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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 12 Hansard (19 November) . . Page.. 3816 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

The so-called ACT languages policy which is referred to in initial capital letters there was a proposal put forward, I understand, by the previous Government in draft form and not delivered. It has not been expressly adopted by this Government as its policy - - -

Ms McRae: It bloody-well should be.

MR HUMPHRIES: Maybe so, Ms McRae. Let me say, for argument's sake, that perhaps it should be adopted as Government policy, but not in the context of this debate tonight.

Ms McRae: Why not? That was just the guts of it.

MR HUMPHRIES: Because this is a motion about sending a signal to the community about the values that we all believe in. Let me record that even now there is sniggering on the other side of the chamber about this, and it is very unfortunate.

Mr Speaker, I believe that we should be concentrating on sending a signal out there - to the racists in this community, to the people who believe that it is all right to denigrate Aboriginals in this community, to the people who believe that multiculturalism is some kind of fraud, to those who believe that a tolerant society is something that other people can believe in but not them - that we, the people elected to represent the whole community in this Assembly, do not hold those views, and we want to send an unambiguous signal to the whole community that we are united on these basic principles.

Mr Berry: Do you remember the backyard? I would go quiet if I were you.

MR HUMPHRIES: I think it is very unfortunate that we have interjections on this, Mr Speaker. We have tried to build up a consensus on this issue. I appeal to the Labor Party even now not to divide the Assembly on this issue. We were not consulted about this amendment. We gave this motion to you some time ago. The same motion was moved in the Federal Parliament, to which Kim Beazley and every other member of the Labor Party in the Federal Parliament was prepared to agree. I would appeal to the Labor Party once again not to divide the Assembly on this issue. We want to send a signal that we are agreed. We are not going to be dictated to or held over a barrel on this.

Mr Berry: Vote against us, then.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I ask once more for a chance to make my speech. I did not interrupt Mr Berry in his comments.

MR SPEAKER: Yes.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Speaker, I think it is important that we not divert from that path. I appeal to members of the Labor Party not to put this amendment forward, in the first place. At least accept our amendment to remove subparagraph (c). In that way the message about this debate can be that we are agreed in our views about Aboriginal reconciliation, about multiculturalism and about racism, not that we have other things which on this occasion divide us.

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