That transparency will come in late February when the gender pay gaps of employers in Australia with 100 or more team members are made public.

The result will be scrutiny of employers by their team members, questioning what they will do to close such gaps and how quickly they can make it happen. Further external scrutiny will come from potential new hires, an employer’s wider industry, their clients, competitors, and the media.

It’s a shame, then, that some of the progress pay transparency could provide for closing the gender pay gap could then be undermined by tax changes that are set to favour men over women.

Those tax changes are coming via the Stage 3 Tax cuts due to start in July.

At first glance, the demand for equal pay from larger employers could seem like the perfect opportunity to address the gender imbalance of who will benefit from these tax cuts, should women receive salary increases that push them up higher income brackets.

But there is no way advancements on equal pay can keep pace with how fast these tax cuts will be distributed. This equal pay won’t just happen, it will require a significant fight. And the coming pay transparency work will, unfortunately, do little to make up for how the female-dominated care sectors like early childhood education continue to be undervalued.

As such, these tax changes remain one of several elephants in the room of the Albanese Government’s push to address women’s economic security. A push that has included a number of positive initiatives, including reform of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency to give it the power to publish employer gender pay gaps, as well as last year’s pay rise for aged care workers, the appointment of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce and raising the age limit for single parenting payments. But a push that is seeing positives undermined by a fear of tweaking or moving on from commitments made by a different government and during a very different time (to be fair, the Coalition are already clearly preparing their ‘broken promise’ talking points)

As the legislated tax cuts currently stand, no tax cut is coming for those earning less than $45,000. Rather, the changes favour high-income earners, raising the top tax bracket to $200,000 and taxing all incomes between $45,000 and $200,000 at the same rate of 30 per cent. This will mean those earning $200,000 a year will receive a tax reduction of $9075 a year compared to a $125 a year reduction for those on $50,000. (Check out our recent explainer here)

Men are set to take 67 per cent of the savings from these tax cuts compared to 33 per cent for women, according to analysis by the Australia Institute.  

Updated Parliamentary Budget Office estimates released by The Greens and published in The Guardian today reiterate the inequity in the figures to come, with the cost of the cuts now estimated to be $323.6 billion over the next decade. The figures reveal that the lowest-earning 40 per cent of households will get nothing during the first year of the cuts, while the next 20 per cent will share in $1.2 billion, and the top 40 per cent will receive up to $15.9 billion. The Greens say the changes will deliver 77 per cent of the tax cuts to the wealthiest 20 per cent of society over the next financial year. The Greens say these tax cuts “give $2 to men for every $1 to women.”

Elderly single women, as well as female sole parents, are overrepresented when it comes to those on low incomes. Sixty-one per cent of mothers are raising children on less than $60,000 a year, according to a 2023 study by the Council of Single Mothers and their Children. Eighty-seven per cent say they are concerned about their long-term financial wellbeing.

Acting Greens leader Merheen Faruqi says she and Nick McKim have written to the Treasurer, urging him to scrap the Stage 3 tax cuts.

“Labor’s tax cuts for the rich are getting bigger by the day, and will turbocharge inequality and inflation,” she shared on social media.

The prime minister is set to address the National Press Club this coming Thursday, where he will outline new cost-of-living measures that will “put extra” dollars in low- and middle-income earners’ pockets.

On Tuesday morning, Albanese hinted that rather than scrapping the tax cuts, they could be expanded to include lower-income earners with a promise on KIIS FM radio that “everyone” would get a tax cut in the next financial year

Such a move would be a welcome and necessary tweak to the legislated stage 3 tax cuts package. But it’s unlikely to dramatically remove the full extent of gender inequity these tax cuts are set to provide.  

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After Senator Hanson was issued a temporary gag order in the Senate on Wednesday, Senator Faruqi from the Greens Party reminded the Senate of the importance of taking action against racism and discriminatory language.

“Words don’t matter unless we hold people accountable,” Faruqi said.

“That is how we set the standard in this place – by holding people accountable for what comes out of their mouths, especially language which is a racial slur.”

Earlier, Faruqi’s fellow Greens Senator Larissa Waters made a speech to the Senate, condemning Hanson’s remarks directed at Faruqi, who was born in Pakistan, on Monday.

“On Monday evening in this chamber, in the course of debate on the counterterrorism bill, Senator Hanson’s contribution was awash with racist language, including some despicable race based personal remarks about Senator Faruqi that should be withdrawn and that Senator Hanson should apologise for,” Waters said.

