Corinne Mulholland (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We condemn all actions taken by any person to desecrate our nation's flag. That is exactly why police have the powers to apprehend anyone for such offensive violations. Arson is a crime, property offences are a crime and inciting violence is a crime. Given that these laws exist now, I think the motivations behind this motion are plain to see. Instead of being distracted by this motion, let's instead work to heal some of the division that has been created by the behaviours we saw on the weekend.

As fate would have it, today, 3 September, is Australian National Flag Day. The Australian flag was first flown on this day back in 1901, and 124 years later it is a symbol of our great democracy, our rich diversity and our Australian way of life. It was designed as a symbol of unity. The Southern Cross is a symbol of our shared place under the southern skies. The Commonwealth star is a literal symbol of unity amongst the states and territories. Even the Union Jack represents the unity we share through the social structures and legal systems that distinguish Australia as a modern multicultural democracy.

The flag belongs to all of us, not just to some of us. It flies proudly above this parliament as a symbol of unity, not as a symbol of division, and it is certainly not a symbol of hate. To those people who sought to take our flag and use it to spread messages of hate over the weekend, I say this to you: you don't own our flag; we do. The Australian flag belongs to all Australians, no matter where you were born, no matter what language you speak and no matter the colour of your skin. If you seek to use the flag to peddle hatred and fear, you are not defending Australian values; you are betraying them.

The Australian soldiers who have fought and died under our flag did it for a love of this country. They did it for hope of a better future for all Australians. I think it's important to remember that the Anzacs themselves came from all backgrounds. They were Italian migrants, Jews and Asians. Importantly, there were many Indigenous Australians who were diggers among the Anzacs. All of those are too often forgotten. They fought for the great Australian dream, which has always been about having a fair go for people who work hard and have a crack.

When I look around this chamber, I see a lot of immigrants now working here in the Senate to represent Australia and their fellow migrants, like Senator Roberts, from India, and Senator Babet, from Mauritius. It is interesting that the very people calling for immigration bans in this country are, themselves, migrants to this country. If someone could help me make sense of that, I'd be really grateful.