Page 156 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 16 February 2011
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He said he had been calling for a formal apology and people had been calling for a formal apology, I had not heard one call for it until today. And I think that Mr Doszpot has been disingenuous in all of this. He went into semantics about the notion of national versus ACT. That is bad luck. It was just semantics. And for a speech which was supposed to be of some emotion, then it was just semantics and it denigrated that speech. There was no need for that sort of silliness involved in it.
Ms Bresnan referred to the multicultural youth services and I thank her for that. We need to note that it was under this government, when I was a minister, that we had the multicultural youth summit. That was called consultation with the community. That was about ensuring that we develop, because we were talking to the young people. That was about promoting mutual respect and that was about consulting local multicultural organisations and talking about succession planning in the multicultural communities. That was what that was all about. It was hands-on consultation. It was not acknowledged by those opposite or those on the crossbench, I think sadly.
I acknowledge Ms Bresnan’s recognition of Sam and Chin Wong in the older persons’ communities within the multicultural community. I acknowledge that. But I also have to say it was this government that trialled a bus service to try to remove the social isolation of that group. Where is the recognition for that? It is nowhere.
All of the things in Mr Doszpot’s amendment have been done and continue to be done. I have to tell you, I would not have had to do the second and third part of that motion if it was not for the federal policies that existed when I first became the minister for multicultural affairs under the community services portfolio. It was the policies of John Howard and Kevin Andrews, who chaired a ministerial council—and I was on it—which absolutely had me shaking with rage about their treatment. And the kids overboard saga—it was all proven to be rubbish. The difference between John Howard and Kevin Andrews’ approach to life and Pauline Hanson’s was absolutely zero. And it was that which motivated me to go on and start pushing things in the multicultural community in this town. And it has worked. It has worked a treat.
The Multicultural Festival is the most obvious expression of it but there are other ways in which we look at it. The creation of the Muslim Advisory Council is a way of connecting with a community under threat. I have made public statements that if people intend to victimise the Islamic community they need not come to this town. It is making strong statements like that.
Ms Bresnan says, “I do not mean to denigrate it.” I have to tell you, it does denigrate it. I feel it is denigrating it and I take great offence to it. And I have to tell you it is going to take me quite a while to heal over this one, because I think it is a disgusting piece of me-tooism: “What about me?” It is called relevance deprivation.
You can accuse Johnno of many things but not being able to count ain’t one of them. I can count. I am reminded actually of Mr Hanson accusing the Greens of getting into bed with Labor. This is a really good example of how it does not work, and I say that with some jocularity actually. I do not mean that to be a barb. But I can count. I know the Greens are going to support Mr Doszpot’s amendment. However, as I said earlier
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