Pauline Hanson's Multiculturalism Comments Spark Widespread Criticism

Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman has accused Pauline Hanson of dividing the community following her comments about multiculturalism.

In her National Press Club address yesterday, the One Nation leader said that while Australia was multiracial, it must be monocultural.

Speaking on ABC News Breakfast, Sivaraman hit out at the speech and said some communities did not feel safe when they heard such "political rhetoric".

"It actually angers me to see someone who, in a public position, is dividing us through hate and on the basis that some people belong here more than others or some people are superior to others in Australia," he said.

"I do draw a lot of hope, though. I think that many people are rejecting that, and they see diversity as a strength and value the many different cultures we have.

"Political rhetoric has impacts. Words have an impact. They have an impact on the streets."

The prime minister is preparing an intense bout of diplomatic activity over the coming few weeks.

Yesterday, Papua New Guinea's foreign minister flagged that PNG Prime Minister James Marape will soon visit Sydney to meet Anthony Albanese and celebrate the landmark Pukpuk Treaty coming into force.

The ABC has been told that'll happen in early July.

And the government's already confirmed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also visit Australia on July 9 and 10, with a huge event planned with the Indian Australian community in Melbourne.

But that's not all. The ABC has been told that Albanese is also planning Pacific trips, with visits to both Fiji and Solomon Islands in the coming weeks.

You'd imagine that Albanese and his Fijian counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka will use the visit to sign the Vuvale Union, a sweeping new treaty between the two countries.

The visit to Solomon Islands is going to be more about sending a signal to its new prime minister, Matthew Wale, who visited Canberra just a few weeks ago, that Australia is investing heavily in the relationship.

Australia and Solomon Islands have agreed to kickstart negotiations on a new treaty, and the federal government wants to move quickly on this front.

On top of that, there are murmurs that Vanuatu's Prime Minister Jotham Napat could visit Australia around the end of this month.

If that's locked in, then that would only be for one reason — that both countries are finally ready to sign the Nakamal Agreement after months (and months) of sometimes fraught negotiations.

But there have been so many false starts on this particular pact that it's probably safer not to make any predictions until it actually happens!

Aftab Malik says One Nation leader Pauline Hanson fails to make a distinction between violent extremism and the Muslim faith.

The special envoy to combat Islamophobia says the One Nation leader either remains "ignorant" or doesn't grasp what she's talking about.

Speaking to ABC Radio National Breakfast, Malik says Hanson is harvesting grievances from people.

"What Senator Hanson is really good at is she's really good at harvesting grievances, and so to those individuals she speaks a lot of common sense," Malik says.

"But unfortunately, many individuals live in a post-fact world, whereas when you speak to them with facts, the response you get is, 'That is your opinion.'"

Special envoy to combat Islamophobia Aftab Malik has hit back at Pauline Hanson's speech to the National Press Club, saying her comments have a "crippling effect" on social cohesion.

The One Nation leader took aim at Muslim migration and pledged to end multiculturalism, instead saying Australia should be monocultural.

Malik, who was appointed by the government, says the One Nation leader's statements yesterday were "nothing but opportunistic and fearmongering".

Speaking to ABC Radio National Breakfast earlier this morning, Malik says Hanson has a history of demonising and dehumanising Muslims.

"The thought that comes to my mind is, here we go again. Senator Hanson's concerned about being swamped by Muslims, but many of us are concerned about being swamped by One Nation's obsession with Muslims and Islam," Malik says.

"She's got a history of demonising and dehumanising Muslims. We can start when she says Islam is a disease and we need to vaccinate ourselves against that."

One Nation MP David Farley says he thinks a subscription-based model for the ABC would work well.

Pauline Hanson said yesterday she would abolish the SBS and move the ABC to a subscription-based service for people in the cities.

The One Nation leader says some government-funded regional services will remain under the model.

The Farrer MP says abolishing the SBS and moving to a subscription-based model for the ABC will help Australia pay down debt.

Asked on ABC Radio National Breakfast how the subscription model will work, Farley says financial advisors would have to value the organisation and determine its worth.

Farley says if they determine it is worth running as a subscription service, they would then work out how it's governed as a commercial entity.

"I would imagine commerce, financial advisors would soon have an opportunity to look at it and say would a subscription model be economically attractive to Australians to subscribe to ... if that answer is no, that kind of tells you the value of the ABC straight away," Farley says.

Asked if regional communities receive national and international news under the model, Farley has sidestepped the question and proceeded to talk about matters in his electorate.

