Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Hansard source

I move an amendment in the terms circulated in the chamber:

Omit all words after "That the Senate", substitute:

(a) affirms that Australia is a nation that welcomes different races, religions and views, united by respect for each other's humanity and for each other's right to live in peace;

(b) therefore rejects the racism, white supremacy and condemnation of immigrants on display at rallies held over the weekend, and profoundly disapproves of MPs supporting and attending these rallies;

(c) calls upon all political representatives to:

(i) reject the normalisation or legitimisation of racism and anti-immigrant hate in this country,

(ii) reject dog whistling on First Peoples, migrants, refugees and international students, which has emboldened the far-right,

(iii) reject any use of hate, fear and scapegoating to cover up their own policy failures on the housing and cost of living crises,

(iv) reject any attempt to downplay or ignore concerns about far-right extremism, and

(v) stand together against far-right extremism as alien to Australia and the values of this nation; and

(d) reiterates its solidarity with the communities who bear the brunt of white supremacy, neo-Nazism and right-wing extremism.

Senators, our government has zero tolerance for hate and discrimination in all its forms. We are building a safer, more inclusive Australia for everyone. Every Australian, no matter their race or religion, should feel safe and welcome without prejudice or discrimination. I make what I think should be an obvious point, that multiculturalism is an integral and a valued part of our national identity. We stand with all Australians, no matter where they were born, against those who seek to divide us and against those who seek to intimidate migrant communities. In targeting specific ethnic groups, like the wave of anti-Indian sentiment we saw over the weekend, is overt racism.

We are moving this amendment, in part, to respond to a proud history in this chamber. I've been here for 10 years now. On a number of occasions, the vast majority of senators in this place have been able to come together and to say clearly and unequivocally that we do not support bigotry, that we do not support prejudice and that we don't believe it is reflective of Australian values.

Senator Faruqi characterised our motion in a particular way. I don't agree with that. We have sought to move this amendment to do two things. Of course, we think this chamber should express what it means to be an Australian and what we seek to have Australia be. Australia welcomes different races, religions and views, united by respect for each other's humanity and for each other's right to live in peace. Over the weekend, we saw people claiming to march for Australia while many of them, in fact, are in conflict with Australia's values of respect and inclusion. We are also amending this motion to be clearer about who it is that is promoting hate.

Senator Faruqi's motion says that all media and politicians of all stripes—presumably, including those of a green stripe—have been fanning the flames of hate. And just now Senator Faruqi doubled down on that idea. Those kinds of sweeping statements are wrong, and they are not productive. We do not believe that politicians and all media have been doing this. We should be promoting those who've been helping to build the Australia that we value, rather than condemning them by way of blanket statements. That isn't a way to build a broad, inclusive movement for peace and respect. No-one should have to confront the level of fear and oppression that was levied against migrant Australians and the Indian community in particular over the weekend. Those who are visibly different bear the brunt of anti-immigration sentiment. Our migrants, our minorities are blamed and scapegoated by a whole range of concerns. It's not accurate, it's not fair, and there should be no place for it in modern Australia.