Annette Hurley (SA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about a significant remembrance ceremony which is held annually on 14 June and the way it relates to multiculturalism in Australian society today. An event to mark this important date was held on Saturday, 10 June at the Migration Museum in Adelaide, and I was honoured to attend. Between 1940 and 1949, Joseph Stalin ordered the forced removal of approximately 200,000 Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians to Siberia and central Asia. The reasons for the deportations ranged from suspicion of collaboration with the Nazi regime and threats to national security to plain ethnic cleansing. As a result, it had a major effect on the cultural make-up of the then Soviet Union.

Approximately 1.9 million people, from 17 different ethnic backgrounds, were forcibly removed by Stalin before, during and after World War II. Tragically, a large percentage of those people did not survive their deportation. At the remembrance ceremony I attended, it was stated that approximately 60 per cent of the 200,000 people deported from the Baltic states died as a result of brutality, starvation and extreme weather conditions. Despite the barbaric cause of Australia being the recipient of a wide range of refugees and migrants from those states, it has led to the vibrant multicultural society we are living in today.

Unfortunately, history is prone to repeating itself and we are continually seeing worldwide events similar to those of Stalin’s Soviet Union. Whether it be the genocide in the Balkans and Rwanda and that currently occurring in Sudan or oppressive dictatorships in Afghanistan, Iraq and Myanmar, Australia has rightly received a United Nations agreed intake of refugees. I think that has been widely supported by Australians generally. These refugees almost instantaneously become proud Aussies, and the skills and experiences they bring add greatly to this country’s multicultural diversity.

It is important that we look closely at our migrant history to ensure that future policies are suitable and that they adequately address our previous mistakes and oversights. Examples of these oversights include the lack of support networks which were provided for Vietnamese refugees on and after their arrival 30 years ago this year. I have also been to a number of ceremonies to commemorate those 30 years.

Support services are certainly better now than they have been in previous times, but this does not mean they are as good as they should be in an affluent country such as Australia. The IHSS services have been put in place but have been subject to some criticism around the country. Other government policies have been criticised as well. A prime example was the removal of core funding for migrant resource centres and other NGOs previously under the Community Settlement Services Scheme. Another example of government failure is the Migration Amendment (Designated Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill 2006 which is currently under consideration in this parliament.

I want to talk in more detail about the migrant resource centres. They play a vital and, more often than not, underrated role throughout Australia in developing and promoting multicultural harmony in this country. The passion and commitment with which these organisations carry out their duties would be impossible to match in any government department. This should be recognised by the current government, but it is not. The Howard government chooses to recognise their services by stripping away these groups’ core funding. As discussed in the May 2006 estimates hearings of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee, this government has also chosen to add further insult to these wonderful organisations by only today revealing the specifics of their new funding future post 1 July 2006—which is a mere two weeks away. So they have to wait until the final two weeks of the financial year before knowing whether or not they have funding for next year.

Make no mistakes about it: MRCs and the many other NGOs throughout Australia are some of the major catalysts needed to pave the way to a successful and harmonious multicultural Australia. This is evident through the diverse range of newly arrived communities currently settling here in Australia. I admire the dynamic way in which these organisations are continuing to adapt and cater to the needs of these emerging communities. The government has a responsibility to respect this fact, but, through the removal of core funding and the failure to clearly indicate future fiscal commitment via the New Settlement Grants Program, it is failing to do so.

The Australian Labor Party does not believe in obligatory handouts to NGOs with a core business in multiculturalism or to individual multicultural groups. We believe in funding on a needs basis and we support appropriate funding on the basis of outcomes. What is clear, though, is that the current Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Senator Amanda Vanstone, and her parliamentary secretary, Mr Andrew Robb, have not sat down with these organisations to allow them to freely articulate what their needs are. Whether it be a well-established Greek, Italian or Chinese community needing a small amount of funding for a weekly social club for aged members or a newly arrived Sudanese or Sierra Leone group requiring assistance in job seeking, the Howard government and its minister and parliamentary secretary are not listening.

I cannot talk about a multicultural community without talking about the Migration Amendment (Designated Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill 2006, which should be seen as an insult to the many existing and established Australian refugee and migrant communities, such as the survivors of Stalin’s Baltic deportations and their family members. Imagine if such a bill had become an act during the time when Australia accepted Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian refugees from that deplorable event. The survivors of that shameful episode in history would have been processed offshore and settled in a third country, and then the wonderful contributions that they and their second and third generation families have made to Australian society would have been lost.

The same can be said for our most recent refugee arrivals and those which will result from ongoing and future global conflicts. As refugees, they arrive here under extreme circumstances but the unprecedented loyalty displayed by them for being accepted by us will greatly benefit our nation. As I said previously, I was also disappointed to see that, under the proposed electoral changes, enrolling to vote and the voting procedure will also be made a lot more difficult for those citizens.

Last Sunday, I witnessed a coming together of three generations from the Baltic states as the result of a great tragedy and shocking events. The first generation are quite often only just coming to terms with their past, the second are keen to talk more about those dark times and the third wishes to continue its family’s traditions with great passion and exuberance. It was wonderful to see some of those grandchildren in traditional costumes helping their parents and grandparents to commemorate that occasion.

With the current funding and legislative trends of the Howard government, important events such as these are being put at risk, along with the formation of such communities among the new refugee arrivals—such as those from Africa. These emerging communities are supported by migrant resource centres, and it is important for the long-term wellbeing of these communities that they be encouraged to get together to commemorate these events as well as to become members of the Australian society and community through getting jobs and learning English and becoming citizens.