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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (19 November) . . Page.. 3802 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

(5) affirms its support for maintaining and enhancing the ACT as a culturally diverse, tolerant and open society united by an overriding commitment to our democratic values and the Australian concept of a "fair go" for all.

Mr Speaker, I certainly hope that those sentiments are sentiments that all people in this Assembly will support. Recent incidents here in Canberra and, over the past few months, elsewhere in Australia have shown that there are people who do not share the view that Australia is a place that treats people equally and provides a fair go for all. There are people who have used the issues of funding for Aboriginal groups and future levels of immigration to further their political agendas. These issues have been degraded into a debate where arguments centre around discrimination on the basis of skin colour and race, prejudice and intolerance. Unfortunately, the cynical pursuit of power by these people is driven, Mr Speaker, by discrimination. This has achieved considerable media coverage which, in turn, provides these people with a warped sense of credibility.

We are fortunate here in Canberra that we have, in the main, a well-educated society that can see through these arguments. Nevertheless, it is time that this Assembly and the Territory stood up for multiculturalism and Aboriginal reconciliation and repudiated racially divisive views. Tonight I hope that this Assembly will unanimously place on record our commitment to both multiculturalism and the continuation of the reconciliation process. I am sure that I speak for all members of this Assembly and residents of our community in declaring that our cultural and linguistic diversity is one of the Territory's greatest assets.

The reality is that people have settled in the ACT from all around the world. The facts provided by the 1991 census show, Mr Speaker, that 23 per cent of Canberra's population were born overseas in more than 125 different countries. This figure does not include their Australian born children. Fourteen per cent are from countries where English is not spoken as a first language. Sixteen per cent speak a language other than English at home, and over 60 languages are spoken by Canberrans. Around 1,000 new migrants settle in Canberra every year. Mr Speaker, there are 16 ethnic clubs and 35 ethnic schools in Canberra. In addition to programs broadcast by SBS radio in Canberra, there are 31 ethnic language programs broadcast by Community Radio 2XX and Canberra Multicultural Radio. Furthermore, a large percentage of small business operators in Canberra are from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Canberra is a home to representatives of 95 diplomatic missions.

It is against this background that we acknowledge both the multicultural reality as well as the international dimension of the Canberra community. We all have a responsibility to ensure that members of our community are treated equally and with dignity, regardless of their accent, colour of their skin, gender, race or religion. We acknowledge Canberra's cultural diversity and, at the same time, respect the rights of all Canberrans to promote their culture, heritage, language and religion.

It is time to accentuate the positive aspects of our culturally diverse community and state openly and unequivocally our support for our multicultural community. In particular, we highly value the contribution of many people from diverse cultural backgrounds who are involved in the business, community, industry and tourism sectors. Migrants are

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