Gabriel Ng (Menzies, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. We must never forget that this day has its origins in one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century. On 21 March 1960, in the South African township of Sharpeville, thousands of people gathered to peacefully protest the apartheid pass laws that controlled and restricted the movement of black South Africans. Police opened fire on the crowd. Sixty-nine people were killed, and more than 180 were wounded. Many were shot in the back as they fled. The Sharpeville massacre rightly shocked the world, but it did not happen in isolation. It was the most egregious symptom of a system built upon racial discrimination and white supremacy—a system that did not recognise the inherent equality of all people, regardless of race.

In response, the international community took a stand. The United Nations declared 21 March the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: a day to remember those who lost their lives and that renewed our commitment to building societies free from racism and hatred. The day stands as a stark reminder of the ultimate consequences of failing to be vigilant against racism, of perpetuating inherently racist systems, of not questioning those institutions that dehumanise people from backgrounds different from our own.

Also, 21 March is Harmony Day, a day that was created by the Howard government. Harmony Week, which was created around it, spans 16 to 22 March. In our suburbs, Harmony Week is usually celebrated in our kindergartens and in our schools and in our workplaces. People from different cultural backgrounds have the opportunity to celebrate their cultures and to share their cultures with their workmates, with their classmates—and there is value in this. There is value in people being able to celebrate their cultures and pass them on to the wider community. But we must never forget that 21 March is the international day for the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. We can celebrate, but we must also guard against the worst consequences of racism.

Sadly, we are in a period where racism and prejudice are growing, both in Australia and around the world—where prejudice, discrimination and hatred are increasingly directed at people because of who they are, how they look, where they come from and what they believe. I recently had a conversation with Rana at the Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network, who shared a study showing that young people are experiencing increasing racism in schools at higher rates than past generations did. Now, I believe that children are born without prejudice. If you ever speak to a kindergartener or someone in primary school, they don't know the difference between the different races of friends. They just approach them as fellow human beings, as we all should. Prejudice is something that people are taught.

In recent months we have seen too many instances of the ultimate horrific consequences of racism. We've seen the antisemitic Bondi terrorist attack, Australia's worst terrorist attack, where 15 innocent members of the Jewish community lost their lives. We've seen an alleged attempted white supremacist terror attack against Aboriginal people, where a bomb was thrown into a peaceful Invasion Day rally. We've seen Neo-Nazis attack Camp Sovereignty in Melbourne. And we've seen letters threatening violence sent to Lakemba Mosque. As I have said in this parliament before, prejudice comes in waves, and bullies will always target the most vulnerable. We've seen Muslim Australians targeted. We've seen Jewish Australians face hostility and fear. And, of course, we know that our First Nations people have carried the burden of discrimination for generations.

Australia has always been shaped by migrants, people who bring their languages and traditions and faiths and experiences, and those experiences enrich our nation. Together, these stories have built the country that we share today. We've seen British migrants and Afghan cameleers and Chinese miners, Sikh Anzacs, Persians, Greeks, Italians—people from every country on earth. Our modern Australian identity is one defined by diversity.

Australia is one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world. I'm a product of this multicultural Australia. My father, John, is a Chinese Singaporean immigrant. He came to Australia in the 1970s and has worked as a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer. He's only retired this year, although he'll still take the occasional shift because he can't help himself. Like many migrants of this generation, he arrived with skills and determination and a belief that this country offered an opportunity and a fair go. That is what it has delivered, and he is extremely grateful for all the opportunities that Australia has provided. My mum is an Anglo-Celtic Australian, and my wife is Japanese. So I know that multiculturalism works because I live it every single day.

My life has been enormously enriched due to my connection with British culture and Chinese culture and Singaporean and Japanese cultures. That's why I joined the then department of immigration and now Department of Home Affairs and worked in migrant and refugee settlement and multicultural affairs for over a decade. I know that multiculturalism works, but I know it's also something that we need to work on—that social cohesion doesn't just happen, but it's something that we have to back up both in our words and also in our actions as a government.

I also love our institutions of government, and I think we as a country don't celebrate them enough sometimes. In my career, I've been fortunate enough to work across the three arms of government. I've worked in the executive as a public servant, in the judiciary as a judge's associate and as a lawyer, and now I'm fortunate enough to be able to work in the legislature. We in Australia were one of the first countries in the world to give women the vote. We invented the secret ballot—in other parts of the world known as the 'Australian ballot'. We have a compulsory system of voting that means that we must speak to the middle of Australia—to the majority of Australians—and it also encourages all Australians to have their say. These are institutions that we can celebrate and also that we can rally around regardless of our backgrounds.

In my electorate of Menzies, the success of multiculturalism is visible everywhere. Around 44 per cent of people living in the electorate were born overseas, and around 58 per cent of people have a parent born overseas. It's one of the most diverse electorates in the country. Within a few suburbs, you'll find people of Chinese, Malaysian, Singaporean, Italian, Greek and Iranian backgrounds and from many other parts of the world. This diversity shapes our community. You can see it in our schoolyards, where kids of all backgrounds play together; in small businesses, where the Manningham Business Network has people from a range of backgrounds coming together to collaborate; and in our community organisations. It shapes the language spoken at home and the festivals that we celebrate in our local streets. It also is a constant reminder that modern Australia is a diverse Australia and that Australia works if we work for it.

At the 2025 election, Australians across the country voted overwhelmingly for a parliament that reflects the diversity of modern Australia. If you look at our side of the parliament, we're beginning to reflect that diversity. It's not just about tokenism; it's that people from different backgrounds bring different skills, different cultural knowledge and different language skills. That allows us to better govern for all Australians regardless of their background. That is why we have a dedicated Minister for Multicultural Affairs who is sitting in cabinet for the first time. It's a clear signal that we value diversity and recognise that it's central to who we are as a nation.

In my first speech, I also spoke about the effect of Pauline Hanson's maiden speech on me. Even though as a child and as a young person I'd experienced isolated instances of racism that were enough to remember, they didn't make a significant impact on me. Pauline Hanson's maiden speech made me feel, for the first time, like I was a second-class Australian—that I wasn't as Australian as others in some people's eyes. There are some in this place who maybe aren't as overt as Pauline Hanson is now to this day but who will dog-whistle. I warn those people who might engage in that type of politics, who might imply racism or hint at discrimination for political advantage, that, for people of a migrant background, a dog-whistle is a megaphone. We know what you're saying. We hear what you're saying. It doesn't go past us. There might be some parts of the community that you reach, but we in multicultural Australia are modern Australia. This is what Australia looks like now, and we govern for a modern, multicultural Australia in all its diversity.

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