Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Harmony Week is a time when we recognise the many cultures, languages and traditions that make Australia the best place to live in the world. Importantly, it is also a moment to reflect on the values of inclusion, respect and belonging that allow people from different backgrounds to feel part of the same national story, because they are. Harmony Week reminds us that diversity is one of the defining strengths of modern Australia. We should be very proud of the country that we are because of our diversity.

Harmony Week must be more than just a celebration. It should serve as a reminder to us all that harmony must be more than symbolic. It requires effort, commitment and responsibility every single day and every single week. It requires us to actively build a society where every person feels valued, because they are valued; where every community feels that they belong, because they do belong; where one is kind to their neighbour, as a fellow Australian; and where no-one is defined by the colour of their skin or by their heritage.

My electorate of Chisholm is one of the most diverse communities in the country, and I'm very proud to represent my electorate here in this place. Chisholm is a thriving example of multicultural Australia. People from many cultures, languages and faiths live and work together in our community, making enormous contributions. The diversity enriches our neighbourhoods, our workplaces, our schools, our sporting clubs, our other community groups and our neighbourhood houses. The diversity in my community strengthens connections between people and it makes our community stronger.

We are all privileged to share this country too with the world's oldest continuing culture. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have cared for this land and built communities for more than 60,000 years. Their cultures, knowledge and traditions form the foundation of the Australian story. Our national story continues to grow through the many cultures and histories that contribute to modern Australia. I am so privileged to represent a community where people proudly share their culture with their neighbours and contribute each and every day to the evolving story of our nation.

I wouldn't be here in this place if it wasn't for multiculturalism and the embrace of communities in Melbourne of Italians who migrated here after the Second World War. Like that of so many people in my community, my family's story is connected to migration, with my Italian family being among the more than 7.5 million people who've migrated to Australia since the end of the Second World War. My father's family came to Australia in the 19th century to find fortune on the goldfields. All these stories reflect the experiences of millions of Australians whose families came here seeking opportunity, safety and a better life. Our identities often reflect more than one cultural heritage too. Those identities all shape who we are and how we understand the world today. My Italian heritage and my father's five generations of Australian identity are both part of the person that I am today.

We are fortunate in Australia to be a country where multiculturalism is embraced and where people are able, and encouraged, to celebrate the cultures that shape them. When people come to Australia, culture is something that they contribute. It's not something they erase when they make that journey to become Australian citizens and contribute to our communities. Harmony Week highlights the enormous contributions made by migrant communities across Australia, reminding us that diversity has strengthened our nation in almost every single way—economically, culturally and socially.

This celebration is really important, but it's also essential that we continue the work of building a truly inclusive society. Again, we don't do this just in Harmony Week; we do this every single week and every single day. We need to take these moments as a call to action for us to recommit ourselves to the work that we all need to do in our communities to make sure that diversity is valued and cherished and that we see our neighbours as fellow Australians. We've seen some truly awful events over the summer in Australia, unfortunately, where people have been attacked for who they are, the religions that they practice and the places that they come from. We must all, both in and outside this place, commit ourselves every day to building a society where every person is respected and where everyone has equal opportunity.

Harmony Week does, as the Minister made very clear in her statement this morning, coincide with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and it is important that we recognise of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and, indeed, the origin of what has become Harmony Day and Harmony Week. The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination carries deep historical significance, reminding us that racism is not abstract and harmless. It's not just words, although words do matter. The day was established following a tragic event that shocked the world. On 21 March in 1960 thousands of people gathered in Sharpeville, South Africa, to peacefully protest the apartheid government's pass laws. These laws forced black South Africans to carry documents restricting their movement within their own country.

The protest was organised as an act of non-violent resistance. Participants deliberately presented themselves without passports to challenge the discriminatory system. Instead of responding peacefully, police opened fire on the crowd, with 69 people killed and more that 180 people injured. Many of those shot were fleeing the scene. This massacre, the Sharpeville massacre, became one of the most defining moments in the global struggle against apartheid, and the international reaction was appropriately profound and immediate, with the United Nations declaring 21 March the International day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 1966. The declaration called on the international community to redouble its efforts to combat racism, prejudice and discrimination, and we must continue that work.

As was mentioned, again, by the Minister this morning in her comments to the House, it's also important to remember that the concept of Harmony Day was introduced by the Howard government in 1999. That reframed the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in a way that softened the original meaning of the day and shifted it towards a general celebration. Of course we should celebrate diversity and the different cultural heritages that make Australia such a wonderful country, but we should also confront division at this time. Real harmony is something that must be built and defended through real action. Real social cohesion takes work and commitment, and it means that we must first eliminate racial discrimination. This means a fair go for everyone, and that is what it really means to be Australian. Committing to the value of opportunity for all and the hope and protection that Australia offers is our best offence against division and racial discrimination.

