Fraser Anning: criticism of 'final solution' wording a bid to shut down debate – as it happened

Just in case I have to fact-check Fraser Anning’s speech for anyone, Muslims have been in Australia since before federation.

There is evidence Muslims from south-east Asia traded with Indigenous people as far back as the 1600s.

If you want to talk nation building, their camel trains helped map out trading routes and then, actual train routes for this nation.

There has been a steady stream of migration from largely Muslim nations, since the 1800s, including from Lebanon, where Fraser Anning’s party leader Bob Katter’s family hails from.

Oh, and that is before we even consider that one of our largest trading partners, Indonesia, who are very, very fond of the products of our farmers, which Anning wants to support and protect, also happens to have the largest Muslim population in the world.

I could go on. I would hope though, that I really don’t have to. Because it has been debunked. So many times. And we still have a representative of this nation’s parliament, standing in your house, not only calling for a ban of all Muslim immigration, but a plebiscite on non-European migration, because Whitlam never asked you if it was OK.

And he did it while invoking the term, “the final solution”.

Last month marked the 77th anniversary since Nazi leader Hermann Goering gave the order to SS General Reinhard Heydrich to enact the “final solution”.

We all know how that ended. We all know what that phrase refers to. And it was just used in your parliament by someone who now claims that any sinister meaning taken from his use of that phrase is “simply ridiculous”.

If you are not up in arms about that, or demanding that your political representatives are up in arms about that, then that’s exactly the reason someone just stood in this building and used the language the Nazi party used to order the murder of millions of Jews, LGBTI people, migrants, and dissenters.

The standard you walk past is absolutely the standard you accept.

I’m going to end the blog here tonight. I’m too angry to even attempt to come up with a witty comment to finish today on. Instead, I will just say a very big thank you to everyone at Guardian Australia for their response to that speech, to all the readers who immediately condemned it, and hope that tomorrow is better. It’s all we can do.

Take care of you. And particularly, take care of all those who are continually made to feel like “the other” in their own country, those who are consistently targeted by the ignorant and the hateful for reasons I could never even begin to understand.

We should be better than that. I had hoped we were. I hope we will be.

For those who can’t access the video, here is what Tony Burke said in full in response to Fraser Anning’s speech:

“Don’t give them what they want. That’s a question that you always ask when there is an appalling speech. Don’t give them what they want. They want to incite a debate and the debate when it happens when you hit back is exactly what they might have hoped for. But there has to be a point when this parliament says enough.

“If we haven’t reached that point tonight then, for some of us, there is apparently no limit at all. In the other place Senator Anning has just delivered his first speech and in giving the sort of bile that we get from time to time against Muslim Australians he has decided to invoke the term ‘final solution’. Another speech belittling Australians. Another speech dividing the nation. Another speech wanting to incite debate. Those who have thought that maybe the best thing is to not give them what they want? I say if we continue to hold back they got exactly what they want. Muslim Australians, African Australians, Chinese Australians, when you invoke the final solution Jewish Australians in the same way as in years gone by Greek Australians and Italian Australians have been the subjects of prejudice the bigotry of today is no different to the bigotry of yesterday.

“The bipartisanship against it that we had in years gone by we don’t have right now and it must return.

“The words that happened in the other place are not the words of a proud Australian. They are the words of people who hate modern Australia, people who hate who we are as Australians.

“The overseas voices have been encouraged and welcomed into this country. We had Lauren Southern turn up to my local area. She arrived with a camera crew here from North America looked around said it’s all monoculture, all monoculture just like we had the so-called person in charge of multicultural affairs claim that we’ve got all these monocultural areas throughout Australia.

“The film crew and the journo there were good enough to say well which monoculture? Is it the Arabic culture represented by that shop? Or the Vietnamese culture represented by that shop? The Pakistani, the Pacific Islander, which monoculture are you talking about? To which Lauren Southern said there isn’t even an English pub and they said well there’s actually one immediately behind you.

