Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to join with the member for Wright in condemning the comments of Senator Anning in the Senate last night. I represent a proud multicultural community of Kingsford Smith in which 50 per cent of our population were born overseas and many more are descendants of those who came to our great country as migrants. On behalf of the people of Kingsford Smith I express our community's disgust, outrage and complete opposition to, and join with MPs of all parties and backgrounds in condemning, Senator Anning's comments. The references to the White Australia policy and the 'final solution' are deeply offensive and do not represent the values of the people of Kingsford Smith or modern-day Australia. The White Australia policy was bad policy. It was racist, it was discriminatory, it was bad for our economy and it was bad for Australian society. That is exactly why the Holt government removed it with the support of the Labor Party many decades ago. On behalf of the people of Kingsford Smith I pay tribute to those with multicultural backgrounds in our community for their wonderful contributions that make Australia such a wonderful place to live—the charities and small businesses they run, their work in our workplaces and community groups. Senator Anning does not represent the people of Kingsford Smith or Australia.

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