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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-09-17 Daily Xml
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Antiracism

The Hon. J.S. LEE (16:50): I move:

That this council—

1. Recognises that multiculturalism and diversity are our state’s greatest strengths and that the valuable contributions of our multicultural communities shape the social, cultural and economic development of South Australia;

2. Rejects all forms of racism, discrimination and hatred and condemns those who would sow fear and division in order to weaken our social cohesion;

3. Stands in solidarity with our diverse communities and notes that Neo-Nazi rhetoric and rallies such as the March for Australia demonstrations cause distress, division, fear and harm for migrant communities;

4. Affirms that everyone has the right to feel safe and welcome in our society and stands together with our diverse communities who have been impacted by the anti-immigration movement;

5. Acknowledges the ongoing strength, resilience and leadership of South Australian multicultural communities in their antiracism efforts; and

6. Calls on the Australian government to review the national antiracism framework, implement strategies to combat racism, engage with disaffected individuals and groups and safeguard the safety and wellbeing of our community.

As a first-generation migrant, like many others, I am proud to be an Australian and at the same time cherish my cultural heritage. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities that Australia has given to me and my family. I believe we all aspire to live in a better community, a community that is characterised by trust, respect, open communication and shared values, fostering an inclusive and harmonious environment where people feel valued and connected.

Australia is a multicultural country. I truly believe that multiculturalism and diversity are our greatest strengths. I cannot count the number of times I have stood in this chamber and declared how fortunate we are that our diverse multicultural communities contribute to every level of our economy and society. I have spoken many times on the anniversaries of major multicultural communities that have contributed to South Australia.

Migrants and their descendants from over 200 countries call South Australia home, and their valuable contributions continue to shape every aspect of life in our amazing state. From the Afghan and Indian cameleers who helped explore and map the outback in the 1800s, to the Italian, Greek and European migrants who helped build our postwar economy, to the vibrant contributions of the Vietnamese, Indian, Chinese, Nepalese, African, Ukrainian, Afghani, Pakistani, and many other emerging communities today, our diverse communities have shaped our history and our social, cultural and economic development in profound ways.

Everyone in our community has the right to feel safe, to feel welcome, to live peacefully, and to engage fully in our society, no matter where they come from or what their cultural background may be. There is no place for hatred or racism in Australia. I recognise racism because I experienced it as a young teenager at school, when I was called 'ching chong' or 'wog'. I went to conferences around Australia during the time when Pauline Hanson was elected, and I was targeted. There were groups called Heil Hanson and all my friends had to stand around me and protect me. I understand what racism is about because I experienced it.

A March for Australia rally sounds benign, it even sounds patriotic, but people who planned to attend the March for Australia rallies around the country were marching alongside white supremacists and Neo-Nazis. The march is advertised as being about ending mass immigration. The media and anti-fascism activists have revealed that some of the organisers of the marches have posted white nationalist ideas like remigration, including pro Nazi or pro Hitler memes, and threatened violence.

More than one politician has voiced support for the March for Australia, including Independent MP Bob Katter, who threatened to punch a journalist for mentioning his Lebanese heritage when questioning him about his support for the anti-immigration rallies. These marches can be seen as part of the pattern of Neo-Nazis and fascists becoming more and more emboldened in Australia and overseas, using anti-immigrant sentiment to bring extremist ideas like the mass deportation of non-white people into the mainstream.

The hateful white supremacist language, the calls for violence and the talk of mass deportation make it clear that the March for Australia has a much more sinister agenda at its heart. After the Melbourne march, the Neo-Nazi group NSN boasted a surge in membership, meaning it was on track to overtake the Liberal Party membership within18 months, it was reported.

Of course, we cannot forget it is just six years since an Australian white supremacist massacred 51 people and injured 80 others during Friday prayers at a mosque in Christchurch. There have also been threats that violence will be used at the March for Australia. Sydney organiser Bec Freedom was confronted by the 2GB host Ben Fordham with an audio clip of her saying, 'We need to see violence at the march.' She later apologised, but she continued to be recorded advising people how to introduce far-right ideas to make them sound more palatable to the mainstream.

