SUBJECTS: Multiculturalism in Australia, Harmony Week

GEORGE SALLOUM (HOST): Good afternoon and welcome to 3ZZZ.

ANNE ALY: Thank you so much. I’m really, really happy to speak to you today, George.

HOST: It’s a pleasure. And can I just have a little bit of introduction. Our guest today is the federal Minister for Multiculturalism, Dr Anne Aly. Dr Aly was born in Egypt and came to Australia as a young child growing up in Western Sydney. Before entering parliament, she built a distinguished career as an academic specialising in counterterrorism, extremism and social cohesion. She was elected to federal Parliament in 2016 as the member for Cowan in Western Australia, becoming the first Muslim woman elected to the Australian House of Representatives. Since then she has been a strong advocate for multicultural communities, inclusion and community safety. We are speaking with the Minister during Harmony Week, a time that celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity and the importance of respect and belonging. Minister Aly, welcome to 3ZZZ.

ALY: Thank you so much, George. It’s lovely to be with you.

HOST: Minister Aly, if I may start, both of us came from migrant backgrounds. I’m from the Syrian community, and you were born in Egypt before your family came to Australia as a child. During Harmony Week how does your own story shape the way you think about Australia’s multiculturalism?

ALY: Well, what a great question, George. Absolutely my story, my immigration story, the story of my parents shapes how I view Australian multiculturalism, and it shapes everything that I do in this portfolio as well. I think for me in particular it’s – you know, I’m old enough to have seen the changes in – that came across the nation when the Labor government back in the 1970s first introduced multiculturalism.

I remember, like, before that we would, you know, celebrate our culture in our own ways in the quiet of our home. We would listen to [speaking Arabic] in the quiet of our living room. We would break our fast during Ramadan, just our family in the dining room. And it felt like it was something that we did behind closed doors. And I think when multiculturalism became a part of this country as a dedicated policy that the then Labor government introduced, it really gave us licence, if you like, to be able to be proud of our cultural heritage, our traditions publicly and in public.

And I go now and I see things like, you know, the Lakemba Night Markets in – you know, during Ramadan, I go to the Chinese New Year festivals, I go to the Vietnamese Tet festival, and it’s really quite a stark difference from when I was growing up in Australia. And we all got along well and we all did these things, but we did them in the comfort and in the quiet of our own homes. So for me, multiculturalism, and particularly Harmony Week, is an opportunity for us to celebrate this fact that we are a diverse nation. We have always been a diverse nation going back 60,000 years of our First Nations heritage. Our First Nations people, our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people spoke multiple languages, had multiple traditions and cultures. They were diverse. Diversity has always been a part of Australia’s story, a part of our history, a part of our present, and a part of our future.

So for me Harmony Week is about recognising that, defending that. But also, George, I’ll remind everyone as well that Harmony Week started on the 16th of March. On the 15th of March was the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, and on the 21st of March is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. So there’s also an opportunity – and I say opportunity purposefully, because I think it is an opportunity for us to also reflect on the fact that harmony doesn’t happen by accident – that we have to work hard at it, that we have to ensure that every Australian, no matter where they come from, no matter where your parents came from, no matter how long you’ve been in this country, has the opportunity to thrive in this country.

HOST: Thank you, Minister. Australia’s multicultural communities contribute enormously to our social, cultural and economic life. What do you see are the greatest strengths that diversity brings to Australia today?

ALY: Well, as you say, George, our multicultural communities do contribute immensely to all aspects of our life in this country. I think, you know, as I mentioned earlier, Australia’s history is built on diversity, from our First Nations people to our, you know, the convicts and the settlers and then the successive waves of immigrants coming to Australia, all adding to what we have as a modern multicultural nation and a diverse nation, not just diverse in ethnic composition, diverse also in religious pluralism, diverse in so many different ways. So the main contribution that I see of multiculturalism in Australia is that it has contributed to the country that we are now. It’s our identity. It’s who we are. It means that we have – can build better relations with our neighbours in the region and beyond our region as well. It’s a really important bridge to diplomatic relationships with other countries as well. But it also – you know, [indistinct] things like, you know, the richness of the food and the cultural practices that we have. We’re in a country where we celebrate Easter and Christmas and Hanukkah and Ramadan and Chinese New Year and Vietnamese Lunar New Year as well. You can point to all of those things. But they are just the kind of manifestation of what’s much deeper than that – and that is that we all share a commitment – a commitment – to the values of equality, to the values of fairness, to the values of respect, mutual respect, among people that recognise every single Australian has the ability in this country to be and do whatever it is that they want to do and become.

HOST: Thank you. A station like 3ZZZ broadcasts in many different languages – matter of fact, over 50 languages – and serve communities that may not always see themselves reflected in mainstream media. How important do you think multicultural community broadcasting is in supporting inclusion and social cohesion?

ALY: Incredibly important. And, you know, our government sees it as incredibly important as well, which is why November last year we opened up $10 million to the independent multicultural media grants program. But it’s not just about that financial as well. I want to make a few points here, George, if I may. First of all, that language retention is really important. It’s an important connection to home, but it’s also when we look at the impact that it has on a child’s brain development, actually, bilingualism and multilingualism contributes a lot to child’s brain development. And I think that we need to in this country really promote bilingualism and multilingualism in this country. And I think that the ethnic community media play an incredibly role in that.