The Queensland Greens Senator was referring to Hanson’s comments, where she told Faruqi: “If you don’t see yourself as loving this country and abiding by the laws of the country, I have no problem. I will actually take you to the airport and put you on a plane and wave you away.”

Waters said the remark was a breach of the behavioural code of the Senate and was a “personal reflection” of another Senator.

“It is tantamount to saying ‘Go back to where you came from,’ as if Senator Faruqi is not an Australian, as if Senator Faruqi is not a citizen of this country, as if she is not an elected representative for the people of New South Wales,” Waters said.

“People of colour deserve to feel safe and welcome in this country and not have the likes of Senator Hanson say foul and racially discriminatory things which amount to ‘Go back to where you came from.’ 

“There is no place for this kind of hateful language here or anywhere in this country.”

The President of the Senate, Sue Lines, asked Hanson several times to withdraw her comments, which Hanson at the time refused to do.

In response, Lines used her discretion to issue a rare temporary gag order to Hanson, prohibiting Hanson from speaking in the Senate until she has reviewed her comments.

In May this year, Senator Faruqi launched a lawsuit against Hanson for a racist tweet directed at her last year. Faruqi wants Hanson to donate $150,000 to charity and to post a public tweet acknowledging that her language was offensive.

Hanson withdraws comments amid blistering statements

Women’s Agenda understands Hanson has now withdrawn “any remarks considered unparliamentary this week”.

As reported by The Guardian, Senator Hanson returned to the near-empty Senate chamber at around 7:15pm on Wednesday night, announcing: “I withdraw any remarks considered unparliamentary this week.”

This means her temporary gag order has been lifted and Hanson is no longer at risk of being censored by the Senate.

Senator Faruqi released a statement on Thursday, hoping this week has sent “a strong message to Senator Hanson that she cannot continue to make this parliament an unsafe workplace for people like me day in, day out”.

“If Parliament is to be a safe workplace, then it needs to set a standard that any form of bigotry and racism are unacceptable,” Faruqi said.

The Senate’s president Sue Lines and the deputy president, Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan, also issued a rare joint statement, saying “unparliamentary language” no longer has “any place in this senate”.

“We have a strong view that Senators must take responsibility for their actions and their words,” the statement read said.

“Of course, we do have standing orders which ensure that highest standards are upheld. But ultimately what is said and done in this space is the responsibility of each and every senator.

“We urge senators to always withdraw any language and actions which offend others and to do so willingly.”

Women’s Agenda contacted Senator Hanson but she declined to comment.

PHOTO CREDIT: Instagram @mehreenfaruqi

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Faruqi said she had commenced legal proceedings in the federal court under the Racial Discrimination Act. 

“I’ve taken on bullies my whole life. I believe that if you have power to make positive change, you should use it for the benefit of the community,” Faruqi said in a statement on social media.

“I’m drawing a line in the sand. Enough is enough. Senator Hanson cannot keep insulting and humiliating us without any serious consequences.”

Faruqi’s lawyers have asked for Hanson to make a $150,000 donation to a not-for-profit organisation of Faruqi’s choice, and that she delete her original tweet and pin a new tweet to her profile for three months acknowledging she has committed “unlawful offensive behaviour”. 

The legal proceedings come after Faruqi lodged a complaint about the tweet to the Australian Human Rights Commission last year. Hanson had refused to participate in the process. 

Faruqi also attempted to address the tweet in the Senate through a censure motion, however it was amended by the government and opposition to instead condemn all forms of racism.

What was the original tweet about?

Hanson’s original tweet to Faruqi was published in September last year following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Faruqi had tweeted that she could not mourn the leader “of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised people”. 

“We are reminded of the urgency of Treaty with First Nations, justice & reparations for British colonies & becoming a republic,” she wrote.

Hanson replied to the tweet, writing: “Your attitude appalls and disgusts me. When you immigrated to Australia you took every advantage of this country. You took citizenship, bought multiple homes, and a job in a parliament. It’s clear you’re not happy, so pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan. -PH”

At the time, Faruqi said she was subject to serious trolling and abuse online.

