Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in this place today to state unreservedly that I do not now nor will I in the future support the watering down of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. Building respectful and vibrant communities that quest strong economies will not happen in an environment that enables racially fuelled hate speech.

Surely, in 2017, we as the human race are advanced enough to have direct and plain-speaking robust debate that does not need to resort to hate speech to make a point. However, history has shown that racism will regularly raise its ugly head, especially whenever there is a marginalised or oppressed minority. Even people who would otherwise lead decent lives can suddenly be caught up in racist hysteria, saying and doing atrocious things. At the same time, those in society who do not support racism can be silenced by the noise of racism, resulting in horror visited on peace, tolerance and security.

There are many recent examples, such as America in the fifties during the civil rights movement, and Germany in the thirties, where racism became official ideology and law. Wherever and whenever racism thrives, skin colour or religion are used to determine how people will be treated and, in some cases, even whether they will live or die.

Australians do not need to look too far afield to find racism. Sadly, there is ample evidence in our own backyard. The Australian Constitution still discriminates against Indigenous Australians. In 1967 our nation's birth certificate was amended to allow Indigenous Australians to be treated equally under Commonwealth laws but, even then, 10 per cent of Australians voted against this inclusion. The White Australia policy was not completely dismantled until 1973. The drafters of our Constitution and designers of the White Australia policy reflected the racist ideology of their times.

Laws help set up the standard of acceptable community behaviour. Once our Constitution was amended, once the White Australia policy was dismantled, Australians on the whole respected that Indigenous Australians would be treated equally and that immigrants from non-European countries would be welcomed and accepted. This powerful message has helped make Australia the most successful multicultural nation in the world. Labor members do not consider that any case has been successfully made to alter part 2 of the Racial Discrimination Act.

My electorate of Herbert has a very high Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander population as well as being a refugee resettlement city. My community, like other diverse communities, has work to do to strengthen its approach to valuing diversity and difference. Palm Island is in the Herbert electorate and is one of the largest discrete Aboriginal communities in Australia. I take my role as the member for Herbert very seriously in this place and I understand that there are many diverse backgrounds and cultural differences in my electorate.

Professor Gracelyn Smallwood, Bindal elder and longstanding local Aboriginal activist, has said, 'If we had a treaty and Bill of Rights there would be a balance. There is no balance or common sense by removing section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.' The arrogance of conservative people wanting to abolish this section for freedom of speech is so racist and very uneducated. They have not even made the true colonial history of this country mandatory in schools—let alone speak of multiculturalism, which is already in Australia.

Do they want to go back in time where Italians, Aborigines and LGBTIQ people were regularly referred to in nothing short of demeaning terms? Stop wasting taxpayers' resources and put energy into unemployment, drug, alcohol and gambling addictions, family violence, abuse, homelessness, deaths and poverty. The world is watching us.

Associate Professor Clare Andersen represents the national Indigenous Education Consultative Bodies network. In relation to the harm that could be caused to Indigenous children by watering down 18C, she said:

Closing the Gap focuses on education outcomes and health outcomes. If kids are not happy, then they will not do well at school. We already have that going on. If you are not well educated, your health is generally poorer. Those two things are tied up together. If we water it down, it will only make things worse—it will not make things better.

I have also spoken to the Mayor of Palm Island, Councillor Alf Lacey, about what changes to the Racial Discrimination Act would mean for the Palm Island community, and he said:

People need to think about the impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Racism comes in many forms and should never be acceptable. We need to ensure that we are not creating environments where racism is acceptable.

The people on Palm Island need jobs, economic sustainability; health care programs that make a difference to the lives of the residents and opportunities for our children to access a TAFE or University education.

The Bwgcolman people of Palm Island deserve more than a Prime Minister who launched an inquiry to investigate whether it would be agreeable to remove sections of the Racial Discrimination Act to allow people to make a racist remarks. Legislating to enable racist comments in 2017 is outrageous. Some people were surprised by the fact that the Prime Minister launched this inquiry into section 18C, but I was not surprised at all. One only has to look at the history of this government—they have a great track record in picking on and attacking this nation's most vulnerable and marginalised citizens. The Turnbull government is cutting $48 million from Townsville schools and millions of dollars from the Townsville Health and Hospital Service, and the Turnbull government has overseen the Centrelink robo-debt debacle, where the government would rather chase and harass a grandmother for a few thousand dollars that she does not owe than chase big corporations for billions of dollars in avoided taxes. Added to this list is their latest diabolical support for cuts to penalty rates, where workers who give up time with their families on a Sunday to earn enough money to survive are being severely punished. In fact, they will have to work longer hours to earn the same pay packet. It was no surprise to me that this government would want to try to water down 18C in the Racial Discrimination Act to further disadvantage our first nation people and other marginalised citizens. I bet the Prime Minister's right arm is sore from the extreme right wing in his party constantly twisting it.

Diversity Council Australia gave evidence to the committee in Darwin. They represent 400 members, including all major Australian banks and many of the international global banks, major retail groups and many government departments. Their members' employees comprise about 10 per cent of the Australian labour market. Their evidence considered the economic cost of racism to their member organisations, and the chief executive officer, Ms Lisa Annese, said in her evidence to the committee:

… when we create inclusive workplaces, so when workplaces tap into and value the differences between people—and that could be differences based on race and culture but also other areas of diversity such as disability, LGBTI identity, Indigenous identity or gender … individuals feel more engaged in their workplace. They are more likely to be productive, and they are more likely to be present. There is less absenteeism. And then, if you follow the money on that one, it leads to greater profitability and productivity.

A plethora of evidence given to the committee asserted that any change to the wording of sections 18C and 18D of the Racial Discrimination Act will definitely cause uncertainty and would be likely to create even more litigation and confusion. The committee has heard witness after witness from communities spanning the length and breadth of Australia telling of the harm that racism causes to individuals who are targeted in their communities. Equal Opportunity Tasmania referred in their submission to a 2013 survey of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds conducted by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, and said this about the results:

Importantly, those surveyed exhibited poorer mental health and higher levels of psychological stress compared with those who had not experienced racism; and the levels of distress increased for those who had repeatedly been subjected to racist behaviour … levels of psychological distress were associated with the volume of racist experiences and not necessarily the type … experiences of everyday racism may be just as harmful to mental health as other more severe episodes.

Labor fought to protect 18C in 2014 when the then Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, tried to destroy it and we will fight to protect it again. Freedom of speech and freedom from hate speech are balanced in sections 18C and 18D, which have worked well for decades. Why is it that this government wants to change them now. I want to know what people like George Christensen and Senator Malcolm Roberts want to say that they cannot say right now.

The report of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights has made no recommendation to change section 18C of the act, and the Prime Minister should not look to proceed to any changes of law and should try to make this country a place where racism is not acceptable. As a nation, we should be proud to share this land with the oldest living culture and we should show respect for our first nation people and not enable a racist inquiry. Our nation should value the contribution of the many refugees and migrants who have made significant contributions to our community—for example, Associate Professor Munjed Al Muderis, orthopaedic surgeon and clinical lecturer at the Macquarie University and the Australian School of Advanced Medicine, a refugee from Iraq. (Time expired)

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