Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe will move an amendment to Labor's censure motion against far-right Senator Pauline Hanson, urging the government to fully implement the National Anti-Racism Framework.
The censure motion is being introduced by Foreign Minister Penny Wong following comments made by Senator Hanson on Sky News a fortnight ago, in which she said there were no "good" Muslims.
She said: "You say, 'Well, there's good Muslims out there.' How can you tell me there are good Muslims?"
Host Sharri Markson immediately disavowed Senator Hanson's remarks, and while some far-right commentators defended the comments, recent high-profile One Nation recruit Barnaby Joyce declined to support the Queensland Senator's views, and new Liberal deputy leader Jane Hume described them as "abhorrent".
Several days later, Senator Hanson offered a partial and heavily qualified apology on the ABC, while stating she would not apologise for speaking out against radical Islam.
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On Monday, Senator Thorpe — who has repeatedly called on the government to adopt the Human Rights Commission's framework, delivered in November 2024 — accused the government of lacking seriousness about tackling racism and instead using the censure motion to politically wedge the opposition.
Saying Senator Hanson's "racist comments" were "plain to see" and calling for an end to "constant racism and vilification", Senator Thorpe argued Labor's motion is "not about taking a real stand against racism".
"It's a cynical wedge designed to influence the Farrer by-election and disrupt preference negotiations between the Coalition and One Nation," she said.
"It is just cheap politics, and it is insulting to all of us who experience racism on a daily basis."
Labor's motion calls on the chamber to censure Senator Hanson over "her inflammatory and divisive comments seeking to vilify Muslim Australians, which do not reflect the opinions of the Australian Senate or the Australian people".
It adds that "if parliament is to be a safe place for all who work and visit here, there can be no tolerance for hate speech in the course of parliamentarians' public debate," and calls on all Senators to "refrain from inflammatory and divisive comments, both inside and outside the chamber".
Last year, Senator Hanson was suspended from the Senate chamber for seven days after wearing a burqa and refusing to apologise.
Senator Thorpe, who was highly critical of Senator Hanson during the burqa stunt, added: "All this Labor motion will do is give Senator Hanson more airtime to spread racism, while Labor avoids scrutiny for its own inaction."
Recent polling has shown the Coalition falling behind One Nation, as concerns about immigration have increased sharply. Some conservative commentators have urged the Liberals to preference One Nation ahead of left-wing parties at future elections.
First-time Western Australian Labor Senator Ellie Whiteaker made clear her party's position, telling the Nine papers, "We know the Liberals are racing to outflank Pauline Hanson on the far right but how low will they go?"
Acknowledging her amendment will fail without Labor's support, Senator Thorpe said that while her move is also a wedge, it at least points to "real, practical solutions".
"If Labor votes it down, that will show exactly how serious they are about tackling racism," she said.
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The government has yet to signal a willingness to implement the framework, despite the alleged terror attack on Aboriginal people in Perth on January 26, the Bondi attack, and last week's revelations of planned attacks on mosques in Western Australia.
However, last month, they backed a motion brought by Senator Thorpe to condemn the attempted bombing in Perth, which was supported by Labor's First Nation Senators.
Senator Thorpe said that if the government were serious about addressing racism, it would adopt the framework in full, describing it as a "clear, evidence-based roadmap to tackle racism and white supremacist extremism".
"It's practical and ready to go, but Labor is still ignoring it," she said.
"This government only sees racism as a political opportunity for themselves, not as a real threat to real people. They just speak about it when they see something to gain, like they do today, but they take no real action to tackle it."
