Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

Certainly. The member for Cowan should reflect that people have come from all parts of the world to Australia over many years and, just because you're a migrant from one country, that doesn't make you better than another. The tone that you take when you enter that debate—as if, somehow, just because you've arrived more recently or you have more chips on your shoulder, you're better than others—is exactly the essence of what has happened in this debate from the member for Scullin.

The reason I raise this is because there's nobody in this chamber who doesn't resist Nazism. The idea that somehow we have one or two idiots out there who want to fly a Nazi flag represents a lack of cohesion in our society is absolutely false, and I reject it. Almost every Australian rejects Nazism and the premise of Nazism. In fact, my own grandfather was a resistance fighter in Greece against Nazis. I hate Nazis. As you said, we have the capacity for hate; yes, we do.

We do hate evil and we do hate Nazis and we do hate people who engage in those terrible ideologies. But we shouldn't seek to divide people because we have people who sometimes make statements that we disagree with. That is not a question of threatening our entire cohesion. In fact, almost every Australian agrees on these things. If you bring a matter for public debate into this House and say that the government is failing on something as essential as multiculturalism, you are ignoring reality. Australian governments of all persuasions have been committed to this kind of social cohesion for a long time. We know the modern Labor Party seeks to try to create a wedge or division on these issues from time to time.

The member for Scullin quotes the Scanlon report. I will quote the Scanlon report. Let's quote the facts in the Scanlon report. The facts are the facts: 90 per cent of respondents in the Scanlon report expressed a sense of belonging—90 per cent. Eighty-five per cent of respondents agreed that multiculturalism has been good for Australia. These are historically high figures. All governments are committed to them increasing further. All governments are committed to integration of people from all over the planet into the great Australian values of freedom, fairness and the Australian life that we have.

When you bring a matter like this to the House and attempt to say that somehow we lack social cohesion or we are facing an unprecedented—the argument that we are facing an unprecedented threat from racists is not correct. Of course there are people who engage in this behaviour in our society today. Our agencies, rightly, raise that they will take those threats, whether they are from the right or whether they are from the left, just as seriously. Extremists from either end of the spectrum threaten our cohesion. But they are very small and they are very narrow, and they ignore the fundamental story of this country's great success.

This is a government that believes in our country's success—where we have been, where we are now and where we are going in the future. We have one of the most comprehensive yet one of the most disciplined immigration programs on the planet—acknowledged even by President Trump in his first State of the Union address. It was acknowledged by the United Kingdom, who have attempted to remodel their immigration program on our own. It is looked at by countries in Europe as the envy of the world, because we do bring people here. We do have a system that identifies people who want to come here and makes sure they fit in with Australian values and brings them here and integrates them seamlessly into our society, our land of opportunity.

The reality of modern Australia is that we bring people from all over the world who want to come here and contribute. I say to the members opposite: never forget that's the prime reason people come here—for the opportunity to have a go and, certainly, to do the great things that they have done since the great waves of migration that we've seen. How does that translate, mostly? That translates, mostly, into that great Australian identity of opening up your own small business—mostly a family small business. That's what most migrants do when they come to Australia.

Opposition members interjecting—

I hear groans opposite, but I say to those members opposite: there are more migrants employed in family and small business than you would imagine. Eighty-three per cent of those business owners start their first business venture after moving to Australia. They employ more than 1.4 million people. This is the golden scene of Australia. People come here for that opportunity. It doesn't matter what part of Sydney you go to, which community you talk about or whether it's recent migrations or migrations from years ago—you can go into your corner shop, your market garden or any small business across Sydney and find people from different parts of the world working in small and family business.

While the Labor Party continues to reject this, while they continue to not understand that that's one of the most important things that migrants come here for—those opportunities to work hard and take care of their families, and the importance of the family unit to migration—they have a fundamental lack of understanding of what happens in migration and what makes cohesion.

Opposition members interjecting—

Yes, I know you don't understand. I really do. And I think it's not understood in terms of your policies. If you say that the Australian government's failing in multiculturalism, if you don't understand that most people who come in migration waves work in their own businesses and start up their own businesses and take an opportunity, then your policies reflect that. The Australian government's policies are geared towards promoting small business and an environment for people to open and start their own small business. Why? Because we know when you enter here and you've got nothing and you've come from a place which is in a very difficult part of the world, one of the greatest features of this country is that you can create your own business. You can start up your own enterprise. You can make something of yourself for your family, so that your kids can then get that university degree and get that qualification. That is the real story of migration. For those opposite to ignore it in policy is a real failure. The government will never fail our migrants, because we understand they come here for those opportunities—to unlock opportunity for them, their children and grandchildren.

That's why Australia is one of the greatest places in the world. People used to say it was America, but more people come here and share more wealth than in any other society on earth. We have a more even and fair society than any other in the world today. More people share more wealth here than in any other society. We have more opportunity here, and long may it remain the case.

The government's got a suite of policies that understand all this. We understand enterprise, opportunity and, of course, the need to access education for children. While the members opposite want to sit there and lament about the negative features of life—there will always be negative features of life—it's the role of governments and leadership to promote the right policies that enable opportunity and people to get ahead in life. It's up to the authorities to deal with those extreme elements that take the wrong tack in life.

But we shouldn't be pessimistic about what a great country this is, filled with great people with great hope and opportunity, who have come from all corners of the world and made something of themselves for them and their family. Australia is overwhelmingly a great success story. It's a great place, and it's evidenced by the fact that more people want to come here than any other country on Earth today. We're a country of choice. So, please, let's not be negative. Let's be positive about our country, let's be positive about our future, let's be positive about the great integration story Australia represents. (Time expired)

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