Of course, Australia's success as a multicultural nation did not happen by accident. It was due to clear policy direction from the Whitlam government, driven by the fact that the White Australia policy was not appropriate for modern Australia. We do need to acknowledge the existence of the White Australia policy to acknowledge and counter racial discrimination in this country and to see that legacy that was something that was counter to true multiculturalism and diversity.

Generations of Australians from all over the world built a country that has become confident enough to welcome people from every corner of the world. Again, that wasn't always the case, and we should all be proud that it is now. We must acknowledge the work that migrant communities have done over many years, working hard to build lives, uprooted from what they've know, building successful businesses, enriching our communities and contributing in every single way to our lives. Today Australia is home to people from more than 300 different ancestries, a nation of many languages, cultures and faiths. Australians celebrate Christmas and Easter, Lunar New Year, Hanukkah, Diwali, Ramadan, Holi and so many other celebrations, and I'm always very grateful as a representative of a very diverse community to be included in these celebrations and to learn from my neighbours in my community.

It is really important that when we celebrate Harmony Week and Harmony Day we commit ourselves to doing everything we can every single day to make sure that every person in our community really does count and that we take steps to eliminate racial discrimination and violence when they do occur so that we can continue to be the best example of multiculturalism in the world.

Gabriel Ng (Menzies, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Sam Lim (Tangney, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A few weeks ago, I was asked about my migration to Australia and whether I faced any discrimination when I first migrated to Australia in 2002. I was in my early 40s when I migrated with my wife and three young children. My English was broken. Even today I have a strong accent. My heritage is Malaysian Chinese. My ancestry is one of the 162 ancestries that we have in my electorate of Tangney. I reflected upon this question. If I had said no, I would have been lying. But I also have tried to focus on all the positive people who make my family and me feel more Aussie—neighbours like Uncle Bruce Baker, who I have talked about before; my friends; my English teacher Sarma Gough; and my police brothers and sisters, especially Inspector Don Emmanuel Smith and my mentor, the late John Harty.

Australia made me who I am. The police force accepted me into the police force. The community accepted me campaigning to be a member of parliament, to be a parliamentarian. Now I'm here as a second-term member of parliament for Tangney. I generally focus on positives. I talk about the success we have in multiculturalism and all the positive progress I have seen since migrating here more than 20 years ago. I talk about the good work that I see happening in Tangney, from the work of the WA Multicultural Lions Club to the culturally responsive aged care provided by Chorus and Chung Wah Community Care. I'm proud of our 13 community language schools in Tangney and of bilingual schools like Oberthur Primary School.

Our Tangney community welcomed my family and me all those years ago, and we continue to embrace people like me with warmth and love and welcome them. But as I praise our community's strengths, I also know the other side and the racial discrimination that happens far too often. When I was a police officer during COVID, I had many people from the Australian-Chinese community approach me. They reached out because they were being targeted. They were being racially abused and blamed for COVID. They had racist remarks yelled at their faces and written on their driveways, including their cars. They were scared to leave their houses, especially some of the migrants who did not have good enough English and were unable to talk back. Most of them didn't want to report these incidents, but, because I looked like them, they were comfortable talking to me in police uniform. My colleagues and I made a project, asking our police officers to let us know when there was a racially motivated attack, and together we worked to put a stop to what was happening at that time.

Every year on 21 March, we observe the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. On that day, in 1960, 69 people were killed during a peaceful demonstration in South Africa against the apartheid pass law, which restricted the movement of many black South Africans. Next week is also Harmony Week, which closes with the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. As Australia marks both moments, I want to reflect on both.

I have conversations with my constituents about the racism they face in their daily lives and the assumptions based on how they look or their names. A long time ago, a friend of mine could not get a job, so he decided to change his name on his CV to something that sounded more white and less Chinese. Eventually he got a job, and now he has moved up the ranks and is very senior in his role. I have spoken about some of the really ugly displays of racial discrimination that I saw during COVID when I was a police officer, but the example above is one of the acts of racial discrimination that happens every day. I have seen and heard constituents have their accents questioned, their capabilities challenged and their loyalty disputed.

Racial and ethnic discrimination happens daily, and it hinders progress for people in our community, especially in Tangney, across Australia and around the world. Racism has no place in our world. It is a challenging time right now—the Bondi attack, the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment and the terrorist attack in Perth. I speak with Tangney constituents who tell me they are frightened by what they see happening around them. Some people talk to me about how they feel unwelcome or no longer welcome. Others have reached out to me and talk about how they feel the social contract is disappearing. They ask that we find ways to hear each other and respect each other, including our political and civic leaders, even when we disagree—especially when we disagree.

