Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too would like to start off by saying there is absolutely no place in our nation, in this country, in Australia, for the kind of antisemitism, hatred and violence that we've seen recently, and there's also no place for racism in this nation. We're a multicultural nation that has been built—our foundation is—on multiculturalism. We've lived harmoniously and continue to live harmoniously in this country. Every single Australian deserves to feel safe in their communities, no matter what their race or religion is.

I'll start off by saying issues like this should be dealt with in a bipartisan way, not politicised and not with megaphone politics. Therefore, I am disappointed that the member for Berowra, who I regard and respect as a good member of parliament, has raised this issue in a way that politicises it. I say so because the member for Berowra was here in 2016. For our newer members that are here, I have a bit of a history lesson. In August 2016, there was a bill that was brought to this place to change the antidiscrimination law. It was to change section 18C.

This is what those on that side wanted to do— I'll read section 18C out for you. Section 18C makes it unlawful to commit a public act that is 'reasonably likely' to 'offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or group of people' based on their race. This is what they wanted to take out of the antidiscrimination act of 1975 that was brought in by a Labor government. Can you imagine, had that been taken out or watered down, what the ramifications would have been today? It would have been their own doing. It would have made it much worse. These are issues that should be approached with level heads on a non-political basis, where things are discussed to better them, rather than with the megaphone politics being used at this point.

I represent a seat like many of us on this side and many around me here—I have over 85 different ethnicities and nearly 200 religions within my electorate. Every weekend I am attending a different community, and I see the harmony. We're a harmonious country. We are a country that respects people's diversity and we are a country that has done so for many, many years. We're a shining light, a model, for the rest of the world. Of course there are people in our communities that have hatred, that have issues for whatever reason, but they're only a minority. They're a very small minority. Many of them have a loud voice and are heard over the majority. But they are a minority.

So to raise issues like this—and I know that it's been dreadful for the Jewish community in the last couple of years. I have a Jewish museum and synagogues in my electorate, and certainly we've seen the government put things in place like more security. I know that the Jewish museum in Adelaid—and those all around Australia as well—has received funding for better security. But we must ensure that racism is taken out of our community, that we discuss it in a reasonable manner when it does occur and that we do everything we can on both sides to be able to nip it in the bud and get rid of it, and not use it as a political football as we've seen. As I said earlier, had section 18C been taken out, where would we be today with the issues that we hear about and see?

Certainly, the attack on the Jewish community has been dreadful and horrendous. Not only was it an attack on the Jewish community; it was an attack on the whole of Australia. That's why the government has acted. We saw the Prime Minister yesterday ensure that the Iranian government was directed out of Australia, in terms of their ambassador. Certainly ASIO has determined that the Iranian government directed at least two attacks that we're aware of on two Jewish interests in Australia since late 2024, and many more are being investigated. But we need to have the facts. You need to get the facts. We have received the facts. The Prime Minister has received the reports from our intelligence agencies and has acted on them, unlike the other side, who screamed for us to jump and do things without us having had the facts in front of us. (Time expired)

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