Fraser Anning slammed for maiden speech
SENATOR Fraser Anning has responded to a huge backlash against his maiden speech, saying he was being attacked by “left-wing politicians” despite facing condemnation from across the divide and even from Pauline Hanson.
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SENATOR Fraser Anning has continued to refuse to apologise for his controversial maiden speech, instead saying he had “kicked an absolute hornet’s nest”, and that he has been attacked by “left wing politicians” despite facing condemnation from across the divide and even from Pauline Hanson.
“I have called for a plebiscite to allow the Australian people not bureaucrats to decide who comes here,” the Katter’s Australia Party politician wrote on Facebook.
“Some in the media and left wing politicians are simply afraid of the Australian people having a say on who comes here.
“As I called for a plebiscite on the immigration mix, this baseless and ridiculous criticism is simply an effort to play the man and not the ball.”
His comments have been condemned by Liberal, Labor, Greens, One Nation, and independents. It has united Australia’s Parliament in celebrating multiculturalism and calling out racism.
Kap back Anning
KAP president Shane Paulger confirmed earlier the party supported its Senator Fraser Anning’s “final solution” speech, but insisted they were “not Nazis”.
The speech has been widely condemned, including by Pauline Hanson. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition leader Bill Shorten have given powerful speeches in Parliament this morning also condemning the speech.
Senator Anning’s maiden speech last night called for a return to the White Australia policy and a plebiscite on immigration as a “final solution to the immigration problem”, using phrasing which echoes Nazi party policy for the extermination of the Jewish people.
Senator Anning has since said that was not what he meant, but has refused to apologise.
Mr Paulger said the party was “very supportive” of Senator Anning’s statement.
“Immigration is something this country needs to come to grip with, we need to strengthen our ties with people from similar backgrounds to what this country was founded on, Christian beliefs in general,” he said.
“We’re a multicultural nation, we’re first to admit that. We need to have people who have similar beliefs and ideals and ideologies to what we have.
“I’m not saying we have to reduce immigration, it’s got to be immigration from the countries that assimilate very closely with ours.”
Asked if he was comfortable with the use of the term “final solution” Mr Paulger said:
“We have no affiliation with Nazism and fascism or anything like that,” he said.
“We’re very strong on this immigration issue.”
Senator Anning’s policy ironically could have prevented the KAP’s founder Bob Katter’s family from coming to Australia, as they immigrated from Lebanon.
Mr Katter is expected to hold a press conference in Cairns shortly after midday today.
One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson today condemned the speech, saying it was “appalling” and went “too far”.
She went further, calling Senators who criticised him today but stayed in the chamber to listen to his speech “gutless” for not walking out.
Senator Hanson used her first maiden speech 20 years ago to warn Australia was being “swamped by Asians” and her second maiden speech in 2016 to say it was being “swamped by Muslims”.
While Senator Anning came into Parliament as a One Nation Senator to replace Malcolm Roberts, Senator Hanson distanced the party from him.
She said he became independent the day he was sworn in and was now a Katter’s Australia Party member.
“I’m appalled by Fraser Anning’s speech,” she said.
“I have spoken up on issues with regards to this country and I will stand by those views that I have.
“We have a multi-racial society.
“You do not need to be white to be Australian”.
“You might have your grievances with what Fraser Anning said, don’t direct them at me.
“It’s nothing to do with me. Go and talk to Bob Katter. Last I knew he went and joined the Katter party.”
Senator Hanson also took aim at Senators who criticised Senator Anning, while staying in the chamber for his speech and shaking his hand afterwards.
“You sat and listened to it. How gutless are you for listening to it?” she said.
“If you were so appalled you should have got up and walked out of this place.”
EARLIER: Anning walks out as Wong takes action over speech
LABOR’S Leader on the Senate Penny Wong has moved a motion condemning Queensland Senator Fraser Anning over his “final solution” speech, saying it “was not worthy of this Parliament”.
Her motion has the support of the Government, as Government Senate Leader Mathias Cormann said Australia was a great migrant nation.
Mr Anning said he had no regrets and won’t apologise after calling for a “final solution” to immigration in his widely-criticised first speech described as “Pauline Hanson on steroids”.
“Final solution” is a phrase historically associated with the World War II Nazi Germany plan to murder Jewish people on an industrial scale.
During the speech he praised the White Australia policy, called for a complete ban on Muslim immigration and demanded a plebiscite on which migrants can enter the country.
Senator Wong today said Senator Anning’s speech sought to fan prejudice, racism and division.
“A nation that is divided is never safer. A nation that is divided is never stronger,” she said.
“And making others lesser, fanning prejudice and discrimination has never made a nation safer.
“Those of us who have been on the receiving end of racism know what it feels like and
know what leaders say matters.”
Senator Cormann said Australia had become a better country since the dismantling of the White Australia policy.
“Ours is a nation where all Australians, whatever their background, should be judged by the content of their character and their actions and not by the colour of their skin, by their religious faith or any other considerations,” he said.
“Let’s continue to build on what makes us strong, and let’s not go back to something that we made the right decision to dismantle some decades ago.”
Senator Anning walked out of the chamber part way through Senator Wong’s speech.
Senator Wong’s motion called for the Senate to acknowledge the historic action of the Holt Government which began dismantling the White Australia policy with the bipartisan support of the Labor Party.
It recognised that all parties had pursed a racially non-discriminatory immigration policy to the “overwhelming national and international benefit of Australia” and gave “unambiguous and unqualified commitment”, that race, faith or ethnic origin would never be used to determine who comes to Australia.
EARLIER: ‘Red neck’ senator slammed but stands firm
QUEENSLAND Senator Fraser Anning has no regrets and won’t apologise after calling for a “final solution” to immigration in his widely-criticised first speech described as “Pauline Hanson on steroids”.