“In the aftermath of Hanson’s tweet responding to my criticism of the British Monarchy, I received hundreds of abusive calls, emails, tweets, and comments, which said things like “people will piss on your grave”, “I will cheer when you die,” “all you pricks are an enemy of our country,” and, predictably, dozens of variations of “f–k off back to where you came from”,” Faruqi said.

“Of course there’s going to be disagreement about the Queen’s legacy in the wake of her passing. Conflict will always be a part of political debate on such important issues.

“But there’s never an excuse for attacking someone for who they are. We must not confuse discrimination with debate.”

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Senator Wong delivered a speech in the Senate on Tuesday in support of Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi, who had moved a censure motion against Hanson after she tweeted Faruqi should “piss off back to Pakistan”.

“I condemn Senator Hanson’s comments without reservation. I think they’re appalling, and they’re comments that have been levelled at me countless times since I arrived in this country, and I remember getting them as a kid in the schoolyard and I’ve got them since.

“They’re not just the pathetic hecklings of a schoolyard bully, they are – as Senator Faruqi rightly said – something you say to delegitimise someone’s right to speak.

“I don’t know what drives it, perhaps it’s the fear of anything different. Different races, different ethnicities, different opinions.

“But can I say to Senator Faruqi, we on this side do understand your grievance at this comment and we understand why you are calling out such behaviour, and I pick up something that Senator Faruqi said in her contribution about how triggering this is.

“It’s true, it is. It’s triggering each time you hear it. I’m the Senate leader, I still get triggered, and I wonder how it is for kids in the schoolyard who get the same thing.”

Wong went on to repeat a sentiment she had said in her first speech to parliament back in 2002.

“How long do you have to be here and how much do you have to love this country before you’re accepted? How long?”

In an earlier speech to the Senate on Tuesday, Senator Faruqi explained why she was moving a censure motion against Hanson, saying the tweet had been a “deliberate and effective attempt to whip up a frenzy and mobilise a pile on.”

“Right on cue, her tweet triggered an avalanche and days of abusive calls, emails, tweets, and comments directed at me. While I bore the brunt of it, my family and staff were also subjected to unacceptable vitriol,” she said.

“Someone even called my husband’s workplace and told him to go back to where he came from because people are f—ing sick of us.

“Many migrants let me know how triggered they felt after reading Senator Hanson’s attack tweet. It never gets easier to deal with racist attacks. It hurts every time. It does shake your sense of worth and your belonging to a place which has been home to me for 30 years.”

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Senator Faruqi says Hanson’s offensive words have created a hostile and unsafe work environment, and that she is considering lodging a complaint to the AHRC, the independent body that investigates complaints about discrimination and human rights breaches. 

Following Hanson’s tweet, Faruqi says she’s been subjected to further racist hate speech on social media and has been receiving abusive emails and calls. 

Some such comments accuse the Senator of being part of a group of “un-Australian trolls” and describe her as an “enemy of our country.” 

Senator Faruqi told SBS News that people who look like her have all been told to go back to where they come from at one point or another but that this doesn’t lessen the hurt and sorrow that the words cause. 

“The kind of racist hate fuelled by these comments cannot go unaddressed,” she said. “The community, particularly migrants of colour, need to see parliament strongly condemn Senator Hanson without delay.”

So what led up to this hate speech against Faruqi? On the day of the Queen’s death, the Deputy Greens leader tweeted: “Condolences to those who knew the Queen. 

“I cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples.”

“We are reminded of the urgency of Treaty with First Nations, justice & reparations for British colonies & becoming a republic.”

Replying to Faruqi, One Nations leader Senator Hanson tweeted: “Your attitude appalls and disgusts me. When you immigrated to Australia you took every advantage of this country. You took citizenship, bought multiple homes, and a job in a parliament. It’s clear you’re not happy, so pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan. -PH”

In response to the trolling she’s received from Hanson’s tweet, Faruqi says she “won’t be silenced and neither will the millions of others around the world affected by the brutal reality of colonisation.”

The Greens Senator remains respectful in saying that there’s going to be disagreement about the Queen’s legacy in the wake of her passing but that this doesn’t justify attacking someone’s identity.

In addition to her consideration of a complaint to the AHRC about Senator Hanson, the Greens plan to move in the Senate to censure Hanson when Parliament sits on September 26. 

Responding to this “threat” of accountability, Hanson responded on Thursday, saying that the Greens’ considerations were “straight out of the woke rulebook.”