So: protect Australian heritage, culture and way of life. The next step: protect European culture, heritage and way of life. The next step is to protect white heritage. Protect white heritage—it could not be more blatant that the far right is carefully using anti-immigration sentiment in the community, trying to bring these white supremacist ideas into the mainstream. The ANU School of Sociology's Simon Copland has warned this should be seen as a red flag.

This fresh wave of anti-immigrant protests across Australia has certainly taken an unsettling turn with South Asian communities, particularly Indians, being targeted through racist rhetoric, misinformation and violent attacks. While it was framed as a protest against government immigration policy and rising living costs, the event was heavily influenced by far-right groups and featured overtly racist messaging, particularly targeting South Asian migrants.

Protesters have seized on migration figures or inflated border arrival numbers to claim Australia is suffering under record high immigration, despite net overseas migration actually falling by 37 per cent from a 2022-23 peak of 538,000 to 341,000 by December 2024, as per the federal government's figures cited in The Guardian.

Political leaders, including the Liberal Coalition, such as Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Australia's main centre-right party alliance, and Pauline Hanson, a right-wing populist known for her anti-immigration stance, have echoed housing related anxieties tied to immigration. Blaming migrants, especially communities of colour, for housing woes contradicts Australia's own settlers colonial history. European colonisation from 1788 onward led to Indigenous dispossession, yet today migrants from South Asia are framed as threats to the Australian dream. South Australia's multicultural community has raised these concerns with me, and have described the fear, hurt and disappointment sparked by the anti-immigration rallies held across Australia. Some even compare it to memories of the White Australia policy.

We all have the right to protest, and there are some genuine people who are concerned about the cost-of-living crisis and housing issues, etc. They have their reasons to be there, of course, but demonstrators have given different reasons for attending. Many have said that there were too many overseas arrivals and their fear is that Australia has become too multicultural. Organisers of the events have been linked to white nationalist views, as I mentioned before, and they claim that the events were about standing up for Aussie culture. Is this a representation of the modern Australia that we want to be?

That is why I want to bring this motion to this parliament. I want to listen to what other honourable members have to say about this. I want to hear their views. I want to have a rightful debate. I want to hear from the government and the opposition and the crossbench members how they feel about this, and whether they are serving constituents who have brought these issues up to them directly as well. I do not want this to be swept under the carpet. My motion also reinforces the need for constant advocacy for multicultural Australia and the strength that the broader multicultural communities can give—and have given—to this country.

There were matters that have been brought to my attention such as chants of 'Send them back. Stop the invasion' being heard loud and clear. Some attendees openly told me that there are too many Muslims and Indians here. This is not a genuine policy debate; this is blatant racism. Let us be clear: these demonstrations were not about housing or infrastructure, they were a smokescreen for hate.

History teaches us that during times of economic uncertainty far right movements deliberately spread misinformation to manipulate mainstream discourse and exploit legitimate anxieties to scapegoat migrants. In the 1930s, the Great Depression fuelled xenophobic policies across Europe. During the height of the COVID pandemic, we saw politicians and media blaming migrant communities for spreading the virus, misleading and offensive references to the 'Chinese virus' and headlines such as 'China Kids Stay Home' published on the front pages of Australian newspapers.

Fake news and misinformation spread rampantly online to instil fear, incite hatred and trigger a racist us versus them mentality. We are seeing this exact formula being deployed again. These rallies were not isolated incidents. They were part of a coordinated effort to sow fear and division, exploiting economic anxieties to scapegoat migrants and disrupt social harmony in our society.

The Neo-Nazi rhetoric and imagery of these rallies cause real harm. Members of migrant communities were sharing safety tips and advising individuals and families to avoid going out in public areas because they feared being the targets of verbal or physical abuse based on their appearance or accent.

We have seen reports from teachers highlighting the alarming surge in Nazi slurs and racist taunts in our schools since these anti-immigration marches took place. One teacher reported that a group of white teenage students chanted 'Deport, deport, deport' and 'Go back to your own country' at a Muslim classmate, ignoring staff efforts to intervene and make them stop.

