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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-09-19 Daily Xml
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Multiculturalism

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (17:06): I move:

That this council—

1. Recognises that our identity as South Australians is made up of the threads of many stories woven into one intricate tapestry made richer and more vibrant by the contributions of our First Peoples and the migrants who chose to make Australia home;

2. Repudiates racism in all its forms and any retreat from a policy of multiculturalism; and

3. Gives its unambiguous and unqualified commitment to the principle that whatever criteria are applied by Australian governments in exercising their sovereign right to determine the composition of the immigration intake, race, faith or ethnic origin shall never, explicitly or implicitly, be among them.

It was with much indignation that in August I heard and read the maiden speech of Queensland Senator Fraser Anning of Katter's Australian Party and formerly of One Nation. It reads like a typical Queensland redneck's lecture of Australian history that we have become accustomed to hearing from the likes of Pauline Hanson and a host of extreme right wing conservative commentators and media identities intent on inciting division among us with their inflammatory remarks.

He was ignorant and dismissive of our Indigenous heritage, their history and their cultures and grossly insulted our immigration program, singling out Muslims and Africans. He spoke of 'final solutions' to the immigration program, a term that harks back to the Nazi holocaust era, although Senator Anning rejects that he meant any such link. His xenophobic comments reminded me of the period when I was growing up in this state in the 1950s and sixties. The effects of World War II were still raw in Australia. There had been a rush of migrants from postwar Europe, a mix of Britons, Italians, Greeks, Poles, Czechs and many other nationalities.

The first time I had ever heard the term 'White Australia Policy' openly spoken about and taught—yes, taught—was in my primary school classroom. I was shocked and horrified when I learned what it really meant. Of course, being referred to as 'new Australians' by even our teachers, even though I was born here and spoke English fluently, we—the children of migrants—initially copped vile racist abuse. However, within a decade or so the integration and acceptance of migrants in our communities was swift, thanks to visionary political figures like Don Dunstan and Gough Whitlam, who embraced the concept and benefits of multiculturalism, where it flourished to the point where we are now regarded as the model for the world.

Our society is much richer for the toil and contributions of our migrant population. Their input can be seen everywhere. This wondrous palette of cultures has been further enriched by the diaspora from Asia and the Indian subcontinent. How lucky we are to have the best of all worlds harmoniously here among us. We have become a more tolerant nation and I am pleased that we have also continued to warmly embrace, celebrate and recognise our Indigenous heritage. Eddie Mabo's historic land rights fight and Sorry Day stand out as quite significant chapters in our history and are milestones in the unification and healing process with our first inhabitants.

We should be celebrating what we have and the freedoms we all enjoy. We should condemn attempts by those who would want to impose restrictions on our immigration intake, race, faith or ethnic origins. I do not want to see Australia head down the bigoted path taken by American President Donald Trump. Banning people from Islamic countries of his choosing and building walls on borders to lock out refugees looking for a better way of life is not what the Australia of today is about or stands for.

Like Australia, the United States was and still is a melting pot of cultures. However, unlike Australia, America still grapples to get the balance right, with civil rights activism and racism not seen since the equal rights movement of the1960s. Recently, a friend of mine told me that racists often do not know they are racists. One of the ugly developments of the socially revolutionary internet is the rise of cowardly and often invisible keyboard warriors and malevolent malcontents who are given far more relevance and oxygen on social media networks than they deserve.

My friend and I were discussing the controversy caused in the United States by a Melbourne newspaper cartoon of Serena Williams throwing a tantrum at the US Open. A picture can tell a thousand words, and you will get a thousand different interpretations from a thousand different sets of eyes. As a one-time daily newspaper editor who dealt with cartoonists, I did not read anything sinister into Mark Knight's depiction, and I am sure he meant no offence to the greatest female tennis player of all time.

I have seen caricatures of Serena and other African-American celebrities that are much worse than that, and they did not even raise a single eyebrow. Where was the outrage from those same critics about the depictions of Muslims and their prophet in the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo, which was later subjected to a murderous attack by terrorists? I have also seen unflattering cartoons of white-skinned personalities and political figures. It should never have descended into a debate about race; this was essentially a comment about her behaviour.

Cartoonists, by their style as artists, do exaggerate features. Nonetheless, Australian society has once again come under scrutiny because of this. An article by Australian-based author Max Barry, published yesterday in the Philadelphia Tribune, painted Australia this way:

Australia is the nicest racist country you will ever see. It is racist in a blithe, jokey kind of way, where nobody is supposed to take anything too seriously, and nobody is too aware of historical or cultural contexts.

There is racial violence in Australia's history, but not a lot of it, compared with many other countries, and it's not very recent. The racism you get in Australia is mostly of the blindness to privilege variety, where a person may make fun of another for their distinguishing characteristics without realizing that doing so is far more comfortable from within the demographic majority.

As my friend said, he seems to be describing racism without knowing it. He may be right, but I would like to think that the clear majority of Australians abhor racism and inequality of any kind, as proven by the historic vote last year to allow same-sex marriage. We have come a long way since the disgraceful White Australia policy was abolished, but we can and should be doing more.

While we do need to protect and respect the fundamental right of freedom of speech from all sides of the political and social spectrum, including Senator Anning and Senator Hanson, we must reject hate speech and guard against action that serves to incite violence and intolerance. I commend this motion to members.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. D.G.E. Hood.

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