One Nation's demand for plebiscite on migration rejected by Senate

One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson has failed in her bid to hold a plebiscite on Australia's immigration levels at the next election. Her plan attracted damning criticism from both major parties and secured just two votes in Senate.

One Nation's Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts were the only senators to vote for their plebiscite motion. Source: AAP

Declaring the bill unnecessary and inappropriate, senators from both sides of politics spoke of how reliant Australia's development as a nation has been on migration. Liberal Senator Amanda Stoker labelled Ms Hanson's bill "long on alarmism and short on realism."

Overwhelmingly, migrants have added to our nation by stimulating stronger growth, by creating jobs in our economy, by often times doing jobs that Australians don't seem to want to do, and in helping to slow the overall ageing of the Australian population.

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