In the past, Neo-Nazis have worn masks and hidden their identities when marching in public, but the fact that they felt emboldened to show their faces and openly label themselves as Neo-Nazis should be of utmost concern to us all. It shows that they feel they are making headwind and becoming part of mainstream discourse. As housing prices soar and public services strain, some seek easy answers, but blaming migrants is not only wrong, it is dangerous. It is misrepresenting and it is misleading.

Experts have shown that immigration is not the root cause of our housing crisis. There are many factors, including policy settings and systemic underinvestment in housing availability and social housing. In fact, the statistics show that the divorce rate of 50 per cent has a far greater impact on housing availability than migration. We must not let economic frustration be weaponised into racial hatred. We must stand in solidarity with our diverse communities, who bear the brunt of these hateful, harmful and false narratives and who have been deeply impacted by the anti-immigration movement.

Despite all this, our multicultural communities continue to lead the fight against racism and promote social harmony, mutual understanding and compassion. I wish to acknowledge and pay tribute to the ongoing strength, resilience and leadership of South Australian multicultural communities in their antiracism efforts. From organising forums on social cohesion to providing support and assistance to the most vulnerable members of our community, their advocacy and efforts to promote intercultural dialogue and respect are remarkable, in the face of adversity particularly.

But they should not have to shoulder this burden alone. This motion calls on the Australian government to review the National Anti-Racism Framework. The framework, launched in late 2024, outlines 63 recommendations across the legal, health, education, media and justice sectors. It proposes a whole-of-society approach to dismantling racism and promoting inclusion. It is the first time we have had a national approach to addressing racism, and it is underpinned by antiracism. This means it aspires to more than simply not being racist; rather, antiracism involves identifying, challenging and dismantling racism at the individual level, structural level and institutional level, including parliament.

We must implement the recommendations and strategies outlined in the framework. This will require sustained, coordinated and meaningful action. It is vital that we work together to combat racism, engage with disaffected individuals and groups and safeguard the safety and wellbeing of our community. I call on all honourable members to support my motion, to stand against all forms of racism, discrimination and hatred and to continue to advocate for a more inclusive and harmonious society. Acts of fearmongering and incitement of racial hatred have no place in modern Australia. I commend the motion.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:08): I rise to speak in favour of the motion, and in so doing I want to commend the Hon. Jing Lee for her leadership in putting this matter before us for discussion today. I also thank her for sharing a bit about her personal story and for the leadership that she provides to multicultural communities in our state. I know that the honourable member engages regularly with those communities and does a lot of work in terms of amplifying the voices of those communities in this chamber, so I acknowledge that and I thank her for that leadership.

I want to indicate my unequivocal support for the motion that the honourable member has put forward today. Racism should have no place in our state. Our state, and indeed our nation, has been enhanced by the enormous contribution that has been made by migrant communities. Indeed, our state and our nation are great examples across the world of a truly multicultural society and we are strengthened and enriched by the enormous contribution that is made to our migrant communities.

I, like so many South Australians, was deeply distressed, saddened and outraged to see the anti-immigration rallies that happened right across the country and to see that happen right here in our home state, and I condemn those rallies. I am particularly concerned about the way in which white supremacist language is becoming normalised in our politics. It is rhetoric that I think is coming from the United States and is being normalised through the presidency of Donald Trump and it is now finding its way into the political discourse in Australia. It should have no place, and those who seek to sow the seeds of division in our society should be condemned absolutely because everybody should feel comfortable, safe and welcome in South Australia.

Like the honourable member, I have heard some of the experiences of people from migrant communities in South Australia in recent weeks who have reported feeling unsafe and uncomfortable, particularly on the day of those rallies, and I think that is really regrettable and really reinforces why it is so important that we have this discussion in the parliament today so that all members have an opportunity to make it clear that they reject racism and they reject what we are seeing, which is racist dog whistling seeking to scapegoat migrant communities for the problems that we are dealing with in our economy.

The reality is that migration is fundamental to our economic growth, and I refer to a report that has been prepared by Migration Council Australia that looks at some independent economic modelling, which was completed in 2014 and 2015 by the Independent Economics group. What that found was that Australia's projected population will significantly increase by 2050 and that migration will contribute $1.6 trillion to Australia's GDP.