This is not the first time that Hanson has spewed hateful rhetoric as the right-wing Senator is known for giving disparaging speeches and openly sharing racist views. 

And she’s not without support either. On Saturday, Jacqui Lambie in response: “Pauline right on the mark!!”

Critics of Hanson’s comments point to the importance of creating a safe workplace environment, especially in parliament which has not had the best record for workplace safety. Part of this includes holding offensive language accountable.

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One of the reasons I put my hand up for federal politics was because I saw our political class’s sameness – the white, the male, the privileged and the connected.

Even worse is how unrepresentative this group is of the “most successful multicultural country in the world”: a line many of them are fond of wheeling out when it serves their purpose, but without any attempt to acknowledge, let alone address the discrimination, the racism and the exploitation at work these communities face. The rise of the far-right, the dog-whistling, the open racism and Islamophobia in politics and by politicians really concerned me. The people they maligned and dehumanised were not there to confront and challenge them face to face.

For me, representation is an issue of equality but also importantly it’s about bringing in the lived experiences of those who are affected by political decisions and rhetoric.

Surely, a prerequisite for a successful multicultural country must be that its diversity is reflected in its political leadership. We are far away from that. In fact, even while the diversity of our community has grown massively over the last three decades, there’s been very little change in the ethnic diversity in parliament in the same time period. And there won’t be unless political parties and their supporters give it the serious attention it deserves.

There is no doubt migrant multicultural communities need loud voices in the highest office in this country. For too long we have been ignored and sidelined. For too long we have been used as photo ops and voting blocs without any quid pro quo. For too long our voices have gone unheard and we continue to be marginalised. There is no clearer example than the response to the pandemic to see just how communities of colour were treated differently.

Billions were rightly spent by the government to provide extra financial support to people during lockdowns, yet migrant workers and international students were left out. Pandemic responses targeted and stigmatised communities in Western and South Western Sydney with police operations, military presence and curfews like no other community in NSW. When people from marginalised communities are not at the decision-making table it becomes all too easy to disregard them and their issues.

I’ve been asked so often why our parliaments lack the diversity that we now see in governments of other multicultural countries with diverse populations like Canada and the UK, and how we can change that.

My own experience shows me that people are unwilling to give up power and privilege. Even for progressives, sometimes words are cheaper than actions. I recently wrote about this in my book Too Migrant, Too Muslim, Too Loud. My run for Senate preselection in 2017 taught me an unexpectedly harsh lesson in the cutthroat nature of politics when I was shunned by some who I thought were allies, cast as gullible by some others, and asked to effectively wait my turn so as not to cause a challenge to the sitting senator. Luckily, my party’s grassroots preselection ended with a majority of Greens members supporting my bid to represent them and to add more diversity in parliament.

Unfortunately, without a ‘one member one vote’ democratic preselection, Labor candidate Tu Le’s bid may not have the same fate as the more well-connected and powerful Kristina Keneally is parachuted in. This is a missed opportunity to do the right thing.

The pathway to politics is not easy. And for ethnically diverse candidates, there are the added systemic barriers along this journey, which multiply for women of colour.  It’s not good enough to tell people like us to wait our turn, or to ‘stick with it’ rather than actively removing obstacles or providing support when opportunities to increase diverse representation arise. These are the times to actually walk the talk. Saying you support diversity and doing it are two different things. If political parties truly want to fight for diverse communities, they should take the bold step of stepping aside and affording them the chance to fight for themselves.

There is an increasing lack of trust in politics. Politicians are seen as corrupt, self-serving, power-hungry and disconnected from the realities of their constituents. Communities want more authentic and genuine representation. They want a political system and those within it to care for the whole community in all its glorious diversity. 

If we are to change the soul of politics, we must change its face and body as well. All political parties and politicians must take responsibility for this.

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This is what Senator Mehreen Faruqi tells Tarla Lambert in the latest episode of The Women’s Agenda Podcast.

As the first Muslin woman elected to federal parliament, Faruqi knows a thing or two about facing vilification in the public eye, something she elaborates on in her new memoir Too Migrant, Too Muslim, Too Loud. The book details her life in Pakistan, the decision to move to Australia with her family, and her career as both an engineer and politician.

“The stories of so many migrants are just not told at all and I thought it was important to tell this story because it’s not just my story, it’s the story of so many migrants of colour who have come to this country,” Faruqi shares.