I want to contrast this with some of the recent events in my electorate that I have attended. Last weekend I attended the Australian Sikh Heritage Trail in Riverton. The trail provides visitors with information about the history and heritage of Australian Sikhs, as well as information about Whadjuk Noongar culture and the Canning River. The people participating in this event had so much respect for one another. It was an opportunity to learn more about Sikh culture and the history of Sikhs in Australia, a story that is not always well understood. I thank the organisers for sharing this experience with me.

Tangney is one of the most multicultural electorates in Australia. A few weeks ago I also attended an event on mental health that was jointly organised by WA Multicultural Lions Club and the Melville Baha'i Community. The guest speaker was Tangney resident Nick Titov AO. We had people from all ancestries and backgrounds in that room, sharing their experiences and learning from each other. It was an everyday event that shows how we deliberately work to build harmony and a community where everyone belongs.

These events, and those across Tangney, remind me of how multiculturalism is a strength of our community, of our country. The decision to choose to live, work and play together across all races, languages, religions and culture is the strength of our community. As I said in my first speech as a member of parliament a few years ago, peace, love, unity, respect—four simple words that I choose to live by, four simple actions that we need more of in this world.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 21 March 1960, black South Africans were gathered at Sharpeville. They came to protest apartheid pass laws, which controlled where black people could live, work and walk. Police opened fire on these innocent people. Sixty-nine people were killed, more than 180 were injured and many were shot as they fled. In response, the United Nations marked 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a reminder of the cost of racist laws and policies, and our duty to oppose them. This day isn't just a date in your calendar. It is a day that calls us to act, to listen and to change. Recently, we have seen the cost of hate in Australia. In Bondi, on 14 December, 15 innocent people were murdered in a targeted antisemitic attack. This was the worst terrorist attack Australia had ever seen, and it was motivated by hatred directed at a community for their beliefs. This is not the Australia I know.

Across our country, racism has been rising: antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Asian and anti-Black hatred, hostility towards First Nations people and attacks on migrants. This is leaving communities feeling unsafe and unheard. Our neighbours have been targeted. Our institutions have felt the strain. We cannot accept this as normal. I've said it in this parliament before and I say it again today: modern Australia is a multicultural Australia. This is our strength. In modern Australia, there is no room for racism, whether it be online, on a mine site, in a bar, in an office, in our schools or in Parliament House.

I grew up in Kambalda, a nickel mining town in regional WA. People came from every corner of Australia and every corner of our globe, and everyone worked together to build a living and raise their children. I had an extraordinary childhood where we looked after each other's backs and I felt like I belonged. In fact, everyone felt like they belonged. This is the Australia that I know. This is multiculturalism in practice.

Guess what? The modern Australian Labor Party looks like modern Australia. I'm here with the member for Tangney. I was very proud to be elected with you in 2022. We have been able to achieve some incredible things over the last two elections. It is amazing to be a part of the most diverse government in history. This is a government that is reflective of the cultural and linguistic diversity that has enriched Australia for generations. This representation matters. When our decision-making bodies reflect our communities, trust grows and belonging deepens. Policy can then do what it should: include. To any little boy or little girl out there who wants to be a member of parliament or even the Prime Minister when you grow up, know that you belong here. I was the first person of colour to be elected to the seat of Swan, and I will not be the last.

Harmony Week starts on Monday 16 March and builds towards the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the 21st. It is a week that asks us to practise respect, to listen and to reflect on our past. Our national story began tens of thousands of years ago with the world's oldest continuous culture, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Sixty thousand years is an amazing history. This is our shared inheritance. But this past is still present, and truth-telling shows us that. In fact, the member for Bonner shared an amazing story of Uncle Bob here in this place. What we need to continue to do is face our history because honesty and truth-telling make room for healing and justice, and justice strengthens our social fabric. As one of the elders in my community says, you need to know where you're from to know where you are going.

I have seen the power of people being seen and heard. When communities share their experience of racism, when institutions listen with humility, we see that understanding grows, and so does connection and so does cohesion. When harm happens, we need to make sure that we let people know what the standard is. I like to reflect on who we are as Australians. The thing that I see in Australia is that we are one of the most egalitarian societies. We actually hate hierarchy and power dissonance; we have this fundamental belief in a fair go for all. So when I say 'all' I mean all. We need to make sure we let people know what these Australian standards are.