But senior minister Josh Frydenberg, whose parents were Jewish immigrants, has demanded The Katter’s Australia Party member immediately retract his “ignorant and insensitive” remarks.
Senator Anning, who joined KAP after leaving One Nation, is unapologetic about using a phrase historically associated with the World War II Nazi Germany plan to murder Jewish people on an industrial scale.
In his first upper house speech, Senate Anning praised the White Australia policy, called for a complete ban on Muslim immigration and demanded a plebiscite on which migrants can enter the country.
“The final solution to the immigration problem is, of course, a popular vote,” he told the Senate on Tuesday.
He later claimed to be simply referring to the “ultimate solution” to a political problem.
“I’m not going to apologise or regret anything I say,” Senator Anning told Nine Network on Wednesday.
Senator Anning, who was only appointed to the Senate as a replacement for One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts and received just 19 primary votes in the 2016 election this morning said his remark had been taken out of context by “the thought police”.
He argued he was a strong supporter of the Jewish community and it was a “joke” for people to take him out of context and “try and shutdown debate”.
Senator Anning also told Sky News he was “quite happy” to cop widespread criticism for the remarks, including from the Prime Minister and the bulk of Parliament.
But Mr Frydenberg, whose Hungarian mother escaped the Nazi Holocaust, is disgusted.
“These comments by a member of the Australian parliament were ignorant and insensitive, they were hurtful and they were divisive,” he told Sky News.
“I call on Fraser Anning not only to apologise, but also to go and visit a Holocaust museum, and to hear first-hand from the survivors how the pain is still raw, and to see the devastation and destruction caused by the Nazi war machine.”
Mr Frydenberg said his comments were completely unacceptable and extremely hurtful.
“He has no excuse and needs to quickly apologise.”
But Senator Anning refused to apologise, claiming he was exercising free speech.
“If people want to take it out of context that’s entirely up to them,” he told Nine.
“It was never meant to denigrate the Jewish community and it’s two words and if that offends anyone, unfortunately, that’s the way it has to be.”
Senator Anning appeared on Nine’s The Today Show Wednesday morning.
“What’s been particularly offensive is using the term ‘final solution’ — a term of course used in relation to the mass killing of Jews in Nazi Germany. How is that sort of language helpful? Did you intend to be racist and hateful?” Today host Georgie Gardner asked when Mr Anning appeared.
“I didn’t even think about that Georgie, funnily enough,” Mr Anning responded, while noting that he knew Mr Frydenberg had “had a go” at him for the comments.
“The fact is all I said was ‘The final solution to the immigration problem is a vote of the Australian people’ — that has nothing to do with ‘the final solution’, the thought police got onto that.”
Asked if he would apologise, Senator Anning said: “Absolutely not.”
“Good men died for our right to say whatever we want to say and use whatever words we want to use,” he said.
“If people want to take it out of context that’s entirely up to them. It was never meant to denigrate the Jewish community and it’s two words and if that offends anyone unfortunately that’s the way it has to be.”
Senator Anning also made a number of deeply offensive remarks about Muslims during his maiden speech.
Labor MP Peter Khalil, the son of Egyptian migrants, says he suspects the senator could have been trying to whip up hatred and fear.
“We have a responsibility as political leaders to call it out and fight against what is effectively a fascist view of the world, which is judging people based on their race or their ethnicity or faith,” he told the ABC.
Senator Anning also doubled down on his call to ban Muslim migration.
“If 5 per cent of them aren’t good people who want to integrate and work with us in Australia and we’re bringing in another 1000 that means there’s another 50 here that want to kill us. I don’t want those people in this country. I think the vast majority of Australians agree with me but no-one wants to put it to a vote,” he told the Nine Network.
Senator Anning defended the provocative remarks when asked if they detracted from a constructive debate about immigration policy, saying: “A discussion is not getting much done. We’re being flooded by immigrants. Our infrastructure isn’t keeping up.”
“We need to be concentrating on doing things like infrastructure building projects and getting people back to work.”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and several other senior ministers also condemned the speech.
“Australia is the most successful multicultural society in the world built on a foundation of mutual respect. We reject and condemn racism in any form,” Mr Turnbull tweeted.
Independent senator Derryn Hinch described the speech as “excruciating” and “Pauline Hanson on steroids”.
“There was hardly a group of Australians he did not offend unless you were very close to being a member of the Ku Klux Klan,” he told ABC radio.
Queensland Member for Moreton Graham Perret said he was “disturbed that this rhetoric would be spoken in our Parliament” and called Mr Anning’s comments a “throwback to the ideology of the White Australia policy”.
“This is not a voice from modern Australia,” he said in a statement.
“This is a myopic, red-neck reaching out from another time to another people. Modern Australia has moved on.”
Thank you @GrahamPerrettMP for speaking against the hate. Remaining silent against such bigotry is being complicit in it. I hope @Tony_Burke ‘s call for bipartisanship against bigotry is taken seriously for the sake of all Australians. pic.twitter.com/ZVqNgjFqj1
— Ali Kadri (@alikadri_au) August 14, 2018
Cabinet minister Mitch Fifield said the speech was deeply regrettable, telling Nine Network: “I thought we had moved beyond this in the parliament. Australia is a warm and open nation.” Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge rejected Senator Anning’s immigration stance.
“Fraser Anning’s comments on immigration do not reflect the views of the government nor the views of fair-minded Australians,” he said
“We will always maintain a non-discriminatory immigration program.”
Around 1942, the Nazi leadership established a plan called “The Final Solution to the Jewish Question”, which led to the mass genocide of Jewish people in occupied Europe.
At least 10 million people died, including six million Jews.
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