Addison Road Community Centre, Marrickville, NSW
Friday, 2 June 2023 6:45pm
Topics: Launch of the Multicultural Framework Review, multicultural Australia
Good evening everyone.
I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land we meet on today, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation.
I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging and extend my respects to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with here us today.
27 years ago, in his first speech to the House of Representatives, the Member for Grayndler, and now Prime Minister of Australia, highlighted the intrinsic link between strong multiculturalism and reconciliation with Indigenous Australians.
"…Embracing cultural diversity and fostering mutual respect can pave the way for a more peaceful, equitable, and fulfilling existence for all.”
“However, it is crucial to recognise that the ongoing process of reconciliation with indigenous Australians serves as a fundamental prerequisite for realising this vision." he stated.
Almost three decades later, this connection is more salient now than ever.
These words from now Prime Minister Albanese are part of the reason why I am proud to be part of a government that is committed to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.
In looking forward to how we can strengthen our diversity, let us all recognise the unique privilege we have to share this continent with the world's oldest continuous culture.
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This year, we are presented with a momentous opportunity to, finally, tell Australia’s story truthfully.
An opportunity to recognise in our nation’s birth certificate that the history of this island did not begin in 1788.
An opportunity to ensure that we consult Indigenous People on matters that affect them.
And an opportunity to demonstrate that multicultural Australia stands with First Nations Australians.
At a meeting earlier today of Multicultural Affairs Ministers from across the country, Ministers joined the Federal Government in re-committing support for the Voice from every state and territory government.
In this spirit, I implore you to reach out to your communities, and ensure that they too take up the opportunity to vote ‘Yes’ later this year.
Distinguished guests, faith and community leaders.
It is an honour to be with you tonight.
A reflection on the past 50 years
Australia’s multicultural diversity is a fundamental aspect of our identity, and a source of national strength and vitality.
Over half of us were either born overseas or have a parent born overseas.
Fifty years ago, those numbers were very different, but some recognised who we might become.
In 1973, 50 years ago now, then Immigration Minister in the Whitlam Government, Al Grassby, published the first Australian Multiculturalism policy paper.
Titled A multi-cultural society for the future, it set forth a bold vision where cultural differences would be embraced, empowering individuals to embrace their heritage while forging common bonds.
While, of course, multicultural Australians had called this country home before the 70s, the Whitlam government was the first to elevate the ideal of a multicultural Australia to the national stage- and to begin to recognise the great benefits of a diverse society.
As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this milestone, we can’t overlook the discriminatory- and frankly racist –policies of governments immediately prior to this.
The fact that the remnants of the White Australia still stood 51 years ago should give us all pause.
It is a reminder of how recently national governments sought to enforce assimilation rather than inclusion- telling people, in effect, how to be Australian, instead of asking: what can it mean to be Australian?
A reminder shameful policy that is not simply a story found in history books, but a recent memory for so many Australians today.
But, concurrently, this carries with it of a sense of hope.
Hope that if we have come so far in the last 50 years, that we have an opportunity to achieve just as much in the next 50.
I often describe this Government’s vision for a multicultural Australia as one where we are able to harness the talents of our diversity.
Where all Australians belong- and feel that they belong. Everywhere.
Whitlam’s paper, albeit in a slightly antiquated way, hinted at this future.
It advocated policies and programs that supported the integration of migrants into Australian society.
This remains true- and isn’t a controversial view to those of you here, or indeed, most Australians.
The Scanlon Institute’s latest ‘Mapping Social Cohesion’ report shows that seventy-eight per cent of us agree that immigration from a diverse range of countries makes Australia stronger- jumping almost fifteen per cent in four years.
The proportion of Australians who strongly disagree with the dangerous rhetoric that migrants take Australian jobs remains on the rise, and the support for multiculturalism has jumped by more than thirty per cent amongst our oldest Australians.
That’s why it’s particularly shameful that this attitude is not always mirrored in Canberra.
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COVID-19 wasn’t the only virus that spread across the country in 2020.
From attacks on public transport, to slurs graffitied across construction sites, Asian-Australians were subjected to grotesque racial vilification during the pandemic.
In the first part of 2020, the Human Rights Commission reported that around a quarter of people who lodged complaints of racial discrimination were targeted because of COVID-19.
It seems that the slow decline in social cohesion during the pandemic snowballed during the pandemic; but the former Liberal Government was nowhere to be seen.
We heard Government members speak about the importance of social cohesion in the Parliament yet peddle racist petitions on social media at the same time.