If racism is ignored, it does not fade. What happens instead is it mutates and escalates. It finds new outlets in online platforms and in bystander silence. Preventing the next generation from learning hate matters even more. Listen to this: children are not born with hate; they learn it. It is our job to interrupt that cycle with clarity, courage and leadership. I welcome the work of the Attorney-General in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, as it recognised that those who teach hate to children harm our society and harm children in their care. Alongside this measure, the government's new laws against hate, extremism and antisemitism creates penalties for hate crime offences, and new frameworks to list organisations as prohibited hate groups as well as prohibiting hate symbols. We have also introduced new visa cancellation powers for people who spread hate or extremism.

I also want to highlight our amazing Minister for Multicultural Affairs. She has spent her life helping communities stand strong against fear, and is backing that work with real structures and real supports, including the new Office for Multicultural Affairs, which is about inclusion, coordinating settlement services, community grants and a lot more. What's pretty extraordinary is that in the 48th Parliament we have a minister for multicultural affairs at the cabinet table. This is an example of structural changes that governments can make to ensure we are thinking of ways that we can be more inclusive.

The minister is also incredibly well-qualified, and has done amazing work in deradicalisation. She has shown that people caught up in hate have a pathway to re-orientate themselves. We have the responsibility as a society to help put people on the right track. The work that we're doing is not just about representation and celebration; it's about delivering policies that actually invest, listen and include. This representation matters.

When our decision-making bodies reflect our communities, trust grows and belonging deepens. Policy can do exactly what we want it to do. And government has a role. Community has a role. We're investing in initiatives that build respect, connection and resilience, and we're strengthening the organisations that bring people together. Inclusion is nation-building, and human rights are Australian values. We need to make sure that we continue to invest in them, especially during the tough times.

If you talk to any parent, they want their kids to be safe, whether that is safe in their uniform, safe in a headscarf, safe in a yarmulke or safe online. Safety starts with us, with the words that we choose and what we refuse to let pass. Talk to any young person. They want to belong; they want to be seen on our screens and in our parliament. And when they see themselves, they see the future.

This day begins in grief, but our response must be action. If you hear a slur, don't look away. If you see exclusion, make space. If you hold power, open the doors wider. If you have a platform, lift others. If you're unsure, listen first. Make space in meetings, on panels, at the microphone. If you hold a chair, share the chair. Know the history of where you stand. This is an incredible country. We can continue to eliminate this.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to start by acknowledging the traditional elders and owners of the land on which we meet, and pay my respect to elders past and present—acknowledging, of course, that we can't talk about racism without acknowledging that incredible custodianship of First Nation Australians. We don't talk about racism enough in this place, I would say. When we do, too often we talk about it in the abstract, when racism in Australia is still structural. It's persistent and it causes real harm. It damages health. It drives exclusion. It distorts who gets heard, who gets hired, who gets believed, who gets care and who gets punished. The Australian Human Rights Commission has been explicit: racism in health care is a public health emergency, and racism in Australia remains a whole-of-society problem requiring reform across law, justice, health, education, workplaces, media and data collection.

This day cannot just be about moral statements and symbolic outrage. It actually has to follow with action. March 21 is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and should force some honesty in this parliament. The truth is, Australia doesn't do enough to celebrate our multiculturalism. It likes to celebrate it, but it's still far too reluctant to confront racism with the seriousness it deserves and really call it out when it's occurring.

Australia is one of the most diverse countries in the world. Nearly half of all Australians are born overseas or have at least one parent born overseas. More than one in five Australians speak a language other than English at home. This continent is home to the oldest continuing culture on earth: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. That diversity is one of our great strengths. But diversity is not justice, and diversity means very little if institutions continue to entrench racist barriers and norms. Today should not just be about condemning racism in principle and talking about the small things that can be done. We actually have to talk about eliminating it in practice.

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed on 21 March, and it's important to acknowledge why that date has been selected. It's a day marked in tragedy. It's the day when, in 1960, police in Sharpeville in South Africa killed 69 people at a peaceful protest against apartheid laws. Since then, there have been many more incidents of murder and killing around the world based on racism and racial hatred. Last year marked the 60th anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which is the treaty that commits states to take immediate and effective action to eliminate racial discrimination. It's a day, as I said, that comes from bloodshed. It comes from the recognition that racism can be embedded in law, normalised by institutions and protected by silence.

