Craig Laundy (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The sad passing of Malcolm Fraser has provided an opportunity for much reflection and soul-searching in Australian politics. There is no doubt he was a giant of a man who over the course of his life had been both celebrated and criticised by almost the entire breadth of the political spectrum. In his condolence motion, the Prime Minister summed up the mood in parliament when he stated:

Our challenge is not to say goodbye; it is to be more magnanimous in his death than we were in his life and to acknowledge this giant, who was surely one of us.

Many tributes and memorial speeches have been written since Fraser's passing, and most have covered the highlights of his career more eloquently than I could ever hope to do. But what I would like to see become the focus of the discussion going forward—and one I hope to start—is how we might emulate Fraser's vision for this country in the future. To put my position most clearly, let me state that on matters of human rights, multiculturalism, racial equality, racial discrimination and asylum seekers I stand with Malcolm Fraser. I am proud to be a part of the modern day broad church they call the Liberal Party; a dichotomy of staunchly conservative economic principles and, for me, a strong sense of social justice resulting from my Christian beliefs and upbringing. That is certainly not to say that I agree with everything Fraser has ever stated on the above topics, but the beliefs he stood for are the ones that I hope will play a more central role in our thinking into the future for the benefit of both the Liberal Party and Australia.

In 1977 the Fraser government adopted a formal policy for a humanitarian commitment to admit refugees for resettlement, resulting in one of the most generous per capita humanitarian intake programs in the world and nearly 50,000 Vietnamese refugees being welcomed to our shores by 1979. The economic and cultural benefits of his embrace of immigration, humanitarianism and multiculturalism are still being seen today nearly 40 years on. I strongly believe the same benefits would be seen in another 40 years with a more ambitious policy in this area. I mention 40 years, as the 2015 Intergenerational report has just recently been released. The IGR is a social compact between generations, and what it aims to do is to raise our minds from the immediate policy cycle and look down the road to see what the country will look like in four decades. It is interesting to note that in this report net migration is forecast at 215,000 per annum, and as part of that figure the humanitarian intake covers 13,750 places growing to 18,750 in the next four years.

According to the UN human rights commission there were 13 million refugees and 46.3 million persons of concern globally by mid-2014. Many of these people are fleeing war and conflicts; some of which involve Australian troops. The need for humanitarian assistance has never been stronger. There have been various attempts to have a discussion on this policy over the years. Fraser himself wrote a submission to the government in 2012 arguing that the annual humanitarian intake should be increased to 25,000 and that this could be done without the need for legislative change.

Looking into the details and the migration assumptions of the IGR we see a strong economic case for increasing migration levels as well—the way that we have seen in the 40 years since Fraser changed this. I have seen, like Fraser saw in you, the eagerness to participate in the communities in my electorate of people coming here under humanitarian visas; the appreciation of families who were a few short years ago facing death or torture on a daily basis; and the determination and giving nature of refugees who, having only settled here recently themselves, have set up charitable organisations to assist others in our communities that are in need of assistance.

I refer all the way back to Fraser's inaugural address to the Institute of Multicultural Affairs in 1981. There are points of that speech that ring just as true today. He said:

Multiculturalism is about diversity, not division—it is about interaction not isolation.

In the same speech Fraser also pointed out:

It is perhaps the greatest failure of all to be blinded to real possibilities by myth and prejudice.

I have not just seen the possibilities but also the real results in my electorate of Reid and across Western Sydney of the policy positions that the visionary Malcolm Fraser took. I hope that in my time here in parliament I may in some way push the debate to consider topics that we at this point in the political cycle consider taboo. I thank you very much, and I honour Malcom Fraser's legacy.

Debate adjourned.

Sitting suspended from 17:57 to 19:30

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