The then Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs spent the pandemic peddling a racist online petition while his own Government failed to adequately translate critical information necessary to keep people safe.
This was disappointing, but not a surprise given the track record of the former Liberal government.
An acting Prime Minister parroting the far-right slogan “all lives matter”.
The now Opposition leader – wrongly, offensively and cruelly - claiming that Victorians were “scared to go out” because of so-called African gangs.
A damaging decade of wasted opportunities for multicultural Australia.
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Multicultural Framework Review
Government should work to bring together communities, not divide them.
We must engage in a genuine dialogue with rather than consultation as an afterthought.
After a wasted decade, this is imperative.
The Albanese Government is turning the page, just as the Whitlam Government did in 1973, placing multiculturalism at the centre of the national agenda.
Tonight, I am proud to announce that the Government is launching the Multicultural Framework Review.
The Review will examine policy settings of government to ensure they advance a multicultural Australia, support our cohesive and inclusive multicultural society, and harness the talents of all Australians.
The Review will advise the government on what institutional and policy settings can best build Australia’s multiculturalism over the next decade and identify how to better meet the needs of Australia’s increasingly diverse society.
As we go about this process, it is of paramount importance to me that government listens to, rather than speaks for, multicultural Australians.
That is why I have appointed a panel of three eminent Australians to lead the Review.
Nyadol Nyuon OAM, Christine Castley and Dr Bulent Hass Dellal AO, who will Chair the panel, will co-author the Review, bringing with them their wealth of knowledge both as experts in the sector and people with lived experience.
We will establish a Reference Group of seven Australians - Mohammed Al-Khaifaji, Bachar Houli, Swati Dave, Rana Ebrahimi, Osmond Chiu, John Kamara and Dr Premila Levaci – to support the Panel.
The Review will examine the roles and functions of government and non-government organisations.
Cooperation and partnership between government, civil society, wider Australian society – and the many different communities it is comprised of – is essential.
This will ensure effective planning and provision of programs and services to multicultural communities.
It’s about enhancing the capacity of government agencies and service providers to respond to the needs of our multicultural communities.
I’m proud to say that this work has already begun in my own department, with the Multicultural Affairs team moving out of the Countering Foreign Interference division and into the Immigration section.
This change, though it may seem bureaucratic to some, is symbolic of the role of Multicultural Affairs under an Albanese Labor Government.
A portfolio that, at its core, should be about embracing those who have settled in Australia, rather than focusing on who we want to keep out.
Hope and unity over fear and division.
I acknowledge the work of Associate Secretary Foster, who is with us tonight, in assisting government through this process.
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We also want – indeed, need - our staff, agencies and service providers to keep building their cultural competence and understanding.
The Review will also evaluate the effectiveness of current Government diversity, equity and inclusion strategies. This will ensure that the Australian Public Service workforce reflects multicultural Australia.
There hasn’t been a review of how Government supports multiculturalism since 1973.
We need our national Government to be able to respond to emerging issues and challenges effectively.
We’re going to evaluate the effectiveness of existing policies and programs in promoting social inclusion, and respect for diversity, and we will identify areas for improvement.
The Review will provide a final report, with recommendations, to me in 2024.
Above all, the Review will provide a roadmap for our multicultural future.
As we observe the 50-year milestone of Multicultural Affairs, it’s essential to ensure that our federal institutions are appropriately designed and reflect changing needs of our diverse communities.
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Today the Albanese Government has formally begun some vitally important work for our nation’s future.
It’s important to look back on our journey so far, but it’s even more important that we plan for the rest of the journey.
My hope is that the opportunity that the Review presents will be remembered in 50 years’ time in a similar way to how we look back on that landmark 1973 paper.
Conclusion
Migration has been one of our greatest nation-building tools and will continue to be.
And Australia will continue to be a multicultural success story.
I’d like to thank Rosanna and the Addison Road Community Organisation for having us here tonight, and for the work over it has done to promote multiculturalism. This community centre, and the people that support it, have been an integral part of our multicultural success story for over four decades.
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That landmark 1973 Whitlam Government paper ‘A multi-cultural society for the future’ envisaged a bright future for the year 2000.
A future in which – as it states - ‘the dynamic interaction between the diverse ethnic components will be producing new national initiatives, stimulating new artistic endeavours, and ensuring great strength in diversity’.
The Review presents us with an opportunity to recommit to strength in diversity, as was imagined 50 years ago.
An opportunity to listen to the voices of multicultural Australians to ensure government better meets their evolving needs.
An opportunity for national government to step up so that we can truly harness the talents of all Australians.
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