Page 829 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 9 April 2014
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would like to thank Dr Bourke for sharing his stories with us today, that racist comments are more than words. They are vicious attacks on members of our community, and it really should stop with us. We should be above this.
Both parties have chequered pasts on issues of race, but we both have proud achievements in moving away from the past. And I am worried by the stance of the current federal government. I hope they will not take us back to our sorry past.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella) (12.09): I thank Dr Bourke for this important motion. I speak today in support of the motion and its condemnation of the deplorable attempt to repeal section 18C of the federal Racial Discrimination Act 1975 as proposed by the Abbott government.
Canberra is one of the most multicultural and diverse cities within Australia. My electorate of Brindabella has a range of diverse communities from many parts of the world—from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Sixty per cent of Canberrans are not from the ACT originally. They come from other states and territories and, of course, from overseas. Canberra is the city with the most fluid and integrated population in Australia.
It is a wonderful thing to be able to participate in events such as the Multicultural Festival held in Civic each year, attended by thousands of people—I think some 200-and-something thousand people this year. It is always a marvellous success. This sort of event would not be possible without the diverse range of backgrounds and cultures present within my electorate and the ACT in general. This sort of cultural integration is facilitated by laws such as the Racial Discrimination Act. Section 18C prevents inflammatory and insulting language stoking resentment between our various culturally diverse communities. Without this, one can only imagine that there would be tensions between these groups due to high levels of derogatory and senseless antagonistic rhetoric. I wish to reiterate my support for this motion and the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 as it stands, again due to the effects that racial abuse and derogatory comments can have on the victims of such attacks.
It only takes one look at the severe issues within many Australian schools to see the effects of this kind of behaviour and language, as outlined in the Report of the National Inquiry into Racist Violence in Australia of 1991 and Sticks and stones: Report on violence in Australian schools from the House of Representative’s Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training in 1994. Racist comments, abuse and harassment are often commonplace in some schools. The victims of such attacks will often perform poorly in their education, be socially isolated and have higher incidences of self-harm, school non-completion and psychological issues later in life.
The implications of changes to section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act include essentially telling the perpetrators of these attacks in the schoolyard that this behaviour is okay. Without the legislation, one child calling another nasty names because of their ethnicity would be completely legal under federal law. How can there be ramifications for the perpetrators or protection for the victims in a schoolyard if the act is legal under Australian law? It really does astound me that Senator George Brandis and the Liberal Party feel that children in school should have
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