Moreover, the report finds that this increase in migration would have added 15.7 per cent to our workforce participation rate, 21.9 per cent to after-tax real wages for low-skilled workers and it would have added 5.9 per cent in GDP per capita growth, so migration is fundamental to our economic growth. It is also fundamental to our social value and diversity as a community and we in our state and our nation have drawn so much from the diverse experiences of the many people from across the globe who have come to call Australia home.

I also want to indicate that this matter continues to be an issue of key concern for the Greens. Indeed, my colleagues in Canberra have been strong advocates for a retention of the Racial Discrimination Act, opposing attempts to try to repeal section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. We do not want to see a licence being provided for bigotry. Any attempt to water down racial discrimination protections runs the risk of providing a forum for bigotry and for this scapegoating to occur.

I also want to address one of the key claims that seems to be made in these rallies that somehow migration is to blame for the housing crisis and the cost-of-living crisis that we are dealing with in our state. That is just complete nonsense. That is a complete confection by the far right, who are deliberately using this rhetoric to try to stigmatise a group in our society.

The reality is we know that the housing crisis has been caused by a failure of governments over many generations to appropriately invest in housing, affordable housing and social housing. We know that it is also being caused by tax arrangements that are in place at a federal level that make it very attractive for people to invest in housing and to use housing as an asset class. Negative gearing and the like, all of these things combined, have priced people out of the housing market.

In terms of the cost-of-living crisis, we know that the main driver of that is an economic system that has been focused on corporate greed and wealth accumulation of the few at the expense of the many. These are the things that are driving inequality in our society and that are pricing people out of our housing market. It is not the fault of migrant communities or those who have moved to our state and now call Australia home.

So I strongly support the motion. I join with the honourable member in repudiating in the strongest possible terms those racist views that were expressed at that rally and, indeed, the displays of racism that we saw. It should have no place in South Australian society, and our strength lies in our diversity as a community.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (17:16): I rise to support this motion and thank the Hon. Jing Lee for bringing it before this place to give us an opportunity as leaders in our community to make some statements for our communities and for cohesiveness within our diversity. I strongly support the motion that the Hon. Jing Lee has brought here. I recognise that multiculturalism and diversity are some of our state's greatest strengths and that the valuable contributions of our multicultural communities shape the social, cultural and economic development of our state.

Indeed, I also stand in solidarity with our diverse communities and note that the Neo-Nazi rhetoric and rallies that were a hallmark of the March for Australia demonstrations have caused distress, division, fear and harm, especially for migrant communities, and I would also say for First Nations communities, some of whom have questioned how March for Australia is not inclusive of them. Indeed, in some ways it has reappropriated the Aboriginal flag. That has been called out by First Nations Australians for what it is: a sham.

Those March for Australia rallies around the nation, of course, were at first marked by a lack of awareness about what they were all about and who was really organising them. But then—surprise, surprise—at each and every March for Australia rally right across the nation, Neo-Nazis were involved, not just attending but speaking at those rallies. So for those who simply wanted a day out to celebrate being Australian, you stand with Neo-Nazis. I do not stand with you, and I do not support that action. There are much better ways you can stand for the things that Australia should rightly hold proud than to stand next to or shoulder to shoulder with Neo-Nazis.

Around those March for Australia rallies, I did observe a fear in our community and in community members, particularly from the Indian community, actually. I have a friend who is a rideshare driver. He is not Indian, but he posted online that his Indian colleagues were scared to work that day, were confused about what those rallies were about and were worried for their safety. Ironically, of course, many of them also reported taking people to those rallies to attend those rallies. As we know, there is the infamous picture of some rally attendees then going to a Chinese restaurant afterwards with their Australian flags draped over their shoulders as they tucked into, no doubt, a delicious, succulent Chinese meal.

The irony, I think, however, is lost on them, and perhaps they did not really know they were marching with Neo-Nazis. I do hold hope that not all who marched are actually racist, but I also urge them to reassess who they march with and what really is the intent here. I think the intent of these March for Australia rallies is to divide us: to divide us along the lines of ethnicity and race from other members of our community, to claim some are more Australian than others and to create the sort of horrific scenes we saw in Cronulla not that long ago. I never want to see those sorts of scenes repeated.

