Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for International Development) Share this | Hansard source

With the launch of the Office for Multicultural Affairs we now have a means to truly drive a cohesive and renewed approach to multiculturalism that fits in with our modern multicultural Australia. It's an opportunity not only to celebrate the richness of our diversity—the member for Moreton spoke so eloquently on what that means. She spoke about how we move beyond celebration and how we move beyond the valuing of food—as long as it tastes like chicken!—colours and festivities to valuing and acknowledging multiculturalism as a fundamental aspect of who we are. Multiculturalism is the mainstream. It's not a semicolon-and. It's not a postscript. It's not a nice-to-have. It's not an afterthought. It is Australia and it is Australians. Today it is woven into the social and cultural fabric of a modern Australia, from Lunar New Year to Eid or Diwali or Rosh Hashana. These events are celebrated in small towns and big cities from coast to coast.

For 50 years, time and time again, the Racial Discrimination Act has helped us strengthen our multiculturalism and strengthen our identity as a multicultural nation. The act has made enormous strides in improving racial equality, including shining a spotlight on wage theft of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and invalidating laws that discriminated against First Nations land rights. It also set the foundation for future antidiscrimination protections on age, sex and disability. In that regard it was quite revolutionary—a watershed moment in Australia's history. Unfortunately there are still those who are made to defend their very presence and belonging in Australia, which harms not only those directly involved but also our whole society. I want to go back to my first term in parliament—elected in 2016.

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