Angus Taylor accused of ‘desperate dog-whistle’ immigration speech as Pauline Hanson takes credit

Tony Burke says millions of people will be asking why the Liberals have a problem with their parents ‘who don’t speak great English but are great Australians’

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Labor has accused Angus Taylor of “desperate dog-whistling” and says millions of Australians will be asking why the Liberal party has a problem with their parents who don’t speak English, amid a backlash to the opposition’s new hardline immigration policies.

Immigration advocates, crossbenchers, and the race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, have all criticised a new speech by Taylor, with the Greens likening the Coalition’s approach to a modern revival of the discriminatory White Australia policy.