That history matters in Australia. Racism here is not incidental to our national story. It sits inside the story of dispossession, the White Australia policy, exclusion, overpolicing, undertreatment and political scapegoating. More than half of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people surveyed in the 2024 Australian Reconciliation Barometer said they had experienced racism in the past six months, and 56 per cent believe Australia is a racist country. Among younger First Nations adults the numbers are worse: 63 per cent of the 18- to 24-year-olds and 68 per cent of the 25- to 34-year-olds surveyed reported experiences of racism. In workplaces, new research released this week found that almost 60 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees experience racism and, at the current rate of change, it could take 118 years before Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers no longer hear racial slurs and jokes at work. I mean, that is just ridiculous.

In universities, the Human Rights Commission's Racism@Uni study found that racism is widespread and systemic across the sector. Almost 70 per cent of respondents reported indirect racism, and 15 per cent reported direct interpersonal racism. Trust in complaint systems was found to be extremely low. Clearly, in the university sector, these are major issues that need resolving.

In our justice system, First Nations people remain grotesquely overrepresented. We are absolutely failing on this front. As of the December quarter of 2025, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people accounted for 37 per cent of all prisoners in Australia, despite making up a smaller part of the population. The imprisonment rate for First Nations men was 4,774 per 100,000—so much higher than for any anyone else. Racism is not only about individual prejudice; it's institutional, and we can see that through our state and territory laws. They are, at their heart, racist in how they are looking at the incarceration of young people. We know Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are overrepresented, and, once engaged with the criminal system, incidence of recurrence is much greater and the likelihood of being able to change someone's life's direction is so much less.

Racism is not a fringe issue; it shapes health outcomes, education outcomes, justice outcomes, employment outcomes and social cohesion. The Australian Human Rights Commission delivered the national antiracism framework in November 2024. I have in fact spoken about that framework a number of times in this place. It contains 63 recommendations across legal reform, justice, health, education, workplaces, media and arts and data collection And yet—I say to members of the government—we have not had a response. The government must publicly respond to the national antiracism framework and commit to an implementation plan with timelines, accountability and funding. I've heard great sentiments and great contributions in this place from members of the government; what we haven't heard is a commitment from the government to implement the recommendations or to fund the implementation of the recommendations. We see some groups obtain results much quicker, yet this antiracism framework has sat there on the shelf for two years now. The recommendations are clear; what's missing is the commitment and political will of the Albanese government to implement them. We can't keep commissioning reports, thanking people for their lived experience and then shelving the implementation. A framework without delivery is not reform; it's just delay with better branding.

Leadership also means refusing to exploit race, religion or ethnicity for political gain. Too often in this place, that is what we see. Leadership means treating all racism seriously—antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Aboriginal racism—because the statistics are too ugly to avoid. It's about treating all incidents with the same urgency and seriousness. I was appalled by the delay in the consideration of the attempted terrorism attack on the Invasion Day rallies in Western Australia, the delay in calling that what it was and the continuing double standards in how different acts of racism are treated. Leadership means calling out racist conduct inside this parliament as well, not just outside it. As I said just recently, the immigration law amendments by the government are racist policy. They are seeking to classify people as a whole and treat them as a group on the basis of race or nationality. When racism is tolerated in this building, it sends a message to all Australians watching that abuse is normal. It can't be.

I'm calling on the government to publicly respond to the national antiracism framework and commit to an implementation plan with timelines, accountability and funding. In health, that means embedding cultural safety standards, antiracism training, interpreter access and community led services. The commission's review on health inequities could not be clearer. Racism in the health system contributes to poor health, chronic illness, mistrust and premature death. In justice, it means legislating a federally consistent age of criminal responsibility so we stop locking up children. It should be 14. We have signed on to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is unacceptable that we continue at the federal level to pass the buck down to states and territories and allow them to lock up children as young as 10. Overincarceration, deaths in custody, punitive youth justice settings and the failure to address systemic bias show our systems are broken. In workplaces and universities, it means complaints systems people actually trust. It means leadership accountability, workforce diversity, proper data and consequences for repeated failure. In politics, it means ending the cynical use of fear, division and coded rhetoric for political gain.

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination asks whether we are serious about eliminating racial discrimination. On the evidence so far, we're still far better at naming racism than ending it. So I urge everyone in this place to do better.

Rowan Holzberger (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I appreciate this opportunity to talk today about the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. As a white guy in society, this is one thing I can say I have never personally experienced—maybe a little bit as a kid with the name of Holzberger, but it's nothing compared to a story that I want to tell in a second about somebody very close to me and the experiences that she had growing up in the 1970s in Australia.