I therefore will stand today and affirm my commitment to our diverse communities in this country, to First Nations Australians—to the first and the last Australians, as they often say, who often get treated the worst in our society. When they get treated the worst, that is usually because of racism.

I do believe that the member has a really valid point here in terms of calling on the Australian government, but I also want to review and take this opportunity to reflect on the Everyday Racism report that the former Commissioner for Children and Young People, Helen Connolly, produced in May 2024. She was actually surprised at the time she produced that report, in which she consulted with South Australian children and young people and found the cruelty of the racism reported to her by South Australian young people from migrant communities was prevalent, to her surprise and shock.

We know, of course, that racism-based bullying is a learned behaviour and that it tends to increase as young people make their way through the school system and peaks in the senior years of school. But it is not just young people, of course, who are exposed to racism. It is at school, in our work settings and in social settings, too. Whether it is overt or covert, indirect or direct, we need to address the unpalatable fact that racism is a behaviour that is being practised right around us.

We have to change this. Our children and young people already have enough challenges to deal with without racism on top of it. The 2017 Multicultural Youth Australia Census found that 49 per cent of 15 to 25 year olds from migrant backgrounds had experienced discrimination or unfair treatment in one form or another in the previous 12 months—pretty much half of them. Sixty-seven per cent of this same group of young people had experienced racial discrimination at some point in their lives.

Not only does racism undermine a person's sense of belonging and their developing identity—their sense of self—it undermines their relationships, too. As if there are not already enough harms, racism can be a barrier to education, employment and full participation in our society and our community. Barriers that prevent access to these fundamental parts of being a human being lead to exclusion and marginalisation, and they come from that othering that I mentioned before.

It can see students leaving school early, ruling out going to university or further tertiary study and not taking up certain courses and can ultimately see young people from migrant backgrounds miss out on those critical everyday role models to whom they can relate and who can understand their experiences.

Even those of us who do not necessarily suffer racism directly can of course suffer from its consequences. Vicarious racism can lead to increased childhood illness and social and emotional difficulties, and the impacts of racism can be insidious in how they manifest. Racism can, of course, lead to really long-term intergenerational consequences.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the federal Racial Discrimination Act and, at a state level, the Equal Opportunity Act and Racial Vilification Act all seek to ensure that racism does not have a place in our communities—and rightly so—and that everyone is protected from it. These pieces of legislation demonstrate the desire of previous parliaments and our South Australian community to bring an end to this abhorrent behaviour.

Events such as the March for Australia undo that work, but we will stand against them. It is time we recognised that legislation alone is insufficient. We must ensure that our institutions and our communities embody the intent of our legislation. The recent increased racism that is currently occurring across communities, in schools and in workplaces is impacting our young people. The commissioner recommended, through the Everyday Racism report, that the recommendations of her report be implemented as soon as possible. These would aim to:

ensure a zero tolerance approach to racism as standard practice;

empower students and teachers to call out racism without fear of retribution;

empower sporting clubs to implement principles of non-discrimination, ensuring that children and young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds can fully participate in sport without compromising their psychological safety; and

provide mentoring and work experience programs so that young people can build professional skills and healthy employer relationships, a commitment to wipe out racism and simply to treat everybody with the same level of dignity and respect with which we would like ourselves to be treated.

The recommendations in the commissioner's report are yet to be implemented, I believe, and I also look to the good work of Reconciliation SA, which has discovered that First Nations Australians are extraordinarily likely to feel that racism exists and to experience racism in their lives. More than one in two of those people in that study reported experiencing direct racism. We are not doing enough. We can do more.

With that, I congratulate the Hon. Jing Lee for her leadership, not just in this motion but in this place and in her communities. I know that she is very well respected within multicultural communities and has worked incredibly diligently for some over 15 years now as a leader. I hope that we will all consider this motion with the respect that it deserves, and I do hope that it will lead to real change. With that, I commend the motion.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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