Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to draw the attention of the House to the debate in recent days around the issue of multiculturalism and, in particular, to articles published in the Herald Sun newspaper in which former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett warns of growing so-called enclaves and calls on migrants to embrace the Australian way of life. In particular, the call goes out to those of the Muslim faith. Mr Kennett’s comments are in a similar vein to those of British Prime Minister David Cameron, who at a conference in Munich on 5 February linked multiculturalism to the rise of Islamic terrorism. Similar comments have also been made by other MPs in this place, and they are comments that are inconsistent with the bipartisan approach to multicultural policies over successive governments.

I have previously spoken in this place about multiculturalism and the benefits that migrants have brought to this great country, and I have spoken and will continue to speak about the policy of multiculturalism, which has enabled the growth and development of a vibrant, cohesive Australian community and a contemporary Australian identity.

The Herald Sun article was accompanied by a graphic which statistically illustrated non-Christian religious so-called enclaves of Muslims in my electorate of Calwell and Jewish enclaves in the electorate of Melbourne Ports. I have many concerns about this graphic, simplistic portrayal of multicultural communities and its stereotyping of so-called ethnic enclaves along non-Christian religious lines. Such delineations are dangerous. They are a common narrative in Britain and the rest of Europe and should not become part of our narrative here in Australia.

Despite being inaccurate—40 per cent of the people living in the suburb of Dallas in my electorate are actually Muslim, not Jewish—I feel the graphic is fast becoming symptomatic of an emerging portrayal of migrant populations currently being fuelled by religious fear and cultural ignorance. Both the Muslim community and the Jewish community have been a part of our migrant story since they began their post Second World War migration to Australia. It is a natural phenomenon for migrants to initially gravitate towards their own communities. In fact, it is this very settlement pattern that has enabled us as a country to repeatedly build on the foundations laid by each wave of new migrants, and we have done it successfully. The fact that the Jewish community has gravitated to and settled in the Caulfield area of Melbourne has in no way impeded or prevented their contribution to Australia, nor has it impeded their integration into the Australian community. The same applies to the Muslim community in my electorate.

These so called enclaves are home to first, second and third generation Australians who ultimately have a right to live where they choose. We in this country enjoy freedom of movement, and that means the right to buy a house where one chooses without public commentary and assertions being made about the religious or cultural nature of the neighbourhood. While Prime Minister Cameron laments that Britain has failed to provide a vision of society where everyone belongs, Australia can proudly lay claim to a multicultural model that can be held up as an example for the rest of the world of a country where everyone belongs and has equal standing and equal rights.

Australia has nurtured its own unique brand of multiculturalism which is underpinned by the principles of access and equity and equality of citizenship and has been translated into practical strategies and programs such as our successful settlement services and our English language support programs. These have seen the successful settlement of about seven million migrants since the Second World War. Contrast this to Germany’s treatment of its migrants, where migrant workers are denied German citizenship and viewed as foreigners, creating therefore an underclass that is not allowed to be an equal part of German society. Is it any wonder that they have ended up living parallel lives?

In contrast to Mr Cameron’s assertion that his nation’s tolerance of segregated communities has weakened its collective identity, Australians can proudly say that, since the abolition of the White Australia policy, we have embraced, welcomed and offered equal opportunity and the right to participate in our democracy to all our migrants without reference to race or religion and so we do not have the high level of incidents or social unrest that have characterised countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany. We as Australians have grown not as a divided society but as an inclusive one, and this is because of multiculturalism.

There have always been those who fear unfamiliar cultures and religions, but there has always been enough goodwill and good sense in the Australian community to enable progressive people and governments to argue the merits of multiculturalism and tolerance as a basis for establishing modern Australia. As the government’s document on the people of Australia states, we are not a multicultural society by accident but rather one amalgamated from design and necessity. The world can start following our example.