‘Moral rot’: One Nation’s Chantelle Thomas makes first speech in SA parliament
Former makeup artist and Lifeline councillor Chantelle Thomas is raising her colours telling parliament she rejects net-zero climate policy and is firmly pro-life. One Nation leader Cory Bernardi’s maiden speech yesterday saw pollies walk out.
One Nation’s member for the Yorke Peninsula seat of Narungga Chantelle Thomas has told the state’s lower house she will tackle her first term of parliament “with God within me”.
She ended her maiden speech on Wednesday with the message that “the Godly are as bold as lions”, thanking her church community, Pauline Hanson, her fellow One Nation members and her electorate, which she is the first woman to represent.
“When there is moral rot within a nation, a government topples easily but wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability,” she said.
She used her time to outline her position to reduce overall migration, being against net-zero climate policy, and being firmly pro-life. She said one of the most prominent issues she encountered on the campaign trail was the ability to fish snapper, despite the algal bloom.
“People asked me, there is so much snapper. Why are we not allowed to catch it? I had many parents simply wanting to take their children out in the water to catch a snapper. The algae bloom affected parts of the Yorke Peninsula, yes, but many locals believe it did not affect snapper numbers.”
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She also told about her stance on families and that too many parents feel that Christian values are being replaced by a “growing woke agenda”.
“As a member of this house, I will always stand for parental rights, the protection of children, and an education system that puts learning before ideology. It is time to restore balance, accountability, and common sense in our schools and institutions,” she said.
“Now that I stand among that same political class in the halls of power, one of you, perhaps, but different, real, honest, an everyday Australian, not a university student, not a political staffer, and not a lawyer. I worked as a lifeline counsellor, hearing the stories of many struggling Australians who needed hope, who needed someone to listen and to care.”
Like Thomas, One Nation SA leader Cory Bernardi, thanked Pauline Hanson in his own speech in the upper house on Tuesday afternoon, calling Hanson “the most resilient, tenacious and courageous political figure in Australia’s history”.
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Bernardi, who started his speech by welcoming the chamber to “the land of my ancestors” said he was a “traditionalist” and claimed that “men and women have distinct but complementary roles in family life and in the raising of children”.
He claimed Australia has become a “nation of easily offended snowflakes that melt at the slightest challenge or obstacle”, with Australians fed “a steady diet of tasteless vegan political tofu”.
He believed the COVID-19 pandemic gave “midwit” politicians “an excuse to exercise the dangerous and draconian powers of the state”.
“They locked us down, they silenced dissent, they imprisoned citizens, and they forced people to take dangerous and experimental injections,” he said.
Greens MLCS Robert Simms and Melanie Selwood walked out of Bernardi’s speech after he claimed that “the media is silent while the government allow doctors to mutilate children in the name of gender-affirming care”.
One Nation’s other lower house members, David Paton, Jason Virgo and Robert Roylance, are slated to deliver their first speeches to parliament this week.
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