George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When migrants become Australian citizens they make an affirmation or an oath which reads:

From this time forward, under God, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey.

They are also asked to sign a statement that they respect Australian values such as freedom; dignity of the individual; freedom of religion; the rule of law; democracy; equality of the sexes; and egalitarianism. So when the government considers removing citizenship from those who join foreign fighters—terrorist organisations who pledge and advocate death to Australians—it should be a moot point that citizenship for those foreign fighters, terrorists and terrorist supporters was voided by their own hand. Perhaps the debate should include those who fight against Australia without leaving our shores; those who do not share our democratic beliefs; those who do not respect Australia's rights and liberties; those who refuse to uphold Australian law, and obey instead the laws of another land or another culture; and those who advocate and support the killing of our troops, seek to justify and support terrorism against this country and seek to replace Australian law with sharia law. How did we get to a place where we not only allow but encourage beliefs, customs and actions which should be regarded as un-Australian at best and treasonous at worst? Could it be that multiculturalism has failed us as a nation?

If multiculturalism simply meant that Australia, as a new world country, was made up of citizens from all ethnicities around the world, all pulling together towards a common goal, that would be fine—laudable even. If multiculturalism simply meant that migrants brought with them to Australia their own unique cuisine, arts and festivals which were woven into the mainstream culture then, as a nation we would be richer for that contribution. But what multiculturalism has become is a device to allow foreign customs and beliefs that are so offensive and contrary to the mainstream that they are the antithesis of our values and culture to be brought into this country. And we are told by the politically correct elite that we must tolerate it.

Multiculturalism is basically cultural relativism dressed up in ethnic garb. Australian culture must make way for opposing foreign cultures, and if we do not acquiesce then we are considered racists, bigots or xenophobes—or some other kind of 'phobe'.

Today's multiculturalism means that the world view and the beliefs that spawn practices like honour killings, child brides or sharia law must be accepted, because they are seen as legitimate values within a particular culture. This approach completely disregards the fact that such practices are considered abhorrent and barbaric by all the other cultures that make up Australia. What we have in Australia is no longer one culture and one society; we have enclaves where these practices are carried out and even condoned.

I will go through some headlines of recent years:

A 14-YEAR-OLD girl was forced into an Islamic marriage with a western Sydney drug gang member who raped and beat her and later physically abused their daughter.

That is from The Daily Telegraph of 12 February 2014.

There was the headline, 'First female genital mutilation case to go to trial in NSW Supreme Court' from The Sydney Morning Herald of 9 December 2014. An article on citv.com.au on 9 August 2013 said:

In February 2010, Australia was shocked to learn that a 43-year-old man had been murdered by a father and son in the Inner West Sydney suburb of Leichhardt as part of an honour killing.

Another headline said 'Man jailed for whipping Muslim convert under Sharia punishment'. That was from The Australian on 14 June 2013.

And do we hear clear condemnation from our Islamic leaders about these actions and the world view which they are spawned from? We do not. Instead, we hear excuses for the inexcusable. People like Keysar Trad of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia and Mohammed El-leissy of the Islamic Council of Victoria suggested the other day that not having a job leads to fighting for ISIS. But unemployment does not lead other sectors of our community into terrorism.

On Sky News earlier this week, the former president of the Australian Muslim Womens Association, Silma Ihram, said, 'The terrorists of today are the governments of tomorrow.' What is she trying to say about ISIS? Instead of trying to paper over the barbarity of Islamic State and advocating for them a place at the UN, we must call them out for what they are and defend at all costs the way of life Australians hold so dear.

We have to move away from the ethnic enclaves inspired by multiculturalism, with their values that are the antithesis of Australian values. When migrants and second-generation migrants are assimilated into the mainstream then they are no longer disenfranchised or segregated. Quite simply, we should hold new Australians to their word and demand that the allegiance they pledged to Australia at the citizenship ceremony be upheld. We need to leave multiculturalism behind and focus on citizenship—a citizenship of many ethnicities and races coming together as one people, with one set of Australian values.