses to report it to the police. The Leader of the Opposition opposes lifting the age of criminal responsibility, which currently sees First Nations children locked up at record rates. That is what is driving this and these contributions to this debate and his effort to divide this country. The Uluru statement was presented to the last government when the Leader of the Opposition was in cabinet. He vigorously opposed it then, as he vigorously opposes it now, because, if there's one thing about the Leader of the Opposition that's worth noting, it's that he doesn't change. Last time he was in opposition, when there was a formal apology made to members of the stolen generation, he turned his back and walked out, and said he couldn't support the apology, and was deaf to the cries of anguish. He has built his career on attacking those in a weaker position than himself: calling people seeking asylum 'illegals', and fearmongering about different racial groups, trashing them in the media and in his public comments, and seeking to further his lot through the marginalisation of the weakest in our world. It's the sort of approach that you would expect from One Nation, but it is coming from someone who wants to lead this country. That is his record on immigration. He built and ran prison islands, which saw human rights abuse on an industrial scale. When women were raped, he accused them of trying it on. When people were left with no other option but to set themselves on fire, he claimed it was hype. And he accused refugee advocates of coaching self-harm. That is the history which is leading us to this point. And he has denied the climate crisis, siding with coal barons and urging gas corporations to continue to pollute— The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Claydon ): Excuse me, is there a point of order? Mr BANDT: and then attacked those— The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Sorry, Member for Melbourne; I'm taking a point of order. Mr Chester: A point of order on relevance: I do invite the Leader of the Greens to address his comments to the subject matter before the House today in the MPI. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: He is. I'm sorry; I'm overruling you. The member for Melbourne and Leader of the Greens is being entirely relevant to the topic. Mr BANDT: He's attacked those who've been the victims of the climate crisis with his unforgettable 'water lapping at your door' joke. The Leader of the Opposition falsely claimed that people in my home town of Melbourne were afraid to go out to dinner because of African gangs, and I can't begin to tell this parliament the anguish, the distress and the hurt that that caused people in my community—to hear someone who was aspiring to be Prime Minister telling falsehoods about what was happening in our home town, using fear, that then turned on the most vulnerable in our community who needed our support at a time of unity. He claimed that allowing Lebanese Muslims to immigrate was a mistake, and— The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Excuse me, Member for Melbourne. I'm giving the call to the member for Riverina, on, I expect, another point of order? Mr McCormack: And I respect your position; I respect what you said. But this is a matter of public importance about the Voice, not about what the member for Melbourne is raising right here— The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, no, no— Mr McCormack: and I do ask you to bring him back to the subject matter. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am just going to speak to that. Stop the clock, please, for the member for Melbourne. I have heard a lot of wide-ranging debate on the voice—a lot—and the member for Melbourne is being entirely relevant to this topic. You were all heard in a respectful silence. I'm asking you to afford the member for Melbourne the same privilege. You have a right to raise points of order. I have dealt with them both. I would hope that you would allow the member for Melbourne, in the less than one minute that he now has remaining, to complete his statement. He gets the full five minutes that each of you got. If I were to pull—anyway, let's move on. Member for Melbourne, you are being relevant, and I'm sorry for those interruptions. Mr BANDT: It is critical to understand what is behind the coalition's approach to try and divide this country, because it is part of a history of trying to use race to win votes. We need a Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution because of people like the Leader of the Opposition and Senator Hanson, because without a First Nations Voice too many will continue to talk about First Nations of this country as criminals and not as equals. They will ignore how the laws of our parliaments have disproportionately impacted First Nations people. The coalition see the Voice as a threat. They see justice, liberty and equality, according to the far-right-wing Liberals and One Nation, as a threat. But this country is changing. We want a different future. We want to be more than a prison island. We want to come to terms with how we all came to be here. We want to punch up and not down. We want a country which treats everyone fairly. We want to be brave and bold, not weak and cowardly. We want to be proud of our future. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The discussion has now concluded.