Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I recently took an unusual walk with my local councillor, Steve Griffiths, in my south-side electorate of Moreton. We walked underneath Toohey Road in Salisbury, from one side of the forest to the other. Toohey Forest is a beautiful part of Brisbane, if you've never had the privilege of being there before. It's 10 minutes away from Brisbane's CBD. It covers about 260 hectares and it's home to over 400 species of native wildlife: birds; amphibians; reptiles; fish; and mammals, including koalas, wallabies, squirrel gliders and echidnas. Those animals just got a shortcut underneath Toohey Road, because the Albanese Labor government has funded $3 million for a new underroad crossing that improves access to food and resources for wildlife while providing safe movement between habitat areas within Toohey Forest. I want to thank Minister Plibersek and Minister Watt for their great work in making it a reality.

This morning we heard an incredibly powerful speech from Minister Aly on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. I thought that this was an appropriate time to spotlight one of my local communities: the Kuraby Mosque community. It's led by Imam Gamal Fouda, and it's the centre of the Muslim community in the southern suburbs of Brisbane. It's an incredibly multicultural mosque that has up to 40 different ethnicities, with many different life experiences and backgrounds. They're incredibly community minded. Whether it's clean-up days, or whether it's community days inviting everyone into the mosque, what's clear is that the Kuraby Mosque is some of the best of what Australia has to offer. It's important at this time to remember that—regardless of your skin colour, regardless of your faith—as Australians, we need to stand up to make sure that no-one is treated differently.

Almost one in five Australians have Asian ancestry—I'm one of them—and only one in 18 lawyers is an Australian of Asian heritage. Asian Australians are strongly represented at junior levels, but that diversity is absent in senior roles, such as at the bar, in partnerships and in the judiciary. In fact, there are more judges named Michael than there are Australian Asian judges, and the current rate means it will be a long time before we see that change. These are the findings of the Asian Australian Lawyers Association's report into cultural diversity. I will leave you with the words of some of their key members. Her Honour Judge Sharon Burchell says:

Diversity does not soften the law—it sharpens its sight.

And Jerome Martin says:

Diversity in leadership matters because it broadens the lens through which decisions are made …

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