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Mark Latham attacks 'leftist elites'
One Nation senator Mark Latham has used his maiden speech to the NSW Parliament to attack political correctness and identity politics, making references to Monty Python, George Orwell and Israel Folau.
Addressing the upper house for the first time, he praised the state's early colonialists and criticised "leftist elites" for what he said was an attack on western civilisation.
"It's like a scene from The Life of Brian," he said.
"What has Western civilisation done for us?
"Only advanced healthcare and education, architecture, engineering, information technology, free speech and the rule of law."
Mr Latham even compared the left to the characters in political satirist George Orwell's novel Animal Farm.
"In their lust for authority, they lose their respect for the rights of others," he said.
"Like a scene from Orwell's Animal Farm, the Green-Labor-Left has become the thing it originally opposed: elitist, would-be dictators taking away from the working-class communities the things these battlers value."
He also attacked political correctness and the "confected outrage" of the "elites".
Quoting Monty Python actor John Cleese, Mr Latham argued that telling a joke about someone does not mean you hate them.
"We love the people we joke about — the Irish, the blondes, the gays, everyone — as they've helped to bring humour and joy into our lives."
21 Sep 2019, 7:30 pm