Since leaving her successful career in engineering and entering public life as a politician, Farqui says these identifiers – being Muslim, and a migrant of colour – have been used to denigrate her, almost every single day.

“It seems unbelievable in a place like Australia – which I thought when I was growing up in Pakistan, was a country that had reached equality in every sense of the way,” she said.

“I had a different expectation of Australia. It was a bit of shock that from day one of my public life, that my religion, the colour of my skin, the place where I came from, where used to vilify me and pile on abuse and hate.”

As a woman in politics, Faruqi says there is toxic mix of sexism and racism that underscores these attacks. Despite it all, she has no inclination to let these abusers win, and she continues to be outspoken about how proud she is of her background and the place she has come from, Pakistan.

“I embrace these titles, these identities that I’m proud of. They make me who I am,” she said. “I’m not going to shy away from the fact that Australia is my home, and it has been my home for a longer time than Pakistan was. I’m here to stay, to change the system, so suck it up people.”

In the podcast, Faruqi says that she chose to buck the trend of most political memoirs, and write hers while she was still in parliament. She thinks it was important to do so, in order to show people what politics is really like, while she still has the capacity to make the changes she is writing about.

“You don’t have to be captive by the system that you’ve gone in to change,” she said.

For Faruqi, going into politics wasn’t about having a career. She already had a career she loved as an engineer. Going in to politics was about public service.

“I deliberately gave up a job that I absolutely loved because I saw that maybe it was time for me to use my professional experience, my lived experience and my work in the community to do something that might have some more influence,” she said.

“For me, politics is not about sloganeering or trying to win the next election, to be frank. It is actually about trying to make fundamental changes to things. Not just band aid solutions to the major challenges which we face at the moment – the climate crisis and inequality, especially as it impacts gender and minorities.”

Listen to Senator Mehreen Faruqi’s interview with Tarla Lambert on The Women’s Agenda Podcast, starting around 28 minutes in.

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Seminara’s poetry collection explores themes of family disfunction, motherhood, misogyny, and mental health.

“No one can really deny that when needed, we’ve simply rolled up our sleeves and got to work,” Senator Faruqi said in her speech, referring to the power of women throughout history who have fought for equality.

“It was this risk and courage that led to things like voting rights for all women, the right to work and the right to become parliamentarians.”

Faruqi spoke about the recent allegation of sexual assault in the Australian parliament, and admitted that it’s been hard to work there since.

“My skin has crawled with disgust every time that I’ve walked in there. And I can’t even imagine how survivors of sexual assault must be feeling,” she said.

She said parliaments across Australia are “dripping in patriarchy and privilege”, and it is high time we changed the system and those within it.

“The whiteness, the maleness, the staleness and the sameness of parliaments must make way for colour, for diversity and variation.”

Senator Farqui also questioned whether the experiences that have come to light recently would have emerged at all, if they weren’t coming from the most privileged section of society.

“Stories of women, who are for the most part, white and upper class are in the spotlight. I think it is really important that we include the stories of women of colour and others who are ignored by the media and the political establishment,” she said. “There are still so many voices that we need to hear, that we need to believe, and we need to amplify.”

“Women who are undocumented, migrant and refugee women, trans women, Aboriginal women, students, and sex workers who are failed by the system over and over.”

She shared that in her experience, the culture of sexism in Australian parliamentary life is compounded by racism and white supremacy.

“For women of colour, the direct racism and constant challenge to our belonging to this country and its parliaments is matched with indirect marginalisation of our perspectives,” she said.

“The rough and tumble of politics has real consequences for those of us who refuse to behave like white men and show no interest in conforming to their system.”

Despite it all, Senator Faruqi said she has decided to just be herself.

“So amongst all this chaos, because Michele is talking about self expression in her poetry quite a lot, I’ve decided to be myself and refuse to change to fit the hypermasculine, white culture of the place, despite the toll it takes.

“It does take immense courage to speak your truth in a world where the perpetrators have the power and influence.”

It’s essential that the fight for parity, is for and with, all women, not just the most white and privileged, Senator Faruqi says.

“It does strike me that parliament’s moment of reckoning on sexism has coincided with ever escalating racism. So, if our fight for equity is to be with and for all women, this must be our moment to build both a feminist and anti-racist country and society. This is our opportunity to coalesce the rage we feel against injustices and to unite in ways we’ve never done before.

