Jacqui Lambie brands Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi in withering spray that brought the Senate to a standstill

Jacqui Lambie has accused Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi of “religious racism” in a scathing speech in parliament as she sought to pass a motion to make private emails from Jewish groups public.

Ms Faruqi, the senator for New South Wales, attempted to pass a motion on Wednesday that would have made public documents from Jewish organisations and correspondence from staff at the Human Rights Commission.

The motion was part of an effort by the Greens to reveal details about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Before the vote, Senator Lambie, an independent from Tasmania, was allowed to make a one-minute statement.

She calmly said that Senator Faruqi often denounces racism, adding: “There is nothing wrong with that, we should all do that.”

Ms Lambie then said that Senator Faruqi’s motion had “completely crossed the line” and that the situation had degenerated into shouting from both sides at the end of her minute.

Ms Lambie referred to ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess, who last week urged leaders to be careful about using inflammatory language when speaking on international issues.

She accused the Greens of doing the opposite.

Pictured: Mehreen Faruqi in the Senate on Wednesday night as she tries to push her motion through

“Here we are again, and here are the Greens again, stirring up division and sowing hatred,” she said.

‘Imagine if a motion were tabled here asking for all correspondence from Muslim groups and staff to the Human Rights Commission.’

She accused the Greens of “manipulating” the Commission, called the party “hypocrites” and shouted: “I hope your voters punish you at the next election.”

Senator Faruqi made an unintelligible comment.

Senator Lambie shouted again: ‘You are a religious racist! Absolutely disgusting.’

Pictured: Senator Jacqui Lambie attacking the Greens and Senator Faruqi

“You are a religious racist.”

Senator Lambie subsequently complied with the request to retract his comments.

There was division over the motion. In the end, it was voted on with 12 votes for yes and 28 votes for no.

The Greens swore allegiance to Palestine after the Hamas attack on October 7.

They have consistently called on the Albanian government to impose sanctions on Israel, given the ongoing and deadly conflict between the states.