Dr Mehreen Faruqi, Senator for NSW, has has responded to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s disgraceful comments attacking her this morning. Senator Faruqi is the first Muslim woman to serve in any Australian Parliament and Australia’s only Muslim Senator.

Senator Faruqi said:

“Peter Dutton is the Minister for Home Affairs and is meant to be keeping us safe. For some time we have been saying he isn’t fit for the job but this morning’s tone deaf comments further prove it.

Australian Greens Senator, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has reacted to the Christchurch terrorist attack. Senator Faruqi is Australia's first Muslim woman senator.

Senator Faruqi said:

"What happened in Christchurch is deeply devastating and terribly distressing.

"I am heartbroken and quite frankly scared. First and foremost we are grieving and our thoughts are with the friends and families of the victims who have been brutally killed by a white supremacist terrorist from Australia.

The Australian Greens have a plan to more than double the amount of social housing across Australia by building 500,000 new ecologically sustainable and fully accessible homes, with a net addition of 33,000 dwellings each year. The homes would be funded by scrapping negative gearing and capital gains tax exemptions, as well as redirecting part of the banking levy on major banks.

Australian Greens Senator for NSW and Spokesperson for Animal Welfare, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has welcomed a ban on animal testing for cosmetics. A full ban is conditional on the Government enacting further measures outside Parliament, and Senator Faruqi has vowed to keep the pressure on the Government. The Greens have been at the forefront of pushing for a ban on cruel cosmetics for years, including introducing the first bill to ban animal tested cosmetics in 2014.

Senator Faruqi said:

'The department has failed as a regulator.' This is the beginning of the draft report provided to the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources on 17 December 2018. Ten days later, when the final version was released by the minister, those words had been removed. Let's remember that the independent Review of the Regulatory Capability and Culture of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources in the Regulation of Live Animal Exports, known as the Moss review, was set up in response to the horrific abuse we saw on five separate voyages of the Awassi Express.

Senator FARUQI (New South Wales) (14:15): My question is to Senator Canavan, representing the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources. The Greens forced the government to release various draft versions of the Moss review into the regulation of live export by the department of agriculture.

Australian Greens Senator for NSW and Spokesperson for Animal Welfare, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has revealed documents that show the Department of Agriculture had a role in editing and reviewing the review of its own culture. Senator Faruqi obtained the documents through an Order for Production of Documents into all draft versions of the “Review of the Regulatory Capability and Culture of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources in the Regulation of Live Animal Exports”, known as the Moss Review.

The New South Wales Land and Environment Court's landmark decision to reject the Rocky Hill coalmine is a huge win for the community and the environment. The fact that climate change was a key reason cited for this refusal gives me hope for the future.

Australian Greens Senator for NSW and Spokesperson for Animal Welfare, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has successfully established a Senate inquiry into a national horse traceability register. As it stands, very little is known about the fate of the tens of thousands of horses bred each year.

The Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee will run the inquiry and submissions will open soon.

The terms of reference for the inquiry are:

Just a few weeks ago, I was out at Menindee to see firsthand the Murray-Darling Basin in ecosystem collapse. The Darling River, the Barka, is dying. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan isn't working and the government tells us: 'Everything is fine. Nothing to see here.' I saw stagnant rivers, cracked, dry earth and locals red hot with anger at the federal government and the New South Wales Liberal-National government for their role in the slow death of the Murray-Darling Basin.