George Christensen may only be a backbencher in the Turnbull Government but he is quickly becoming a major thorn in the Prime Minister's side.
In his latest outburst, the Queenslander has explicitly gone against coalition policy by calling for a restrictive immigration regime.
He said Australia should exclude people from countries where there is what he called a "high prevalence of violent extremism and radicalism".
"Many immigrants entering this country in recent years do not share our Australian values. Their views are widespread in the countries from which they come. We must ask: if they are diametrically opposed to the values that helped shape our nation and that underpin our society and our culture, why do they choose to come to Australia in the first place? There are other countries they would find less offensive-countries where they could enjoy a similar level of oppression and violence to which they are accustomed and which they obviously want. It is not necessary for them to travel halfway around the world to come to Australia and demand Australians change their culture."
His speech to the House of Representatives echoed that given by Pauline Hanson in the Senate just 24 hours earlier.
"Now we are in danger of being swamped by Muslims who bear a culture and ideology that is incompatible with our own."
Malcolm Turnbull has been quick to distance himself from the sentiments.
"Seeking to demonise or denigrate all Muslims or seeking to alienate all Muslims and suggest that they are somehow not part of Australia or shouldn't be in Australia, that's exactly what the extremists and terrorists are saying to the Muslim community."
But the tenor of the speeches has raised questions about the level of parliamentary debate.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale led a walkout of colleagues during Senator Hanson's speech....
"Imagine being a young Muslim listening to these comments, how you would feel hearing people who share your faith being targeted in that way. We need to take a stand against this sort of language."
Kon Karapanniaotidis, of the Asylum-Seeker Resource Centre, is simliarly despondent, given parliamentarians are also set to debate another sensitive issue: same-sex marriage.
"It doesn't augur well for marriage equality or for sustainable compassionate refugee policy or for working on a treaty with our first nation. We have seen an extra rise in hate speech, intolerance and bigotry and the politics of fear and it's really troubling and really disturbing and it doesn't augur well for trying to have a rational debate around values and around what a caring and decent Australian society should stand for."
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese has called on all sides to unite in rejecting the politics of division.
"We have a bi-partisan policy of support for multiculturalism, of respect for every individual. I think what we need is more harmony and politicians to bring people together and not try to divide us."
On morning television, he had support from his Liberal opponent, Christopher Pyne.
But the key government minister says Pauline Hanson's support base cannot be ignored.
"She had 500,000 votes across Australia so you can't reject the fact that half a million Australians felt that she represented their views, and at the next election we will try and convince those half a million Australians they should be supporting us rather than Pauline Hanson."