I would like to respond to a couple of things that were brought up while I was present during this session. The member for Swan talked about Australia being a country that values not having a well-established hierarchy. Whenever I'm trying to explain Australian politics to people, I refer them to that video of former prime minister Scott Morrison trying to hold a press conference out the front of somebody's house. You may be familiar with it. It was when the guy came out and said: 'Oi! What are you doing? Get off my lawn. I've just reseeded it.' The former prime minister had to apologise as he shuffled back with the media gaggle behind him. I think there is no better description of what Australian politics and Australian society is than that short clip. A young Afghan friend of mine told me about how, when the Afghan community saw that video, they were horrified that it could happen. They were horrified for the guy's safety. If that person had said that in Afghanistan, then he would have been carted off for some serious re-education. In Australia we value that equality.

The other thing that I want to reflect on is the member for Warringah's comments regarding institutional racism. Racism is not just words, slights or offensive comments. It is where laws lead to that discrimination. Obviously, the biggest example is where this day comes from, where the laws related to apartheid resulted in the Sharpeville massacre. In Australia, more practically, they result in, as the member for Warringah pointed out, disproportionately high—jeez, what an understatement that is—incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It's also in the access that migrant communities have to government services, such as the NDIS. It's pretty obvious, when you look at the numbers, that there are barriers to multicultural communities' participating in the NDIS or in aged care. Even though these are not designed to be like this, this is the end result. There is no way that you could describe them other than as being institutional problems.

Where I think racism is at its most destructive, on a personal level, is when people treat you differently because of the colour of your skin or where you've come from or your name or whatever. I haven't discussed this with her, so I don't want to say who it is—if you could hear her words, you would cry. Her father was an African man who came out to Australia on an educational program to do a degree in the seventies and met a white Australian woman, so she was born an African Australian dark-skinned girl in Australia in the 1970s. From her earliest memories, she encountered racism. The stories that she told about being excluded in the playground conjured up an image for me of this little girl being bullied and excluded as a five-year-old. If you could hear it from her, it would break your heart. At the heart of this is remembering the truly corrosive nature of racism on an individual and also the dehumanising that it does to the abuser as well. At the heart of this, there are individuals to be considered.

In Forde, the seat that I have the great privilege of representing, you've got the oldest continuous culture in the world, the Indigenous culture, that has been there for tens of thousands of years. You've got communities like mine with the name of Holzberger, where my ancestors got off the ship somewhere around the 1870s and set up to work around Beenleigh, where they set up thriving cane farming and dairy and timber businesses. Also you have in Logan in the northern Gold Coast one of the most multicultural communities in the world. The local mayor, Jon Raven, always makes a joke that there's only one city with more cultures in it than Logan, and that is a little place you might have heard of called New York. We are one of the most diverse and vibrant communities that you could hope to find. Forde very much is, to me, ancient Australia and old Australia and modern Australia. It is that community that I think of today when I talk about eliminating racial discrimination.

I think there is a lot of division in Australia today. In many ways, I tend to think that, though you see the rise of One Nation, at its heart, it is not because Australia is a fundamentally racist country. I think that most of the division that we see comes about from the economics that governments have got wrong over the last couple of decades. I think it's been an agenda of privatisation and economic rationalism. It has been a failure to build public housing. It has been a failure to share equitably the wealth which Australia has undoubtedly created over the last couple of decades. To refer back to the member for Swan, that's where people see a threat to our egalitarian society—that Australia, which prided itself on egalitarianism, sees such economic challenges. That's where I think the true heart of division is because in the hearts of Australians is a very welcoming and very accepting people.

There's one thing, and I would like to take issue with this one. It's when people say that Australia is a Judeo-Christian culture. I went looking for the Obama quote, which I can't find. That might be good for two reasons. One is that whatever I say and however I say it are going to be nowhere near as eloquent as Obama. So you're not going to be able to compare it. You may be surprised! The other is that I can pass it off as my own quote because, if I couldn't find it, there's a chance you're not to be to find it anyway. Whatever he said really inspires me to say this, which is that what makes Australia exceptional is not that we haven't had flaws; it's that we are a country which has emerged out of the enlightenment based on science and reason.

While religion had an enormous civilising impact and acted as a cradle for knowledge and while the social justice aspect of the Judeo-Christian tradition is so powerful, it is a fact that Australia is a country that believes fundamentally in human rights. If you can apply those human rights across laws, across systems, across institutions, if you can always keep in mind that you've got another human being on the end of the conversation or the Facebook comment that you're going to make—that is how I think that we that we wipe out racial discrimination. Today is both a commemoration of a massacre and a celebration of a future.

Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm going to take the words of Reverend Tim Costello. I remember I was at a multicultural event with him a number of years ago, and he said that racism always starts with lack of understanding then fear, then hate. The more we work on that in Australia, the better it's going to be. I had the great privilege of looking after multicultural affairs for three years under former prime minister Scott Morrison, and then also under opposition leader Peter Dutton.

