Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australia is a remarkable country, and I've seen that in the community that I represent. I've stood in school halls, classrooms and community celebrations across my electorate of Isaacs and watched children and families from many different countries call Australia home and mean it. Across our vast continent, first cared for by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, we've built a nation shaped by care, respect, a fair go and shared values. Our history is far older and deeper than the Commonwealth itself, and our national life has been enriched by people drawn from every part of the world.

To understand Australia, we must understand how our history has shaped our national story. It's the story of an ancient continent, home to the oldest continuous living culture in the world. It's the story of democratic institutions patiently built and renewed, of which we are rightly proud. It's the story of people who came here from around the world and built a life together. Our story is not one of sameness. For all our differences and all that remains unfinished, there is something enduring in the Australian character. We are a people who value the freedom to live without fear or intimidation. We are a people who know that freedom is built over time, and it depends on institutions and laws that protect it. And we are a people who believe that respect is the foundation of the country we want to be. In a nation shaped by many histories, those principles are particularly important.

Too often, diversity is spoken of as though it weakens our national unity and values. It does not. Australia is an inclusive nation built on trust, integrity and fairness. We are the land of the fair go. That work of building our nation is never finished. That work of building our nation has strengthened our national life and made us more open to the world, more capable and confident as a nation and more generous towards one another. A maturing nation does not ask its citizens to be the same; it asks for something better. A maturing nation asks that we understand that, however different our backgrounds, our faiths, our memories or our political opinions, we belong to the same country—a country shaped by many histories and traditions, and strengthened by its diversity. From that sense of common purpose comes a commitment to the national good.

I say all this because I've seen what happens when these things are tested. We live in a world in which events far beyond our shores reach into our communities and are often deeply felt by many Australians. I've seen how this can make every disagreement appear absolute, every difference of opinion irreconcilable and judgement give way to reaction rather than reason. We must not let emotionally charged and often hate fuelled online content shape the way we see one another or the kind of community we become. Too often we see fear turned into politics, difference turned into suspicion and prejudice turned into a strategy, yet there is something deeply unconvincing about this kind of politics. Those who advance division and hate depend on the very institutions and services—the hospitals, the schools, the social safety net—that Australians have built together. They benefit immensely from the hard work and sacrifice of earlier generations, many of whom came to Australia from other parts of the world and built the institutions, services and communities they now seek to weaken.

Dividing Australians is not leadership; it is a failure of leadership, and a failure of decency and respect. We must not give up on shaping something steadier and better than that. We can do this by the way we treat one another, by the care we show in our words and by refusing to let hatred set Australians against Australians. Hatred always does the same thing; it asks us to see less in one another, less humanity, less generosity and less kindness. It asks us to look at our neighbours, at kids in schools, at families in the park, even at those of us in this place, and see only difference. We are a better country when we refuse to let that in. That is the task before us. It's the same task Australians have always taken on—to look out for one another, to show up for one another and to build a country where everyone has a fair go and feels that they belong.

House adjourned at 20:00