One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's bid to hold a national vote on Australia's immigration levels has been roundly rejected by the Senate.
The Queensland Senator's private members Bill to hold a plebiscite to gauge the public's views on the number of migrants allowed to live and work in Australia was defeated 54-2.
Only Senator Hanson and her One Nation colleague Malcolm Roberts voted in favour of the Bill.
The controversial Queensland senator argued the Bill was not inherently racist.
"This Bill is not about where people originate when they come to live in our great nation or why," she told the Senate.
"It is strictly about the numbers and the impact those numbers."
She said people battling clogged roads and rising house prices deserved a say on the rate of migration.
"It just makes commonsense to understand that more people means more demand for services. If those services are not established at a pace that keeps up with the growth then lifestyles will go backwards."
Before the election, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the cap on Australia's permanent migration intake would be cut from 190,000 to 160,000 as part of the government's "congestion-busting" approach.
While it's a reduction in the maximum number allowed, the new limit reflects the actual number of migrants that were granted permanent visas last financial year.