Overall, can I just say, Australia is a country which does embrace multicultural communities. I go to my local cricket teams in La Trobe, and a number of years ago you wouldn't see a Sri Lankan or Indian kid there, and now the clubs are booming with the Indian and Sri Lankan cricket players. It makes a huge difference to get involved. When it comes to sport, sport is one of the key things which bring everyone together. The AFL, I must admit, has had their issues over the years, but they've taken a very strong stance now. If anyone in the crowd racially abuses a player, they're not only kicked out of the game but normally banned for some time.

I also think it's important, when I talk to multicultural groups, to say to them how important it is to keep the mother language at home when they speak to their children. Make sure that the mother tongue is the language they speak at home. The reason is it helps the youngster keep that traditional spirit alive. In fact, in my home the No. 1 language is not English; it's actually Cantonese. My daughter is only 11, and she speaks Cantonese fluently and Mandarin. I always know when I'm in trouble; when I hear the name 'Daddy' or 'Jason' mentioned in Cantonese, I've done something wrong! But it's great to have that in the household. I must admit, when I first started going out with my wife, Judy, I tried to impress her relatives in Hong Kong by speaking a bit of Cantonese. I tried to say, 'She's a beautiful young woman', which is 'leng lui', but I said 'leng lou', 'She's a beautiful old man.' It's very important to get language correct.

When it comes to discrimination, we had that awful terrorist attack in Christchurch a number of years ago. I acknowledge the work of former prime minister Scott Morrison, who gave me the great task of looking after the community safety fund for places of worship. When it came to Jewish communities, we put funding towards the synagogues and the schools. Even back then I was shocked when I went to some of these schools. In particular, I think it was in Western Australia, I could feel the fear in those communities when I met with them. The great news was that we ended up delivering funding for those groups. It was the same with mosques. I also intervened on the Islamic Museum of Australia in Melbourne. I must admit I was a bit annoyed when the Labor Party took me to the Auditor-General because I intervened to actually assist the mosques and a number of Indian Sikh groups. A lot of these groups couldn't put in the application; they didn't have the money to pay the high-level consultants. But when you went and met them, you realised there was fear. In particular, there was fear for the Buddhist community. Their religious leaders were staying back overnight and sleeping at the places of worship. You had, I might say as a former police officer, druggies breaking in there and stealing the collection boxes and potentially putting the religious leaders in danger. That funding worked very well in ensuring those places were protected.

More always needs to be done. Again I come back to sport and my daughter. It's great when you see the kids play together. They don't know the difference between nationalities or backgrounds. Kids just want to play. I think sport and children are the way forward. I'll leave it there. Again, it's very a important day, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make some brief remarks on a very important topic which should be debated in this parliament to recognise the significance of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This pays tribute to the victims of an awful racist attack recognised by the United Nations. But it's not about looking back; it's about looking at our country today and recognising the good and the challenges. It's also about looking forward. I'm inspired by the words said in the chamber earlier today by my friend the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Anne Aly, who looked at our country squarely but optimistically, seeing the extraordinary opportunities that are before us.

For me, they fall broadly into two categories. I do think that the greatest success of modern Australia is the multicultural society that we have built—its strength and its diversity at so many levels. It drives our economy and it makes our communities so special. I'm here with my friend the member for Chisholm, who sees this absolutely every day in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. That's one bit. The other bit, of course, are the 65,000 years of continuous culture that we have the privilege of sharing. These two things together make our country special, and it's something that I think all of us should celebrate.

But, in celebrating these things, we can't take them for granted or ignore the threats. An insidious threat is the ongoing prevalence of racism and other forms of hate. In our country, everyone should be proud of who they are and proud to be Australian everywhere. We know, sadly, right now that isn't the case. All of us reflect on the awful act of terror that was committed in Bondi and its repercussions that continue in our communities around the country. We reflect also on the act committed by an Australian in Christchurch years ago, another act born of hate. In my own community, I think about the attack last year of two women at the Epping plaza shopping centre because of how they were dressed—visibly Muslim women. Of course, in a short time we will also be recognising the International Day to Combat Islamophobia. With our First Nations people, we think about not only the pain inflicted directly on people in Perth on 26 January but also how that reverberates.

I know that these incidents do not reflect how Australia is. But all of us here in this place and in our communities need to be absolutely unequivocal in condemning racism and hatred in all of its forms. I recognise the work in my own community, particularly the work led by Whittlesea Community Connections in finding better answers to address the pain and the hurt of racism.

