Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In the late eighties it was John Howard who suggested in this place that Australia should reduce Asian immigration, and the Prime Minister at that time was a man by the name of Bob Hawke. Bob immediately went on the attack, because in Bob's Australia racism was called out each and every single time it reared its ugly head. Before Bob went on the attack, he was advised by one of his political advisors who said: 'Maybe the Australian public is actually with Mr Howard. Maybe the Australian majority is actually with Mr Howard, and we should think about whether or not we support Mr Howard's suggestion that we should restrict Asian immigration.' Bob said: 'Then tell me what I need to say to correct the record and to make them believe that we shouldn't do this. Tell me what I need to say to turn the Australian people around.' That was Bob Hawke's Australia. That's the Australia that I was proud to be brought up in, and the minister for multicultural affairs couldn't clean the shoes of Bob Hawke, with his latest attitude and the way in which he's handled multicultural affairs.

Bob Hawke would never, in this environment and in this time, put a Facebook post up saying that disgusting Asian markets are somehow to blame for the current predicament we're in, and, 'When will they learn?!' 'When will they learn?!' says the minister for multicultural affairs. 'When will they learn?!' says the man who is meant to protecting the multicultural fabric of our nature. Bob Hawke wouldn't have done that. Bob Hawke would've called it out and said, 'In this time it is our responsibility to lead; it is not our responsibility to divide Australians.' But that is what this minister for multicultural affairs does. In an MPI, he couldn't even do the decent thing and turn up to talk about why his portfolio is important and about what he's doing to protect the multicultural fabric of our country.

Instead, the minister for multicultural affairs ran a whole campaign about African gangs. I know it because we fought it in the last Victorian election. He took sides with the Victorian leader Matthew Guy to run a law-and-order campaign, not about crime and crime statistics, but about demonising minorities in Victoria. That's what the history of the minister for multicultural affairs shows. That's what is continuing now with his divisive Facebook posts.

Unfortunately, it's not just the minister for multicultural affairs who has a record in this place on that side. During the previous parliament, while I wasn't a member in this place, I watched it carefully. The record of those opposite was not something to be proud of. When Fraser Anning gave his 'final solution' speech on immigration, he wasn't greeted with boos and denied by those opposite. Each and every Liberal and National senator shook that man's hand and said, 'Congratulations.' Congratulations for his filthy speech! I understand that perhaps they then went on to say, 'It was a mistake to vote with Pauline Hanson's "It's okay to be white" motion,' but what a mistake that was. What a mistake it was to not have the absolute automatic instinct to say: 'Under no circumstances would we put our name to a motion that says "It's okay to be white". Under no circumstances would we even comprehend that we may vote for something like that.' What a mistake that was!

Of course, it continues. Only last week, almost a year since the Christchurch massacre, the director-general of ASIO got up and made a speech that I think was an important speech in this nation. He called out and said that we face the rising threat of far-Right extremism in this country. Instead of acknowledging that threat, instead of standing by the director-general of ASIO, what did the Minister for Home Affairs do? He said, 'Well, there's right-wing extremism, but then there's also Islamic extremism, which is left-wing extremism.' Senator Fierravanti-Wells said it offends conservatives. Damn right, it should! It should offend conservatives because in this nation we have a growing tide of anti-Semitism and of Islamaphobia, and they need to call it out.

It is times like this in this country when we need a multicultural affairs minister who is not here to demonise African gangs, who is not here to pick on defenceless young man who need support. We need a multicultural affairs minister who, like Bob Hawke, calls it out at every single term. We need a multicultural affairs minister who doesn't put up Facebook pages ready to divide the nation. We need a multicultural affairs minister who acts like one.

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