Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I came in here with a speech prepared. I came in here ready to roll up my sleeves and to fight and to defend, as I've had to so many times over the last 30 years. And I've sat here over the last hour and I've heard the Leader of the Opposition, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the Prime Minister, the Minister for Home Affairs, the member for Chifley and the Deputy Prime Minister speak on this motion.

I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired. I'm tired of having to stand up against hate and against vilification, time and time and time again. I wrote in the speech that I had that I was proud to be a member of the Labor Party, that today honours the tradition of Bob Hawke when, in 1988, he stood up and put a motion to this parliament confirming Australia's non-discriminatory immigration policies. I'm also proud to be a member of this parliament that is united today in its condemnation of those terrible words that were spoken in the other place yesterday. But that pride is tinged with sadness. It's tinged with sadness that we've had to do this for 30 years.

I once attended a seminar put on by young migrant kids in my electorate, and they all stood up and spoke about some of the challenges in their young lives. These kids were 15, 16, right up to the age of 18. I sat there listening to them and I started crying. I'm a big sooky-la-la at the best of times; let's just put that out there—weddings, funerals, speeches in parliament, everything. They came up to me and said, 'Anne, we didn't mean to make you cry.' I said, 'No, you don't understand; your challenges today are the same challenges I had 30 years ago.' I just want to know when it's going to change for our future generations, when it's going to get better for them. But today, this morning, I see hope, I see possibilities, I see opportunity, I see leaders on both sides who are willing to stand up and I see that I don't have to fight alone anymore.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Thank you for that. It means a lot. It means a lot to me. It means a lot to my kids. It means a lot to my mum, who was told to stand at the back of the line every time she went to get on a bus, while she struggled with two toddlers, and to repeatedly say her pleases and thankyous before she was allowed on that bus. This today means something. It means something to Australia. It means something that all of us here stand up against this racism, stand up against this hatred and stand up against the disgraceful use of that terminology. That neo-nazi, white supremacist terminology wasn't an accident. I won't accept that that was an accident. That was the deliberate use of a heinous term which brings back so many painful memories and sets a precedent for the future of our country that we need to stand up and stop. I just want to rise here today and say thank you. I'm not going to read any of this speech that I wrote. I just want to say thank you to our leaders for showing that leadership.

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