They also play an incredibly important role in keeping those connections that people have to culture through language. Because culture and language are very, very closely tied together. And I know personally for myself, you know, growing up in the – you know, a long time ago, and if I tell you how long, you’ll know my age – but a long time ago we were discouraged from speaking Arabic, which is the first language that I ever spoke. We were discouraged from speaking Arabic, my brother and my sister and I. So we grew up only with English. And now as an adult having relearned and actually having to relearn Arabic, I consume media in language. I consume media in Arabic, whether it’s, you know, watching [indistinct] or listening to Arabic news.

For me, it keeps – it doesn’t just keep my language flowing and, you know, me being able to hold a conversation in Arabic and improving my language; it’s also a deep connection to my identity. And when you have a strong connection to your identity, whatever that identity is, your sense of belonging is – becomes more resilient. And I think that’s a really point here of connection between language retention, cultural retention, identity and belonging and the important role that ethnic community media play in that.

HOST: Sure. Many listeners rely on multilingual community media to understand government information and services. What is the government doing to ensure multicultural communities can access accurate information in languages they understand?

ALY: Well, apart from supporting multicultural media and ethnic community media and recognising the important role that that plays, we also have – you know, we fund translating and interpreting services, which mean people who don’t hold English as a first language rely on, whether that’s in the hospital system or the medical system or whether it’s in the judicial system, the legal system. It’s really important that we have a policy and that we continue to support access to translating and interpreting services. And I want to make this point: just because you can hold a conversation in language, like I can hold a conversation in Arabic, sure, but if you were to place me in a position in a court, in an Arabic court, I would need a translator and I would need an interpreter.

So the way – you know, your ability to communicate in language in one context doesn’t mean that you have an ability to communicate in another context. And that’s why it’s really, really important that we have a translating and interpreting service so that people can get the information that they need when they need it in the language that suits them.

HOST: Minister, I would like to touch bases on a different area now, NEMBC – which stands for National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council – that peak body was formed, from my memory, about 25 years ago to advance the cause of multiculturalism and representing stations from different states federally and locally.

However, I would like to stress here that the NEMBC, the ethnic community broadcasting, represents dozens of languages, communities across Australia and plays a vital role in connecting people with information and cultural expression. Recently several major stations, which is full-time stations in most major cities in Australia, including 3ZZZ in Melbourne, 5EB in Adelaide and 4EB in Brisbane and 2000 FM in Sydney, withdrew from the membership of the National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters Council after concerns were raised about governance, transparency and voting procedures at its 2025 AGM. We also think that their governance does not allow for the interests of the sector to be represented to the bodies like the CBA, CBF and other government departments. The question here is, from the government perspective how important is it that multicultural broadcasters have strong, transparent and effective national representation?

ALY: Thank you, George. And thank you for all that background as well. I do think it’s incredibly important that we have a sustainable and well-respected and trusted sector. And so I am – I find it disappointing, I have to say, that there has been some concerns raised about the NEMBC. You know, I do think that it is incredibly important. And, you know, all I can say is that our government places a significant importance on the role of and understands and comprehends the significant role and the importance of ethnic multicultural media and the role that it plays in exactly all of those things that you said – in ensuring that people have the information that they need, in bringing people together and those things that I also added to that about belonging and identity as well. So I would hope that some of these issues are resolved and that we can have a trusted and sustainable sector and a trusted and sustainable representative for the sector.

HOST: Minister Aly, finally, during Harmony Week, what message would you like to share with the many multicultural communities listening to 3ZZZ today, and probably within the sector and a wider range?

ALY: Well, I would say that the message for Harmony Week is that harmony doesn’t happen by accident; it’s something that we need to work on. So we celebrate our diversity and we defend our diversity. We honour our differences and we reject division. I’ll also say that harmony does not fall on the shoulders of multicultural communities alone; it is something that all Australians have a part to play and a role to play in.

It’s about trust between people regardless of where you come from, regardless of where your parents come from, regardless of how long you have been in this nation. Australia, you know, this year Harmony Week falls on a pretty sombre time with global events and it’s just a few short months after the antisemitic terrorist attack in Bondi. It’s just a few short months after two arrests here in Western Australia, one of an attempted terrorist attack against First Nations people, one against a terrorist planning attacks on the Muslim community as well. And so in the past Australia has been challenged in many ways. I mean, some of your listeners may recall the Cronulla riots. But ultimately as a nation we have always risen above those challenges by focusing on our shared values, by focusing on what it is that we all hold dear, that everybody who comes to this nation, no matter where they came from, come here because they love Australia and they want to be part of a nation where equality, fairness and the opportunity to thrive is part of who we are, it’s part of our identity. So I would say together we can continue to ensure that Australia’s diversity is something that we respect and that we defend and that our differences make us stronger.

HOST: Minister Aly, thank you very much for your time.

ALY: Thank you.

HOST: It’s been a pleasure having you on 3ZZZ.

ALY: Thank you, George.

HOST: Federal Minister for Multicultural Affairs.

ALY: Thank you so much. It was a pleasure.