Page 553 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 14 March 2007
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that there are things that people in my party have said in past times that I do not agree with. There are things said at the Labor Party conference every year that I do not agree with, and I have an argument with colleagues or speak to them about it. Views that were held at an earlier time are not necessarily the policy of today’s Labor Party.
I want to thank Dr Foskey for her contribution. I thought it was a very considered contribution and I really enjoyed listening to it. Dr Foskey said that we need to move on and have interaction between different cultures. She also mentioned Pauline Hanson. I might have misunderstood, but I thought that Dr Foskey suggested that there might have been implicit support by the major parties for Pauline Hanson.
I have to say that, from the Labor Party’s perspective, that is absolutely not the case. My father-in-law lost his seat in federal parliament to Pauline Hanson on the basis of comments she made about Asians coming in and taking over Ipswich, as well as too much aid being given to indigenous people. My father-in-law argued against that point of view and he is still aggrieved and horrified at the comments that that woman made.
I thank also Ms Porter and Mr Hargreaves for their comments. Mr Smyth said that there was a lack of intellectual rigor in the motion. Maybe so, but it would be good if he had brought intellectual rigor to his speech as well. Mr Smyth said that actions speak louder than words and that agreeing to this motion would set a dangerous precedent. Words—in this place, in the federal parliament and in the state legislatures—have the power to make a great deal of difference. That is why I brought this motion to the Assembly. Attitudes are changing—
Mr Smyth: No, you misrepresent what I said.
MS MacDONALD: Mr Smyth, please stop interrupting me. I did not interrupt you.
MR SPEAKER: Order, Ms MacDonald! Direct your comments through the chair.
MS MacDONALD: I have referred many times to the inaugural speech of Tony Burke, the shadow minister for immigration. Tony Burke is a great supporter of multiculturalism and he spoke about it in his inaugural speech. Mr Smyth could probably learn a bit from studying it. Tony Burke said:
… but there is something about the federal parliament that goes way beyond the legislation we pass here and way beyond our constitutional powers. I realised this one day about eight years ago when Cathy came home from work and told me the children were playing differently at the community based child-care centre where she taught, and racist taunts had suddenly crept into the language of the children as they played. It did not happen because any law had changed. It did not happen because of government spending. It happened because a speech had been made by an Independent member in this chamber which was seen to legitimise racist comment in the name of free speech. There is something about what is said in this chamber that changes the mood of the nation, that gives us a role in affecting how Australians relate to each other. Just as we have the capacity here to run our politics in ways that appeal to the worst of the attitudes in Australia, we have the capacity to appeal to the best as well.
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