Rowan Holzberger (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise on the 50th anniversary of the Racial Discrimination Act and think that it's a reflection really on how far we've come as a country that it's been 50 years since it was put in place. I know from growing up with a name like Holzberger that, even though I might like look like a lot of the kids that I grew up with, just having a name can invite ridicule, teasing and bullying. And while I guess I took it, in most cases, with the sort of humour with which it was intended, it didn't feel great and it did make me feel excluded. I can just begin to imagine what it must feel like for people in the community who might have a different accent or different skin colour.

The brutality of that reality for people means that there is a role for government when it comes to passing laws on that. So I think this was something, 50 years ago, that really shows that even though we've come a long way there's still a lot to do. It reminds us that 50 years ago Australia was really coming out of that White Australia policy. And it's remarkable to think that I, now at the age of 52, was born so close to that period in time. It's been a great thing for Australia.

Before I conclude, I've got to say that the one thing I never thought I would appreciate so much as a federal member of parliament is going around to school assemblies, particularly primary school assemblies, in Forde, a very multicultural electorate. Seeing all those little kids with different coloured faces and different shaped faces all looking up and singing the national anthem has got to be the most moving thing I have experienced as a federal member of parliament. Multicultural society makes us stronger and all the better for it.

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