Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia has had a long and complex past, and while we have many things to be proud of, there are moments in our history that we must reflect deeply on. One such point of reflection is our history of the White Australia Policy, which is less a single point in time than a long-running period in our history of discrimination against those of non-European ethnic origin who sought to migrate to Australia. It is not until the major steps taken by the Holt government in 1966 that the task of dismantling this policy began. After three attempts, the Whitlam government passed the Racial Discrimination Act in 1975, ushering in a legal end to the White Australia Policy.

These moments and periods in our history are not that long ago. Many of us in this House lived in an Australia where racial discrimination was legal. Today we stand in a very different Australia that could not be more strongly contrasted with those periods. We stand in an Australia that acknowledges our past wrongs and builds towards a better and more inclusive future, one that values and encourages migration and multiculturalism. Australia has one of the highest rates of immigration in the Western world, with immigrants accounting for up to 30 per cent of our population, and in my community that number is even higher. I am proud to represent one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse communities not just in Sydney but also in Australia—68.3 per cent of my community have both parents born overseas, with 49.4 per cent of people born overseas themselves, and 66 per cent of households use a language other than English at home. These facts are what define our identity in the south-west of Sydney.

A proud moment as a representative for my community was being part of Labor's Multicultural Engagement Taskforce throughout 2020. We set out to understand and engage with multicultural communities across Australia, welcoming submissions from individuals and groups. We heard that CALD communities were often unaware of government services, and that when they were they faced additional barriers that made access more difficult. That was across all services, from the NDIS and aged care to business support. We heard that CALD communities were feeling the effects of rising right-wing extremism and racism. Since coming to office, the Albanese government has taken a proactive role in ensuring that CALD communities do not feel left behind and do feel as if they belong.

From the renewed focus on repairing and strengthening our international relationships to initiatives to support CALD communities in Australia, the May budget included measures such as $2.5 million to support multicultural media literacy, more than $15 million to help multicultural communities access primary care services through the establishment of a PHN multicultural access program and also $5 million to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates in multicultural communities. These are in addition to the measures in the October budget, which included $20 million to increase the Adult Migrant English Program, which will help accessibility to English learning, almost $13 million for a two-year pilot program to assist temporary visa holders experiencing domestic violence and $7.5 million over four years for the Australian Human Rights Commission to develop a national antiracism strategy. This is just to name a few.

The next step in ensuring a more inclusive and fairer Australia will be the Albanese government's Multicultural Framework Review. It will ensure that government policy and institutional arrangements are fit for a modern, dynamic and multicultural Australia. The review will be guided by three principles: advancing a multicultural Australia, supporting our cohesive and inclusive multicultural society, and ensuring settings that are fit for the purpose of harnessing the talents of all Australians. Listening was the foundation of Labor's Multicultural Engagement Taskforce in 2020, and it is the principle that underpins this review. There will be extensive consultation with key community groups who reflect diverse views and backgrounds; experts; Commonwealth, state and territory government agencies; as well as members of the public. That is what will ensure government services and policies are in line with the needs of my community and multicultural communities throughout Australia.

Multiculturalism is what defines Australia, and the Albanese Labor government has demonstrated that we will continue to build and strengthen our success as a diverse community.

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