Bills

South Australian Multicultural Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 26 August 2021.)

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (16:15): I rise to speak on the South Australian Multicultural Bill, which makes some significant changes to the pioneering legislation enacted under Liberal Premier David Tonkin to recognise the presence and contributions made to the community by the state's rich and diverse cultures. I will address aspects of the bill and some shortcomings that need to be included shortly; however, I would like to express my support for the many people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds who have made this state and this country their home, and my appreciation of the contributions they have made to our community.

We are a much better society for this inclusiveness and one that is the envy of the world. As a mark of our benevolent humanity, we continue to warmly welcome refugees and the displaced, including the many families who have come to this free country fleeing from Afghanistan after the dramatic and barbaric fall of Kabul. They are the fortunate ones and we all feel for those who were unable to escape the country, and remain in the draconian clutches of the Taliban.

I and many colleagues in this place, including in this chamber, have been the beneficiaries of the sacrifices and toil of our parents and grandparents who left their homelands in search of a better life for their families. We have been enriched by their endeavours. We see the fruits of their labours everywhere: in industry, defence, agriculture, small business, academia, sport, the arts and of course in the three tiers of government.

Sadly, racial vilification and religious tensions still occur; however, I am pleased to say these instances are in the minority. The vast majority of South Australians embrace and acknowledge the enormous benefits of postwar migration from all corners of the globe. Almost 30 per cent, or 7.6 million of Australia's population, were born overseas. You could safely say that at least 50 per cent of this great country's population would identify with at least one family member being of migrant descent.

We have seen migration come in waves, from Europe and the UK to Asia. The make-up of countries has changed considerably in recent decades. The top 10 countries providing the most permanent migrants to Australia in 2019-20 are India, China, the UK, the Philippines, Vietnam, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and the United States. There are almost 78,000 living here as refugees from war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and the Congo.

Therefore, I appreciate it was imperative that the old act from 1980 be overhauled to accurately reflect, incorporate and engage the new make-up in our population. This, we have been told by the government, was done through consultation and community feedback. There has been some 'ethnic' cleansing. Curiously, the word itself was considered dated with divisive connotations. By its very definition, I do not understand why; however, it may have been superfluous to the title. It has now been made redundant, so the statutory body will now be called the South Australian Multicultural Commission.

There is another buzzword in here: intercultural. The bill also wants the commission to work actively in promoting more harmony and awareness of diversity through community engagement. There will be a change to the eligibility of members on committees to carry out various commission tasks, but these will need to be signed off by the minister.

The old South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission was ostensibly a nonpartisan sounding board and voice for those communities, helping shape policies, although I long held concerns it could also be manipulated for political opportunism—and I still do. You would not want it or its commissioners to be a government plaything to garner votes or to be promoting would-be political candidates.

I hope this new commission will be more than just shopfront tokenism and that members are given an opportunity to help shape policy, because in this bill the commission has had all of its powers removed and its new, very limited, role is to oversee a charter that has not been drafted yet. If it was not for the charter, which I understand was an initiative of the board, I wonder what its role would have been?

I also note that this bill calls upon representation on the commission to be from the diversity of cultural backgrounds, gender, lived experience, age and geographic location. That appears to have been achieved with the new commission members announced recently. However, it is with some dismay that I note there are no members from the regions, or a youth member. My amendments, which I will talk to later, address these shortcomings.

The commission needs to achieve its very purpose in a non-political way and be free of any interference from government or the minister. I hope that has not occurred with the appointment of the new 15-member commission, of which four have been reappointed through a process of expressions of interest to a selection panel. This seems to have been quite rushed. I will have questions for the Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs about the composition of this panel, how it reached its recommendations and who actually made the final call on membership.

From a briefing we have had with the assistant minister, the selection method was rather odd. A panel went through and selected a small list of candidates, which was then referred to the office of the Premier for a final captain's call. I am unclear why the panel did not make the final recommendations after its deliberations.

It is with some dismay that I see the shock exclusion of two of the most prominent members of our state's multicultural community, each with solid support from their respective communities: the outgoing chairman, Norman Schueler, whom I affectionately call Iron Man for both his line of business and his unstinting and unheralded commitment to multicultural affairs for the past 21 years; and the outgoing deputy chair, Antonietta (Toni) Cocchiaro, a respected educator very highly regarded in the Italian community, which is by far the largest ethnic group in South Australia after those from the UK.

