Labor defector Fatima Payman has opposed the Albanese government’s new social media age restriction legislation in a bizarre speech to the Senate, laden with Gen-Z slang.
The 29-year-old independent senator for WA delivered her two-minute statement in Parliament House on Wednesday afternoon, which was full of terms commonly used by young ns.
Rather than addressing her fellow senators – all much older then her – she was speaking directly to Generations Z and Alpha whose voices often aren’t heard in parliament.
Ms Payman began by addressing the ‘sigmas of ‘, which broadly means admirable people.
‘I say that this goofy ahh government have been capping. Not just now, but for a long time. A few of you may remember when they said ‘there will be no Fanum Tax under a government I Iead’. They’re capaholics, they’re also yapaholics.
‘They yap non-stop about how their cost of living measures are changing lives for all ns, just put the fries in the bag lil’ bro.’
Translated into everyday English, she accused Labor of being stupid and continually lying about taxes, talking non-stop about the cost of living but failing to address it properly, and eventually told the government to do their jobs properly.
She continued: ‘They tell us that they’re locked in on improving the housing situation in this country – they must have brainrot from watching too much Kai Cenat and forgot about their plans to ban social media for kids under 14.
‘If that becomes law, you can forgor skull emoji all about watching Duke Dennis or catching a dub with the bros on Fort.’
Kai Cenat and Duke Dennis are gaming influencers with millions of followers on livestreaming platform, Twitch. ‘Fort’ refers to the very popular game, Fortnite. ‘Dub’ means winning a game.
‘Forgor’ with a skull emoji is another term for ‘forgot’.
Senator Payman then said, ‘Chat is this Prime Minister serious?’
‘Chat’ is a term livestreamers use when speaking to fans who interact with them in real-time, via a text box.
The rest of the speech went on in a similar fashion, boiling down to a few key points: Mr Albanese is out-of-touch, the Opposition should not cut WA’s services tax, the Labor Party is mediocre, the Coalition is unskilled and the Teals are the best option.
Her speech ended with a message for young people: ‘Though some of you cannot yet vote, I hope when you do, it will be in a more goated , for a government with more aura. Skibidi.’
By that, the Senator meant she hopes the government will be eventually the greatest of all time (acronym, goat) with more of a cool-factor than it currently has.
Skibidi has no real meaning, but comes from a toilet meme and can be used to describe something very cool.
Ms Payman then shared the speech on TikTok where young people flocked to the comments section to say they felt relieved to have finally understood a parliamentary speech.
‘Omg I finally understand someone from parliament,’ one user said.
Another wrote: ‘[To be honest] I understand this more than the real politics.’
A third person said: ‘I knew I was cooked when I understood this better than actual political talk.’
However, others thought the speech was awkward.
‘Seriously cringe, time to be an adult,’ one Instagram user said.
‘Desperate for attention,’ another wrote.
The Prime Minister announced his plan on Tuesday to introduce legislation to prevent children from accessing social media – in an attempt to safeguard their emotional and mental welfare.
A minimum age is yet to be announced, but he previously backed moves to lift the proposed limit from 13 to 16 to give teenagers more time to mature without social pressures that are enhanced in an online environment.