Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Not yet. In relation to the member for Pearce and the member for Kooyong, I am going to do something a little bit bad, I guess—that is, to talk about their courage and their inspiration to all of the House as politicians of conviction. I especially say to the member for Kooyong how much I will miss him and his inspiration. He will be sorely missed. Big shoes to fill for the person who steps up in his electorate, or perhaps not so much big shoes to fill, but a moral void to fill. I wonder if that person is going to measure up. I hope so. I guess it is not a good thing when the people on this side of the House praise those on the other side of the House, but I guess the member for Kooyong has always been happy to paddle his own boat and he will survive any criticism that comes from me praising him.

It is tough times for those opposite because we have some of the people of conviction are leaving; not just the member for Kooyong but also the member for Higgins. Despite my criticisms of some of his policies, I would not doubt that he is a man of convictions and he seems to be a compassionate man. I know my trade union colleagues will not forgive me for that, but the reality is he does seem to be a half decent man with some compassion for people. Maybe at Christmas his older brother makes sure that he does not forget that. There is the member for Bradfield. The member for Wentworth seems to be having some trouble at the moment as well; I am not sure whether his days are numbered. I hope that the tussle that goes on in that party room includes people who can make sure common sense prevails when it comes to dealing with people. A fear campaign is an easy one to run. We know that. Fear is a much more powerful force in politics than hope. I am sure that the member for Brand would remember from running election campaigns in the past that fear unfortunately is much more powerful than hope and common sense and education.

It is important that those opposite do find their moral compass, do find the people like the member for Kooyong who can guide them through some of these tougher policy issues. If you do not have a good moral compass, obviously it is hard to find what you stand for as a party. If you do not have a good moral compass, you start going further and further south and thinking that that is normal. I guess the only good point about going further and further south is, if you go far enough south, everywhere is north if you are standing at the South Pole. Even magnetic north would be north of you if you go far enough south. I hope that the battles that take place opposite result in a Liberal Party that has a good, clear sense of direction because the Australian government is all the richer for having a strong opposition that believes dearly in certain things.

I find this bill particularly important as I represent a multicultural electorate. Unfortunately, in the last election campaign the race card was played in my electorate. The repercussions are still being felt. People were hurt in the school ground because of the myths and lies that were peddled because of politics. I am sure many MPs have received emails about people stepping out of boats and into $30,000 payments because they have arrived at our shores. You have seen the same emails, you know they come from Canada or somewhere else and have no relevance to Australia at all. Hopefully that sort of misinformation will not take place and we can have a vote on this legislation and start that journey towards Australia being a much prouder multicultural community, because we do get it right. The rest of the world—especially Europe, that multicultural melting pot—looks to us and says, ‘How do you get it so right?’ So this is about making it better. We do get it right mostly, and we are an inspiration for the UNHCR about how to get it right. I commend the legislation to the House.

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