Kerry Nettle (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:The need for the Senate to:

(a)

note the Prime Minister’s recent comments about the Muslim community needing to learn English and respect women; and

(b)

call on all political parties and leaders to promote the values of multiculturalism in the Australian community and the need for all members of the community to respect women.

The Greens want to see Australian political leaders speak loudly about the value of multiculturalism and the benefits that multiculturalism has brought to our community. But, unfortunately, we have heard in recent comments from the Prime Minister and the Treasurer that they are currently engaged in attacking one section of our community. That is the opposite to what true political leaders should be doing. We are now seeing that it is in fact the Prime Minister’s attitude that is more of a threat to multiculturalism in this community than any actions of the Muslim community that he has been targeting with his attacks. Comments that single out one element of the Australian community for criticism are damaging to multiculturalism and therefore to the whole, broader Australian community and our commitment to multiculturalism.

The Muslim community is no different from any other community. We see Muslims across the country making a great contribution to Australian society. Multiculturalism is an ongoing project for all Australians to be involved in. It is not a simple case of one group of Australians learning the language of another. The Prime Minister’s claim that he is raising honest concerns about this issue are simply not credible. What we have seen in his actions are all of the hallmarks of a cynical political campaign—a calculated fear campaign that is designed to exploit community concerns about terrorism at the expense of the Australian Muslim community. A letter writer to the Sydney Daily Telegraph today points this out when she writes:

In recent years Mr Howard has concentrated on exploiting the fear generated by September 11 by employing his faithful dog whistle to link all Muslims with terrorism. Having achieved a climate in which any criticism of the Australian Muslim community is favourably received in parts of the broader community, John Howard has now abandoned the dog whistle in favour of a siren blast that will deafen us right up until the 2007 election.

The Treasurer appears not to be aware of the hard work that leaders in the Muslim community have been involved in in recent years. On the weekend he called on Muslim community leaders to do the very things that they have been doing on almost a daily basis since September 11. In fact, the work that has been done within the Muslim community to calm tensions within their community and the broader Australian community has been incredible. They have been doing a fantastic job. I am sure that many members of parliament have been involved in activities and events put on by the Muslim and broader communities in which we have seen Muslim leaders in this country calling out for peace and unity. These are the sorts of things that true political leaders should be doing—calling for peace, unity and respect for multiculturalism in this country. But, unfortunately, we do not see it from our Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister claims that people are resisting integration by not learning English. Putting aside the underfunding of the Adult Migrant English Program run by this government, where is the evidence from the Prime Minister that migrants of the Islamic faith have a lower rate of learning English than any other comparable migrant group? I have not seen any. The Prime Minister has certainly not presented any evidence to that effect. It is a great shame to have to remind the Prime Minister that there are significant numbers of Australians who do not speak much English, if any, who are arguably more Australian than he will ever be—that is, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditional owners of the land on which we are gathered. As a letter writer to the Age newspaper wrote yesterday:

Since when has not speaking English meant not being a good law-abiding Australian citizen?

It is a very good question indeed and a question that the Prime Minister should perhaps turn his attention to.

Perhaps the Prime Minister is offended by the sight of people demonstrating in the street against his policies in the Middle East. He must be careful here because Australian Muslims from the Middle East, along with other migrants and their descendants from these regions, have every right to be angry about the Australian government’s role in the mayhem in Iraq and about the Prime Minister’s uncritical backing of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and continuing collective punishment of the Palestinian people. It is a political viewpoint that anybody is entitled to adopt. There is nothing un-Australian about being critical of Australia’s foreign policy; in fact, it is entirely consistent with Australian values to be a vocal critic of the government of the day, to exercise the right to free speech and political freedom of expression. Yet we see the Prime Minister singling out the Muslim community. He does so because of their poor treatment of women. We saw in the Daily Telegraph another letter, which says:

Mr Howard says women should be treated equally and with respect. High levels of domestic violence, the abuse of women in some police forces and in the armed services, the degrading of women by some sporting heroes and the lack of equal representation of women on corporate boards, in executive positions and in our parliaments seem to clash with the wholesome values espoused by Mr Howard.

Mr Howard should speak out about the value of multiculturalism. (Time expired)