“I for one, am sick and tired of chipping away at the wall of patriarchy. I know that we are ready to bring that wall down once and for all.”

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Police in Western Australia are currently searching for a man who had a swastika painted on his forehead when he allegedly attacked an Indigenous woman, who was with her daughter, with a makeshift flamethrower in the southeast Perth suburb of Gosnells.

Police say the man yelled racial obscenities at the woman before attempting to burn her with the flamethrower made using a can of deodorant and a lighter. The woman is said to have sustained minor injuries.

Detective Senior Sergeant Sean Bell said it was a cowardly attack.

“This type of behaviour is not acceptable and is not tolerated within our community,” he said.

“Any assault on a mother and her daughter simply going about their lawful business trying to get something to eat for dinner is atrocious. But when you add in the racial element, it’s certainly not tolerated by society and we treat it very, very seriously.”

On Wednesday morning, Senator Thorpe said in a statement she was appalled by the violent attack, and that hate crimes like this happen when politicians and public figures amplify the politics of hate.

“Racism kills. It harms people. I am appalled at this terrible act of violence – this shocking hate crime. But it doesn’t come from nowhere,” she said.

“There is a clear link between the politics of hate, and acts of hate.  When politicians and prominent public figures spend years encouraging and amplifying the politics of hate, the inevitable outcome is violence.

“Right now, there is a moment of reckoning around the culture at Parliament House. This place should be setting the standard – but right now, it’s rife with discrimination of all kinds, including racism, sexism and misogyny.

Right now, there is a moment of reckoning around the culture at Parliament House. This place should be setting the standard – but right now, it’s rife with discrimination of all kinds, including racism, sexism and misogyny.

— Lidia Thorpe (@lidia__thorpe) February 23, 2021

“It’s absolutely necessary for politicians of all stripes not only to stop the racism in this place, but to send a clear message that it’s not in any way acceptable. We are meant to be uniting this country, not dividing it.”

Meanwhile Senator Mehreen Faruqi accused the government of refusing to take far right extremism and racism seriously, saying they must act now to prevent the issue from getting worse.

“This is a horrendous act of racist violence and I hope the perpetrator is identified and prosecuted without delay,” Faruqi said.

“Far-right extremists and neo-Nazis are feeling emboldened. This is the crisis the government refuses to take seriously. The Liberals do not acknowledge racism and far-right extremism as existential threats to the community.

“The government has refused to commit any funding to anti-racism initiatives, or dedicated programs to tackle the far-right. The Liberals even go out of their way to re-write motions in parliament to remove references to far-right extremism.”

The racist attack comes just weeks after the Coalition – supported by One Nation and Centre Alliance – edited a Senate motion that aimed to call out “far right extremism”, to instead see “far right” mentions removed and “far left” mentions included.

The original motion, introduced by Senator Kristina Keneally, had the words “there has been a significant increase in far-right extremism in Australia” deleted and replaced with “Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world”.

On social media, Labor’s Linda Burney said it was essential that we challenge right wing extremism in the community.

“The racially motivated attack on a First Nations woman is another instance of a disconcerting trend in right wing extremism and white supremacy in Australia. We cannot brush this aside or be complacent,” she said.

The racially motivated attack on a First Nations woman is another instance of a disconcerting trend in right wing extremism and white supremacy in Australia. We cannot brush this aside or be complacent. We must remain vigilant and challenge this in our community.

— Linda Burney MP (@LindaBurneyMP) February 24, 2021

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From the outside, the mosque is a nondescript building. The only visible changes ‘post-Christchurch’ are bunches of flowers laid out the front and the permanent presence of a police van. Inside are a couple of carpeted prayer rooms where people gather to do their afternoon namaz, just as they have each day since the mosque opened.

Among this external calm the internal turmoil surfaced as a survivor described seeing the gunman enter the building to me. The killer shot people across the room before running past him and out the other door.

I prayed in the women’s section of the mosque and met other survivors and family members of those who are now gone forever. A mother whose son is no more. A young woman whose husband was murdered that ill-fated day, her life shattered and changed forever as she faces raising her two toddlers alone. It was the first time she’d come to the mosque since the shootings. She handed me a letter explaining her ongoing distress and trauma.

The pain and horror of the day is still palpable. People are still hurting. They are in shock and disbelief. They still need an abundance of emotional and economic support. While overcome with grief and sadness, I could not help but be struck by the strength of the victim’s families and their determination to rebuild their lives in Christchurch. It has been only three months since the shooting, and the alleged killer’s appearance in court has now reignited the survivor’s pain.

