Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Days after the horrific antisemitic attack at Bondi on 14 December, people in my community of Griffith were shaken. I was shaken, as I know every single Australian was. If we are honest, that shock has landed on top of something else that has been building for too long, a sense in parts of our community that it is getting harder to simply belong. Over recent months, and especially in the last few weeks, as I have met with constituents and community groups across Griffith, I have heard stories that have stayed with me. I've heard from a Jewish community member who no longer feels comfortable in his own gym, a man who feels judged and condemned by those around him. I have heard from Muslim families, including a father whose daughter-in-law is now afraid to wear her hijab on the way to work or to the shop simply because of her faith. This fear and concern did not start on the on 14 December last year. Our community is clear on this. It has been building for some time through the drip of hateful rhetoric, the spread of misinformation and the steady normalisation of behaviour that makes people second guess whether they will be safe and welcome in their own suburb.

Last week I had the opportunity to visit 4EB in Woolloongabba with the Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs, my friend, the member for Bruce. We sat down with the team and heard directly from trusted community voices that connect people across languages, cultures and generations. The member for Bruce said something that stuck with me about how social cohesion is a dynamic process, not an end state or a mere tick box, reminding us that it's a process that requires constant work. He said, 'Hate and violence don't result from diversity. Hate and violence result because of misinformation, polarisation and miscommunication of those differences.' We know what is putting strain on that work: echo chambers driven by algorithms, foreign malign influence and the weaponisation of overseas conflicts here at home.

Australia is proudly one of the world's most successful multicultural societies but that success didn't just happen. It takes investment, strong institutions, and it takes leadership in our communities and in this place, because leadership matters when there are people trying to make division feel normal. The politics of division is very easy. The quick hit of outrage, grievance and blame. The member for Bruce and I agree it is a political business model that scratches at the fringes and stokes anger and outrage to harvest votes at both ends of the political spectrum. We are seeing a concerning rise in deliberately divisive language from the likes of One Nation.

I grew up in 1990s Queensland when now Senator Hanson made her maiden speech. I vividly remember what it did to people's sense of safety and to the tone of community life. Then I was outraged and took action as a teenager, and I'm not going to pretend it is acceptable now. I share the concerns of many in my electorate. I worry about the normalisation of Senator Hanson's disgraceful rhetoric and her exclusionary form of patriotism. I worry because words set the temperature in our community. They signpost to people whether they belong. That is not the Australia we want; it is not the Griffith we want to see. I was asked recently on social media post about this very issue and how would I know what my community wants. I know, because I meet with people across Griffith every single day, whether it's at a pop-up office, at the electorate office or on the doorsteps while doorknocking. I know, because my electorate team and I receive and respond to hundreds of emails and phone calls every single week. I know, because I sit with families, community leaders, faith leaders and local organisations and I listen. I know, when a Jewish constituent tells me they no longer feel comfortable turning up to the gym or when a Muslim parent tells me their daughter-in-law is weighing up whether it's safe to wear a hijab, that's not politics; that's lived experience.

In my first speech to this parliament I spoke about the responsibility of listening to community and the honour of being trusted to represent Griffith. I did not come into this job to inflame things. I came into this job to bring people together and do the practical, patient work of strengthening the bonds that make a place like ours work. We assemble in this place, on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country, to make and amend laws, and laws matter. They set boundaries. But what must underpin them is our commitment to build understanding and strengthen cohesion. That commitment is the most important ingredient. It cannot be legislated. It is demonstrated in the choices each of us make every day, day in and day out, to practise mutual respect. The promise of Australia is simple: you can be safe, you can belong and you can build a life with others, not against them.