One Nation MP David Farley has joined ABC Radio National Breakfast and has been asked what his party leader's vision for a "monocultural" Australia looks like.

Yesterday, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson told the National Press Club she wants to end multiculturalism and said Australian society must be monocultural.

The Farrer MP says monoculturalism is "what we are, it's what we've got, it's where we've come from" and is a nation that builds together.

"It's people who can identify themselves as migrants, but they can be an Australian migrant, or an Australian Italian or an Australian Greek or an Australian African. They're not African Australians, they're Australians first," Farley says.

"They're an Australian first and their ethnicity or your creed comes second."

Asked what parts of their culture migrants should leave behind, Farley says migrants needs to "manage" their culture into Australian culture.

"We're a Christian Judeo society with a law structure around us," he says.

"There will come a point in time when we're called upon to defend Australia, be Australians and that will be done as an Australian under the Australian flag under Australian control."

Pauline Hanson's speech to the National Press Club yesterday was interrupted by a protest banner that unfurled during her address.

Environment Minister Murray Watt says while he doesn't support the stunt, he supports the message on the poster.

"I do think that the message on the sign was entirely appropriate to raise the point that Pauline Hanson has, One Nation has always voted against laws to lift wages," Watt says.

Asked on ABC Radio National Breakfast how the government will rebut the arguments made by One Nation, Watt says the government is prepared to "take on" One Nation.

"One Nation are committed to policies that would cut workers' wages, that would make it easier for bosses to sack their workers. She said that she wants to cut health funding, which means paying more to go and see a doctor," he says.

Pressed on how Labor will allay the concerns of One Nation voters, Watt says many of the party's new voters are former Coalition voters.

"The two best things we can do to deal with that are firstly, remain very focused on our policies to try to help people with their cost-of-living pressures and also expose what One Nation actually do when they come to Canberra."

Environment Minister Murray Watt says One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is acting like a "career politician" for televising political ads during the State of Origin game.

The One Nation leader delivered a lengthy address to the Press Club yesterday, where she pledged to end multiculturalism and laid out a vision for a monocultural Australia.

Hanson also took aim at Muslim immigration, transgender Australians and people who speak a second language at home.

She criticised a Guardian journalist for being "trashy" after she was asked a question about her daughter's employment with One Nation, saying the reporter would be banned from future events.

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Watt says Hanson and One Nation are "becoming like every other political party" despite Hanson presenting herself as an "outsider".

"She's now very clearly showing that she's a career politician. She's been in parliament, or politics, for 30 years, and now she's carrying on like a political party," Watt says.

"What we saw from Pauline Hanson yesterday is that she only wants a fair go for some of us. That's not the Australian way."

Hanson's speech at the Press Club was interrupted by a protest banner that unfurled while the Queensland senator was speaking.

Asked for his reaction, Watt says he didn't support that protest.

"I don't think it's a healthy thing in our democracy to have that kind of thing happen."

Environment Minister Murray Watt and Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie have appeared on Nine for this morning's political panel.

The conversation has been dominated by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's address to the National Press Club yesterday.

Yesterday, Hanson criticised a Guardian journalist as "trashy" for questioning her about her daughter Lee Hanson's employment by One Nation, saying the reporter will be banned from future events.

The Nationals frontbencher says she's "concerned" that Hanson wants to "pick and choose" which journalists she takes questions from.

"That might be OK for Donald Trump to pick and choose which media he takes questions from, but it does not go well in a democracy like Australia," McKenzie says.

The environment minister says you can't govern the country by "hating other people" and says Hanson needs to have a plan.

"She's coming after workers, she's coming after people who use childcare, she's coming after migrants, she's coming after the ABC," Watt says.

The host returns to McKenzie, who is asked what point of difference there is between the Nationals and One Nation.

"Well, I don't have red hair," she says.

Hello, and welcome to the federal politics live blog. It's great to have you join us here early this Thursday morning.

I'm Josh Boscaini, joining you live from Parliament House in Canberra and ready to bring you all of today's federal politics news.

We're likely to hear more reaction about One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's address to the National Press Club yesterday.

If you missed it, in summary, Hanson pledged to end multiculturalism, criticised a journalist as "trashy", and took aim at transgender people, Muslim immigration and people who speak a second language other than English at home.

One Nation's treasury spokesperson Barnaby Joyce also confirmed on the ABC's 7.30 last night that his party would be prepared to cut workers' entitlements to safeguard small businesses.

I've got my eyes on all the television stations, ready to see who speaks. Let's get into the day and see what happens!

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