Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday the Australian public saw, in full flight, the ugly face of the Howard government on issues of racism. The Minister for Health and Ageing stood at the dispatch box and exposed himself for what he is—a narrow-minded man with no real sense of what it means to be an Australian. He is not fit to serve in cabinet and the Prime Minister should repudiate him for his disgusting slur on millions of Australians. Not only should the Prime Minister call him into line but also he should be counselled by many of his coalition colleagues. Will the member for Petrie, Ms Gambaro, stand up and be counted? What about the member for Kooyong, Mr Petro Georgiou? Will he speak out? Will the member for Ryan, Mr Michael Johnson, have anything to say? What about the member for Indi, Ms Sophie Panopoulos? Will she chime in and set the minister straight? I know she is not backward in coming forward. Tonight, I urge them to stand up and be counted. I urge them to show some leadership and reject what Mr Abbott had to say on race. If they do not, they are guilty of perpetuating the narrow-minded sentiment which has no place in Australian society and certainly no place in our national parliament.

Where are the true Liberals who are prepared to stand up for the true Australian ideals of equity and egalitarianism? I find offensive the notion that if you are not of Anglo-Celtic origin you are not Australian. It is absurd to suggest, as Mr Abbott did, that anyone from a migrant background is not a real Australian. It is reprehensible for Mr Abbott to claim that Australians of Greek, Spanish, Cambodian and Vietnamese background are not real Australians.

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