The overwhelming preoccupation of the community in Christchurch now is simply to survive. They face real world problems of how to pay the bills and who to turn to for the day to day support and advice they used to receive from loved ones taken so cruelly by the terrorist’s violence.

We owe these families more.  We owe it to them to do everything we can to show solidarity and make sure something like this never happens again.

This sentiment cannot be reduced to a wistful platitude. To make it a reality, we have to be completely honest about the circumstances that lead to such an attack.

We have to be completely honest about the spread of racism, xenophobia and hate speech in society. We have to confront the rise and tolerance of far-right extremism, white nationalist and neo-Nazi movements. And we have to listen to those who face the impact of this abuse.

While in New Zealand, I had the opportunity to join a forum that did exactly that. The ‘Let’s Deal with it’ conference in Auckland run by Shakti New Zealand, a women-led community organisation which has been supporting many families devastated by the Christchurch attack.

What happened in Christchurch was no natural disaster, like the earthquake in 2011. This was a planned attack, intended to strike terror into an entire country – and beyond. Speakers at the conference, including indigenous, migrant and refugee women, unapologetically highlighted the deep underbelly of white supremacy that infests both Australia and New Zealand. I was proud to be one of them.

We acknowledged the history of colonialism, invasion and dispossession that created the structures of discrimination which persist to this day. We also accepted the reality of abuse and hate hurled our way for simply stating these facts of history and relating our lived experiences. If we aren’t going to talk about it now, then when?

This strong group of mainly women of colour are determined to not let the deaths of innocent people be in vain. We are determined to not allow our societies to return to complacency and indifference to racism. We will forge a new path against racism that brings everyone along.

Will you join us?

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Last night on Q&A, McQueen served up some truly memorable moments for the people of Australia. At times it was hard to watch (like a train crash in slow motion), but thankfully the Greens’ Mehreen Faruqi and American feminist Roxane Gay were there to counter the cuckoo.

Let’s take a look back on some truly inspirational television:

The time she accused Jacinda Ardern of plagiarising the work of the Liberal Party:

There are few people in the world who’d be critical of NZ’s PM Jacinda Ardern right now, but McQueen appears to be one of them.

When asked about the swift gun-law crackdown by Ardern following the Christchurch massacre, McQueen retorted: “We did that years ago. The Liberal Party did that years ago with John Howard.”

When members of the audience could be heard chuckling incredulously, McQueen dug her stake into the ground: “You think that’s funny? John Howard did do that. Jacinda Ardern is copying exactly.”

Teena McQueen testing the patience of every single panellist on #qanda 2nite. She’s simply incapable of representing the Liberal Party well.

— Lisa Wilkinson (@Lisa_Wilkinson) March 25, 2019

The time she defended and endorsed Donald Trump

When the panel were asked to discuss a new report into Trump’s relationship with Russia during his election campaign, Roxane Gay scathingly accused Trump of barely being able to “spell collusion”.

McQueen was not impressed.

“Well, he’s been exonerated,” she said, (even though that’s not strictly true.) “There’s nothing there. I mean, it’s two years of wasted presidency, two years of the Democrats going crazy and, you know, he did nothing to interfere with the report.”

She then went on to inform everyone that she was “probably the only person on the panel that’s spent time with Donald Trump” — referencing a brief meeting at a former Miss Universe pageant.

“He was none of those things — he was not racist, not sexist, none of those things,” she assured the audience.

Well, that clears that up then…

“Look I met Trump once and from that very fleeting meeting, I have decided he is not a racist or sexist person, please note I have arrived at this conclusion by discounting literally everything I have seen and read in the news.”
—Teena McQueen, #qanda

— Benjamin Law (@mrbenjaminlaw) March 25, 2019

The time she suggested that a cock joke was the same as threatened sexual assault

Her defence of Donald Trump went further when she suggested that the infamous recording of the President boasting about being able to “grab them [women] by the pussy” was just a joke and not — as perceived by the rest of the world– threatened sexual assault.

“I just made a joke about a cock earlier on,” McQueen said. “I don’t think there’s much difference there.”

Roxane Gay very quickly and articulately pointed out the difference to her.

