Page 549 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 14 March 2007
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absolute rubbish! He cannot stand the thought that Malcolm Fraser will go down in history as a much bigger man in the international world than he is.
Mr Smyth said that multiculturalism has outlived its purpose or its usefulness. He read from a book called Australian Citizenship. Well, I am convinced. Game over. Mr Smyth said words to the effect that multiculturalism has outlived its purpose or its usefulness. Tell that to the boat people. Tell that to the former Nauru inmates. Tell that to the children in the Baxter Detention Centre. Tell that to those subjected to an English test to get citizenship. Tell them that if it has outlived its usefulness.
Mr Pratt: Some of them became citizens.
MR HARGREAVES: Mr Pratt is representative of the way this Liberal Party thinks. I recall being absolutely aghast some years ago when a bunch of boat people turned up in Darwin harbour. There were only about 4,000 a year, for heaven’s sake! The president of the Victorian Liberal Party at the time was quoted in the newspapers as saying that the way to deal with them was to take them out into Darwin harbour and let the navy use them for target practice. To me, that says it all. That was an appalling piece of work.
I endorse the sentiments of my colleagues, Ms Porter and Ms MacDonald. The ACT government strongly endorses multiculturalism, an ideology and a set of practical policies that, over the past 30 years or so, have been integral to the process that has built a harmonious and culturally diverse society around liberal democratic values.
This is seen by the Prime Minister as such a threat to his vision of a back-to-the-fifties Australia that he wants to remove the word from government use. Members will know that the Prime Minister has recently removed the term multicultural from the title of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and replaced it with citizenship. He must have read the same book that Mr Smyth has. This move to devalue multiculturalism is deeply concerning. It does so in both ideological and practical terms. This action is strongly condemned by the ACT government.
There is also a widely held view that the action of the Prime Minister is doomed to fail. The Prime Minister might like to think he can engineer the Australian national identity in his own image, but he is mistaken. The Australian people will define their own national identity regardless of what any individual politician might say. Given the diversity of our backgrounds, our food, dress, speech, names and leisure activities, that national identity will inevitably be multicultural.
Multiculturalism recognises and promotes cultural and ethnic diversity. It has been one of the strongest forces in shaping the social and economic fabric of Canberra. Multiculturalism in this city will continue to be supported through the provision of services and facilities such as the Theo Notaras Multicultural Centre and events such as the recently concluded National Multicultural Festival. I was privileged to attend more than a dozen events through the two weeks of the festival and joined some 150,000 fellow Canberrans and visitors in celebration of our cultural diversity. The festival is a manifestation of the success of multiculturalism. It supports the sharing of customs and heritage and encourages partnerships and community building.
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