Julia Banks (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am absolutely delighted to support this motion by the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, today. This motion goes to the very essence of what I stand for. I am so proud to be here supporting this motion as the member for Chisholm, Australia's third most culturally diverse electorate. Australia is the world's most successful multicultural nation on this earth. This is reflected in our celebration and warm embrace of different cultures in community and business life. The contribution of migrants to Australian society, including many in the electorate of Chisholm, is significant to the prosperity and harmonious way in which we celebrate our culture. In any one day in Chisholm—as I said, the third most culturally diverse electorate in Australia—many languages other than English are spoken and many cultural events and traditions are enjoyed, and this all happens in harmony.

The embrace of multiculturalism and equal opportunity is intuitive and formidable under the Turnbull government. Our commitment is to a completely non-discriminatory policy and the rights of all Australians to enjoy equal rights and be treated with equal respect, regardless of race, colour, creed or origin, as is our commitment to the process of reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Australia's migration program does not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity or religion.

In recent years the major source countries in our program have been India, China and the United Kingdom. Australia is an immigration nation and we should all be very proud and, indeed, as in the words of our national anthem, we should 'all rejoice'. Today, almost half of us have a parent born overseas and more than a quarter of Australians were born overseas themselves. We are much more diverse than the United States.

Since 1949 more than 7½ million people have come from all corners of the earth to make Australia their home. Migrants from all over the world, including our newest Australians, have arrived under a broad range of visas—as skilled migrants nominated by employers, as refugees, as humanitarian entrants, as partners, as carers, as business owners, as regional skilled migrants, as people of distinguished talent, as parents, as children and as students. Each one brings a rich personal history that we have welcomed into our community. At the time that they formalise their commitment to our country, our values and our rule of law, they start their journey in Australia.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of when Australia became an early signatory to the United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It is a treaty that goes directly to a basic principle of respect for each other as fellow human beings and respect for each other regardless of race, colour or ethnicity.

It is always important to reflect on history and see how far we have come as a nation. In 1966 that treaty was signed by the Liberal Prime Minister Harold Holt. Only months earlier the Holt government made significant changes to our migration laws, dismantling all laws allowing discrimination against migrants on the grounds of colour or race.

In May 1967 Australians overwhelmingly voted to amend the Constitution to enable the Commonwealth to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians—a process that was begun under the Sir Robert Menzies government and was completed under the leadership of Harold Holt. These decisions under the Menzies and Holt governments removed the White Australia policy and embraced all the new and exciting opportunities for our country, which were underpinned by the people who came from far and wide. They sought to end discrimination, celebrating and reaffirming the Australian values of mutual respect regardless of ethnicity, race, colour or creed.

Central to our democracy is the rule of law. The rule of law is empowering and constraining as it applies to every citizen and protects every citizen regardless of race, colour, gender or status. But harmony and security are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, they are intrinsically linked. To this, I discuss Labor's border failures, which are, in my view, Labor's greatest shame. Under Labor the criminal people-smuggling syndicates flourished. Eight hundred boats arrived, 50,000 people arrived and 2,000 children were in detention, and the greatest shame of all is that 1,200 people died.

Under the Turnbull government we have not had one boat arrival, no deaths at sea, we closed the detention centres and there are no children in detention. The Turnbull government's work in relation to border protection and securing our shores is lauded and praised around the world. Moreover, the fact that we have our borders under control is what has created our dividend to bring in refugees—those most vulnerable from Syria and other parts of the world. A total of just under 19,000 refugees have come to Australia recently as a result of our measured, controlled approach.

Our proud migrant story has many chapters and is told in the waves of people who have come to our shores, and many of their stories are about their immigrant experience, stories and heritage. Last week I had the honour and privilege of presenting Australian citizenship certificates to many new citizens who have made Australia their home and who live in my electorate of Chisholm. In their pledge of citizenship they promise loyalty to Australia and its people whose democratic beliefs they share, whose rights and liberties they respect and whose laws they will uphold and obey. It gave me so much pride and heartfelt warmth to have this honour of officially welcoming people and congratulating them in joining our great nation, and to share this moment with them. The looks on many of their faces and the pure joy that was in that room as I handed their certificates was joyful. My parents and ancestors, like many—including the many in my electorate of Chisholm—have come, in the words of our national anthem, 'across the seas' and 'toiled with hearts and hands'. New citizens have come from the United Kingdom, China, India, Greece, Italy, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Korea, Taiwan, Ireland, Mauritius, the Philippines, and Malaysia. All those new citizens who attended the ceremony, like all those before them, have so many stories to share. But the one thing we all have in common is that we are able as 'Australians all' to rejoice—because this is the most successful multicultural nation on this earth.

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