I think about the work we can all do to foster a closer sense of belonging and understanding through interfaith networks and through listening to each other more carefully. For all of us in this place, and all of us who occupy positions in public life, perhaps we can work on thinking about the words that we use and reflecting more on their impact on others, and thinking about how, through our words and our deeds, we can help build a society where mutual respect and a sense of belonging are nonnegotiables.

I firmly believe that our diversity is our greatest strength as a community. It's something I see every day and take inspiration from. I think there's so much to celebrate in the cultural festivals. But, to paraphrase what Minister Aly said today, it's one thing to celebrate these things, but we shouldn't celebrate them if we're not prepared to defend them. That's the very idea of a country in which everyone is respected and everyone belongs. Fundamental to doing that is dealing squarely with racism and other forms of hatred wherever they form, and recognising that where racism is present, it harms individuals. I think all of us recognise that, but I think it's more insidious than that. I think the existence of racism hurts us as a society too. On this day we should all commit ourselves to eliminating this ugliness from our national life.

Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My colleague the Minister for International Development, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Small Business, the Hon. Anne Aly, spoke today honouring the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Next week, from Monday 16 to Sunday 22 March, Australians will mark Harmony Week. This year Harmony Week holds a much more sombre note, coming three short months after the horrific antisemitic Bondi terror attack and two racially motivated planned attacks in Perth that were intercepted by the police. I want to give a shoutout to our police, whether they are at the state and territory level or the federal level, for the work that they do. I also acknowledge the Islamophobic incident at an iftar dinner in Ballarat last night. As the Prime Minister has said really clearly, we've got a really heightened environment at the moment and people need to dial it down. This is why Harmony Week must be a call to action.

Harmony Week does not stand alone. On 15 March, we will acknowledge the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, where we stand against discrimination in all its forms. The United Nations General Assembly, with the sponsorship of 60 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, adopted a resolution designating 15 March as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia. This date commemorates the tragic Christchurch mosque attacks, the deadliest act of terrorism against Muslims in our region. It marks the solemn remembrance of the gravest act of terrorism against Muslims in our region.

This year the anniversary coincides with the holy month of Ramadan, a period of deep spiritual and heightened communal activity for Muslims. I want to acknowledge the Islamic Society of Darwin for the Ramadan grand iftar and dinner that I attended recently and spoke at. I couldn't attend, but my staff represented me at the UMNT annual interfaith iftar dinner that was titled 'Shoulder to Shoulder: Standing with Australian Muslims, Upholding Australian Values'. I want to acknowledge some of our community leaders—I haven't got time to acknowledge more—the Islamic Council of the Northern Territory and ICNT chairman Mr Sadaruddin Chowdury, who I work with and speak with a lot; the Palmerston president Qasim Mujahid; Darwin president Michael Katab Mohammad; and the UMNT president Mr Mohammed Raziuddin.

The Australian Muslim community has in recent times experienced an alarming surge in Islamophobic and anti-Muslim hate incidents that not only threaten the safety of Australian Muslims but also undermine the principles of diversity, inclusion and social cohesion. Reports from community bodies indicate a troubling rise in threats, in hate correspondence directed at mosques and Islamic centres and in incidents of verbal and physical abuse, particularly targeting visibly Muslim women. Addressing Islamophobia is not solely a matter for one community. It goes to the heart of who we are as a nation. Protecting Australians from hate motivated violence and intimidation is essential to safeguarding our democratic freedoms, our social cohesion and our national stability and security.

When any community feels unsafe, the strength of our national fabric is weakened, and connection is what we need right now both in Australia and all around the world. Moments like iftar are precious because they allow people to come together and connect over a meal, in conversation and in mutual respect. I want to give a shoutout to my good mate, the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and the member for Kingsford-Smith, who attended an iftar dinner last night with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and members of the diplomatic corps.

It's not rocket science to look at our own communities and the diversity within those communities but also to look at our region in the Indo-Pacific and further afield to understand that these issues are important to our neighbours and to our friends. Harmony Week culminates with the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March, which is a day that reminds us that racism is not abstract. It is not just historical, and it is not harmless. Racism is an evil. While this day always falls within Harmony Week, this important international day, as all honourable members know, is a day born of tragedy. On 21 March 1960, peaceful protesters in Sharpeville, South Africa, gathered to demonstrate against the apartheid government's oppressive pass laws, which restricted the movement of black South Africans. Police opened fire on the crowd, killing 69 people and injuring more than 180. That massacre at Sharpeville became one of the most defining moments of the struggle against apartheid and has become emblematic with the struggle against racism generally.

I want to wish our communities across Australia all the best for Harmony Week. I'll be attending events in my electorate, as I'm sure all honourable members who want to stand against racism and promote harmony as an important role for us as local members will also do.