“Our diversity is nothing to be afraid of but the silence that has come from those opposite is everything to fear because the fight for modern Australia when it’s under attack in this way is only going to be won when we get to the point of bipartisanship again and be in no doubt we are not there right now. If anyone wondered whether we were there a lot changed at the last election. Immediately after the last election members of One Nation were returned to the Parliament. At that time instead of adopting the sort of language that John Howard had adopted the Government members started to refer to One Nation today as being more sophisticated than they used to be.

“Bigotry is not sophisticated.

“In the Longman by election they are now allocating preferences to One Nation, not following John Howard’s lead on putting One Nation last. We had the 18C legislation not referred to during the election campaign suddenly brought on the parliament to give extra licence for racist hate speech.

“We had the immigration minister stand right there and refer to Australians not as second and third generation Australians but as second and third generation Lebanese Muslims and then described them as a mistake. We had the government introduce university level English test but you didn’t have to read university level English if you were immigrating from the five English speaking nations that are predominantly white.

“Canada, the United States, Ireland, the UK or New Zealand, they didn’t have to do the test. Only the people from the non-white countries if they had grown up with English had to do it. We had the member for New England constantly in his book Weatherboard and Iron referring to the poor, white regional fringe. Why is the white reference there all the time? I say to those opposite it’s not good enough to turn up to the community fundraisers and events and say all the right things there and think people won’t notice what’s been happening in the parliament.

“Don’t apologise for racism don’t imitate it and don’t preference it.”

The senator’s office just sent this statement through:

Senator Anning has dismissed criticism of his use of the words “final solution” in regards to immigration as an effort by the left to shut down debate.

“Claims that the words meant anything other than the ‘ultimate solution’ to any political question is always a popular vote are simply ridiculous.

“Anyone who actually reads them in context will realise this.

“Some in the media and leftwing 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.

“It is ironic that those on the left such as the Greens and some Labor who seek to criticise me are the same people who refused to support my efforts to stop Australia funding the Palestinian Authority who finance terrorist attacks against innocent Israeli women and children.”

Tony Burke:

“Don’t give them what they want. That is a question that you always ask when there is an appalling speech. Don’t give them what they want – they want to incite a debate and the debate, when it happens, when you hit back, is exactly what they might have hoped for.

“But there has to be a point when this parliament says enough. And if we haven’t reached that point tonight, then for some of us, there is apparently no limit at all.”

Tony Burke on Fraser Anning’s speech in full:

Tony Burke in the House of Representatives:

He finishes with: “Don’t apologise for racism, don’t imitate it and don’t preference it.”

I only switched over at the last moment, but he also questioned why Barnaby Joyce used the phrase “the poor white regional fringe” repeatedly, in his book.

“Why is the white reference there all the time?” he said.

“I say to those opposite, it is not good enough to turn up to the community fundraisers and events, say all the right things there and think people won’t notice what has been happening in the parliament.”

This is also what they told me. But it wasn’t “last solution” or “ultimate solution” or even just “solution” that was used, none of which have deeper meaning.

It was “final solution”.

The statement is on its way I am told.

For those who missed the speech, here’s the moment he said it:

And from my colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes previous professional life comes this story:

Fraser Anning’s office has just been in contact with me.

They are sending through a statement, but said it was “laughable” his words could be interpreted that way, given Anning’s admiration of Israel.

I’ll put up the statement as soon as it arrives.

Richard Di Natale on Fraser Anning’s speech:

Fraser Anning’s vile comments in the Senate today were absolutely beyond the pale and if he has a shred of decency, he will immediately apologise. Referring to immigrants, particularly Muslim immigrants, with the same language that the Nazi’s used to discuss the extermination of Europe’s Jews during the Holocaust is vile, racist, bigoted and has no place in out society, let alone our parliament. Australia is a proud multicultural society that is made better every day by the contributions of immigrants. If only Fraser Anning had a fraction of the decency I see in the many Muslim Australians I speak with across this country, perhaps he would realise just how harmful his words are.”

The states have agreed during their conference call with Josh Frydenberg to release an exposure draft of the amendments to the national electricity law, changes which will underpin the national energy guarantee.