I understand both sought membership to the new commission yet were not even given the courtesy of an interview by the selection panel. That is another question I will have for the honourable member: just how many of the 15 were interviewed and how were those unsuccessful candidates notified? Were they ever consulted on the drafting of the bill and were their views sought on its structure?

I will take the opportunity to pay tribute to both Norman and Toni for their years of service to the multicultural community. They did so on a largely volunteer basis and were in attendance at many events, festivals and religious and remembrance ceremonies conducted around the state and the metropolitan area. Their contributions should not be undervalued nor underestimated.

Some of the most prominent leaders within the Italian community who I know, and who endorsed Toni's membership application, see her omission as a slap in the face to their community, which is now left with just one representative, the very capable and distinguished wine industry leader, Cavaliere Maria Maglieri, whose father, Stefano, is a great and respected pioneer of the wine industry in McLaren Vale. Like Maria, he is a huge supporter of our multicultural community.

However, I do welcome the new appointments and look forward to meeting them when our paths next cross. I would like to single out Denis Yengi, a Sudanese refugee who works with young troubled people; rising young entrepreneur, Carmen Garcia, whose parents are Filipino; Rajendra Pandey, a St John volunteer, Army Reservist, a member of the Multicultural Communities Council of SA and Unley's Citizen of the Year and who has only been here for six years; and Hussain Razaiat, president of Afghan United Association, who arrived here by boat as an asylum seeker and is a tireless worker in the Middle Eastern community.

I also mention Bruce Djite, well known for his football prowess with Adelaide United and the Socceroos. He was born in the US, his father was born on the Ivory Coast and his mother was born in Togo, meaning he could have played for four different countries. He speaks French, English and Turkish. I have met and spoken with Bruce on numerous occasions and he greatly impresses me with his knowledge and views on the world and politics. I am sure he will be a great asset to the board. Their presence clearly reflects the diversity of cultural backgrounds and lived experience the Hon. Jing Lee wants.

A significant inclusion in this bill is the parliamentary declaration of 10 principles to ensure the recognition of the contributions made by migrants, along with an acknowledgement of the First Nations peoples as traditional landowners and custodians in South Australia. My amendment clarifies their role. It is also to raise awareness of the harm that racism and other forms of discriminatory behaviour can do to multiculturalism and interculturalism and to advise the Office of the Commissioner for Equal Opportunity or other such bodies on matters of discrimination and racial vilification. They are an important conduit through which these matters need to come to the attention of others with responsibility to address them.

My other amendments ensure that a person needs to be a citizen or a permanent resident of Australia to be appointed to the commission. I believe it is important that members have this standing and this commitment to South Australia to take on such a leadership role. We see these people who have come to Australia as people who have aspired to become successful leaders in their communities and have gone on to become either Australian citizens or permanent residents, which I think would be the goal of all migrants who come to this country.

As I have already noted, I believe there should be a regional resident representative, and I do not accept the assistant minister's explanation that it was too hard to find one. We know there are people from so many backgrounds now in our regions and I am sure they deserve some kind of representation on this board.

We have a lot of highly respected and skilled potential members in regional areas. Indeed, many of these regional areas have become economic powerhouses from the contributions of refugee and migrant residents. Think of the Barossa, the Riverland and the West Coast. In fact, even the family of the Hon. Nicola Centofanti have that background, so we need to respect that. I am also calling for a young person under 25 years of age to be on the commission. While we may think older people can reflect the views of youth, I can assure you we cannot. Young people need and should have their own voice, as they will be the commission members of the future.

To ensure the commission is bipartisan and membership of the commission is transparent and open, my amendments also require members to make a declaration of any political party, union and/or other memberships they have that may affect or be affected by the performance of their official functions and duties, and to make a declaration of any prescribed interests in a register of interests. There is nothing extraordinary about this requirement if there is nothing to hide.

Finally, my amendments ensure members are reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in relation to attendance at events or meetings. I understand that members do get sitting fees for meetings, but I know commission members often pay for a lot of things out of their own pockets at events and community gatherings. Another amendment I will also flag here is the number of meetings that these members are required to attend. I think currently it is set at four, but I think it should be six. There is no reason why such a commission cannot at least meet more regularly—at least every two months, rather than the one that it is at the moment.

Again, we need to avoid shopfront tokenism when we have important commissions like this set up. I hope members will support my amendments and look forward to asking those questions that I have already flagged during the debate.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.E. Hanson.