Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

In recent days there has been a calming in a lot of the public debate from national and state leaders in terms of how we discuss the diversity of Australia. That is welcomed, it is important and it is essential. At the same time, there has been a rise in a number of fringe racist groups—groups complaining and protesting against Australians of Muslim background. These are the same people who, a few years ago, would have been complaining about people of African background, who 20 years ago would have been complaining about people of Asian background and who before that would have been complaining about people of Italian and Greek background. These are people who try to cover themselves in one-quarter of the Australian flag and who will never be heard singing the second verse of our national anthem.

I say to those people who are affronted, offended and hurt by the hate speech: just as violent extremists do not represent you, racist extremists do not represent the rest of Australia. It is too short an ambition for Australia to simply say we are a tolerant nation. We do not simply tolerate diversity; we welcome diversity, we thrive on diversity, we are enriched and strengthened by diversity. We do not need more racist hate speech, and I urge those members of this place and the other place who still wish to weaken the Racial Discrimination Act at 18C to realise that the last thing this nation needs is a rise in racist hate speech. We are a nation where the world has come to live, and we are better for it.

See this speech in context