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

That is five minutes of my life I will never get back. In recent days there has been a bit of media about a Muslim woman and the need for her to remove her burqa. I refer to an article from today's Daily Telegraph. Sometimes there is a bit of hysteria associated with this and it can lead politicians, shock jocks and other people to listen to their lesser angels. Sometimes their race to condemn multiculturalism and play to the fears of some means that Muslim Australians are again the victims of the opposition's divisive and ignorant political games—maybe. I mention particularly the opposition immigration spokesperson, the member for Cook; the shadow parliamentary secretary, Senator Bernardi; and the member for Dawson, who made some interesting comments in the House yesterday:

It has occurred to me that there is something missing from this blame game. They are quick to blame Australian farmers and the industry, but they have not said anything about the religion that actually inspires the torture of the cattle there.

It is very misguided for a country person to not understand. But I will say that the member for North Sydney is one courageous exception amongst a few on the other side of the chamber. I have seen, in the bipartisan, friendly games of touch football, that the member for North Sydney knows how to use his head, but he also knows how to listen to his heart.

In my first speech to this chamber, I committed to stand up for my multicultural community. It was not some empty leftie, politically correct ideal; my core belief is that everyone matters. This includes the nearly 5,000 people in Moreton who identify as Muslim. They come from Bosnia, Sudan, Iraq, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Egypt, Somalia, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia and Afghanistan. If you listened to the opposition, you would think that places like Moreton, where one in three people were born overseas, were a melting pot of racial tension and division. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I invite the member for Cook, Senator Bernardi, the member for Dawson and any other members opposite to visit my electorate and see for themselves the vibrant, harmonious community that is Brisbane's Southside. If they were to visit, what would they see? If they were to share a meal with me at Michael's Oriental Restaurant, a place where Chinese, Muslims and the rest of us converge, would they still revolt against multiculturalism? Scout Finch said in To Kill a Mockingbird:

… you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.

So, Member for Cook, Senator Bernardi and Member for Dawson, come and walk in the shoes of multicultural Moreton. You will see that my patch is home to about five or six mosques, including Holland Park, which at 102 years old, is the oldest mosque in Queensland. You will also find progressive Islamic schools and Griffith University's Griffith Islamic Research Unit, a network of scholars who research Islam in Australia and seek to bridge the gap between Islam and the West. The unit's director and founder, Dr Mohamad Abdalla, is a champion for social inclusion and racial harmony in Brisbane.

Those opposite would also see a Muslim community which has remained committed to racial and religious harmony. The leaders of the Islamic community have done so much to foster greater respect and understanding between Muslims and others. One of these leaders is Mustafa Ally, who edits an online news website, Crescents of Brisbane. He was also the 2008 Multicultural Citizen of the Year.

The Muslim people in my electorate are not living in ghettos; they embrace and personify Australian culture and Australian values. Following the Brisbane floods, 400 volunteers turned up at the Kuraby Mosque to offer help and financial support to flood-affected people, particularly in my electorate. They raised more than $50,000 for the flood effort, to be distributed to individuals. They were hands-on distributing meals to flooded households, to volunteers and to police on the streets—no prayers, just a practical helping hand. Together, they cooked more than 2,000 meals, and 20 Muslim tradespeople from New South Wales came up to Queensland to help—for free, gratis. The Islamic Women's Association of Queensland is also doing good work in the Moreton electorate, through aged care and other community services.

To paraphrase the former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, it is not multiculturalism that has failed; rather it is those who seek to stir up division and fear who have failed. The last time we had politicians—redheaded ones—exaggerating racial division, one of the mosques in my electorate was firebombed. That is why I will not allow the voices of fear and ignorance to reign again. They deserve no oxygen and they deserve the strongest condemnation from everyone on both sides of the chamber. My commitment to the people of Moreton on the date of my first speech, 17 February 2008, remains my commitment now: that we should not tolerate voices that seek to divide the community; instead we should recognise those that are doing great work and are keeping our community together. That is the sort of Moreton that I am fighting for and that is the sort of Australia that I would hope all people in this chamber are fighting for. (Time expired)

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