Page 3588 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 8 December 1992
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MRS GRASSBY: Possibly we could say that there are three in this chamber. I understand that Mr Stevenson may have been born in South Africa. I am not sure.
Mr Stevenson: Rhodesia, it was said. They called it Zimbabwe at the time.
Mr Humphries: I heard that it was Mars.
MRS GRASSBY: Very good, Mr Humphries. I like that one. We will leave that one in. Mr Deputy Speaker, Australia is a multicultural society, and thousands of Australians have come here as refugees from one war or another, or after being displaced from their homelands. Some came through choice, to make a better home for themselves and for their children.
It is to Madam Speaker's credit that today she received 30 students from the student reference group involved with the schools and their communities, Project Harmony. This project is a wonderful step forward in educating our young people. The Minister for Education, I am sure, will speak more about this. Mr Deputy Speaker, becoming an Australian citizen does not mean casting aside affections and love for the land of one's birth. We are all responsible for contributing to making Australia a better and more tolerant society.
Mr Deputy Speaker, in closing I would like to say that all members of society have a responsibility to watch for the rise of racism. We must present a united front to combat racism and discrimination. Everyone - employers, companies, trade unions, churches - must cooperate to sound a warning and to ensure that Australia does not go the way of Germany, the old Yugoslavia, or any other of the many countries that are currently being torn apart by the intolerance that has been allowed to fester in their societies.
I feel very strongly about this. I am proud that in Canberra we at least teach languages in many of our schools. In this way we do combat racism because, once a person speaks another language, he or she can then learn the culture of that language. Once they have learned the culture of the language they are learning to speak, they learn to accept the people of that land, no matter what their race, their colour or their religion. So, the more languages that we teach in schools, the more chances we have of combating racism. I would like to see languages taught from day one in school because it is from day one in school that we need to combat racism.
I do feel that in Canberra we do a lot in the education field. I think Canberra would be one of the most tolerant cities in Australia. I have heard this said to me by people who come from many different backgrounds. The one thing they really feel proud about in Canberra is that very rarely do they hear racist statements made to them or to their children. They feel that classrooms in Canberra, particularly when they have come from Sydney and Melbourne, are much more tolerant than classrooms in other cities. I congratulate our schools and our teachers on the work they do to combat racism. I also congratulate the community of Canberra. This multicultural city has taken this on board; but that does not mean that we should not be vigilant at all times. Racism is ugly, and we do not want to see the sorts of problems that we are seeing around the world.
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