“A joke versus grabbing a woman and talking about sexual assault are two very different things,” she said. “I joke about bodies constantly, it’s awesome, but I’m not going to talk about grabbing a woman’s body just because I have an attraction to her. It’s called self-control.”

The time she accused Greens’ Leader Richard Di Natale of inciting violence against right wing commentators

Jumping to the defence of alt-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulous (who was this year banned from entering Australia due to blatant hate speech), McQueen said she simply categorised him as “an entertainer”.

“No-one could possibly take Milo seriously,” she said.

When both Faruqi and Gay interjected to convey exactly how many people took Yiannopoulos seriously and the breadth of his influence, McQueen shot back:

The “worst hate speech I’ve heard recently is (from Greens Leader) Richard Di Natale”. She further added that Di Natale had somehow “incited violence” against right wing commentator Andrew Bolt.

“The vile language used against conservatives is disgraceful”, she said.

When questioned by Faruqi about what the Greens Leader had supposedly said, McQueen fumbled before instructing her to “watch the tape back”.

The time she suggested that the rise of white supremacy was a beat up

When a video question was posed by an Adelaide woman about the rise of racism and neo-nazism in South Australia, McQueen once again defaulted to anecdotal evidence only.

With signs of neo-nazi activity in Adelaide, am I in danger? #QandA pic.twitter.com/vpngRpsqhe

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) March 25, 2019

She suggested that the conversation had reached “fever pitch”.

“I mean, if things like that are happening in Adelaide, you call the police and you get these people dealt with and carted away,” she said matter of factly.

“I’ve been to Adelaide many times, and I’m not doubting the questioner there, but if you see evidence of something like that, there’s laws to protect people from that, and you get them carted off and deal with them.

“You know, perhaps I’m in a bubble — I don’t see the growth of white supremacists that I hear constantly.”

(More audible groans from the audience)

“You can laugh if you like, but I just don’t”.

Roxane Gay: “You are in a bubble.”

The idea of putting Teena McQueen together with Roxanne Gay suggests some MAFS level casting by the ABC and I predict this will go as badly as can be expected https://t.co/wgQcmtPblF

— 𝕤𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕙𝕒 𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟 (@samanthamaiden) March 23, 2019

Yep.

The post Teena McQueen’s most memorable moments from Q&A last night appeared first on Women's Agenda.

In fact, he went so far as to lump Faruqi’s sentiments in with Fraser Anning’s when he said: “One of the regrets I have is we give attention or a spotlight onto people like Fraser Anning, or like this Senator (Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi) as well.”

By all accounts, Mehreen Faruqi’s message has been one of overwhelming unity. She stood in solidarity with Muslim Australians and all Australians over the weekend following Friday’s tragedy.

However, Dutton might be feeling a bit peeved that she specifically called out right-wing, conservative politicians like himself, for fuelling the fires of division and volatility.

“Some politicians in Australia have for years been whipping up anti-muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment,” Faruqi told ABC Breakfast News this morning. “And for years, Muslims have also been warning; we’ve been speaking out and saying this is damaging and hurting the community, and that this does have consequences– this doesn’t happen in a vacuum.”

“And when I talk about politicians, I have to say I’m not only talking about the usual suspects like One Nation’s Pauline Hanson, or Fraser Anning,” she said. “I am talking about other politicians as well who have been dog whistling and who have been race-painting for years.”

Faruqi said the tragedy in Christchurch where Australian man, Brenton Tarrant murdered 50 worshippers in two of the city’s mosques should be the catalyst for deep reflection for several Australian politicians.

“We should always be unified in moments like this, but it shouldn’t have to take fifty people to die for this unity,” she said.”So, I think there’s a lot of reflection to be done by many in the highest office of Australia.”

Faruqi also condemned certain media outlets for stoking the flames of Islamophobia.

“I have to say, that some media has played the role in those messages of hate; not scrutinising those politicians which is their job. I do hope that every single one of those is reflecting on what is going on.”

“And I think, one one other thing I could add as well is: I think we have to question at this point in time, how much focus government and government agencies have put into monitoring and addressing right wing extremism and right wing terrorism. We need to really look into that and make sure that we now start listening to those people bearing the brunt of this division and Islamophobia in Australia, and for once, tackle it.”

It’s hard to fathom how Dutton could disagree with that.

The post ‘There’s a lot of reflection to be done’: Mehreen Faruqi calls on politicians to end war of division appeared first on Women's Agenda.