Fatima Payman (WA, Australia's Voice) Share this | Hansard source

Fifty years ago, this parliament took a historic step. It passed the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, the first federal law to make it unlawful to treat someone unfairly because of their race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. It wasn't an easy passage. The act we celebrate today was the last of four racial discrimination bills introduced under the Whitlam government. It took two years between 1973 and 1975 for both houses to agree on this reform, which implemented Australia's obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. Australia signed that convention on 13 October 1966, yet it took almost a decade and a change of government for this nation to honour its promise.

In his second reading speech, Attorney-General Kep Enderby, who had been appointed to that office only three days prior, said something that still rings true today:

The Bill is based on the view that laws proscribing discrimination are vital, but not in themselves alone can they be sufficient. The educative role is at least as significant and the Bill recognises that there must also be effective and systematic enforcement of rights and the promotion of education and research, if the elimination of racial discrimination in this country is to be achieved in fact as well as in theory.

That captures the heart of this anniversary. The Racial Discrimination Act did not end racism in Australia. It marked the beginning of our national journey, a promise that equality would no longer be just an aspiration but a legal right. And yet I need only to glance at my Facebook comments to know that racism is still alive in this country.

We will not arrive at universal tolerance by accident. If we want to continue to live in a harmonious, multicultural society, we must work for it. The responsibility lies with every generation, every community and every parliament. Racism in this country has a long history, from the myth of terra nullius to the massacres of First Nations people and the forced removals of children during the stolen generations. Even this very place has not been immune. The first amendment ever moved in this chamber, on 21 May 1901, proposed prohibiting immigration from the Pacific.

As a woman of colour born in Afghanistan and raised here in Australia, I know that the protections we commemorate today made it possible for people like me to stand here. My parents came to this country seeking peace and opportunity. It was the vision of multicultural Australia built on belonging, not exclusion, that gave us the chance. The Australia we all know today was built by immigrants who brought their food, their music, their languages, their faiths and their traditions. That is what makes us rich and makes every generation of Australians more colourful than the last.

But alongside that beauty we have seen shadows of bigotry: the rise of Islamophobia, antisemitism, anti- Palestinian racism and all forms of racial discrimination; the reemergence of Neo-Nazi movements on our streets; and politicians who trade in fear using division as a tool. This is not who we're meant to be. When hatred is normalised, when migrants and refugees are scapegoated, and when truth-telling and treaty are ignored, we betray the progress of the last 50 years. We must remember that education, empathy and equality are the antidotes to prejudice.

That is why the next step in this journey must be the introduction of a national human rights act. Australia remains the only liberal democracy in the world without one. Right now our protections and laws are patchy and incomplete. The Racial Discrimination Act was a huge milestone. A human rights act would be a natural successor, guaranteeing that, no matter who you are, where you come from or what you believe, your rights are protected by law.

So, as we mark 50 years since the parliament took that courageous step under Gough Whitlam's leadership, we should ask ourselves: what will the next 50 years demand of us? We must summon the same courage, the same moral clarity and the same resolve, because Australia's story—my story, your story—is proof that, when we make room for everyone, this nation shines the brightest.