Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I will be brief—and mercifully so, given we're about to hit midnight and today is about to become tomorrow—but not so brief as to make those opposite happy. I half-prepared in my head over the last few days and made a few notes for a more comprehensive speech, but there's little that I can really add or need to add to the contributions already made by Labor members at this stage of the debate. In particular, I acknowledge my friend the member for Whitlam's speech last night. Stephen said everything that needs to be said and more, with the heart and the nuance that this debate deserves. I refer to and associate myself with his comments wholeheartedly and extend my love and my condolences to his family on the tragic loss of his nephew.

Given the hour and the amount of work still left to do, I'll simply now state my position for the record—there are three points. Firstly, I strongly support the extension of Australia's federal antidiscrimination law framework to ensure Australians are not discriminated against because of their religious beliefs or activities. Labor is the architect of this framework over decades, which currently prohibits discrimination on the basis of age, disability, race, sex, gender identity, sex characteristics and sexual orientation. It is only right, indeed overdue, that this framework be extended to matters of faith. The city of Greater Dandenong in my electorate—indeed, the bulk of my electorate—is the most culturally diverse city in the whole of Australia. People from over 150 countries and over 100 different faith traditions live harmoniously. The city of Casey is also hugely diverse. I am so proud to be a part of this community and to represent it here. My community is one of the most culturally and religiously diverse places in not just Australia but, indeed, the entire world. It is a shining example of what a community that embodies respect for difference and harmony looks like. For my community, the question is not whether people should be protected from discrimination on the basis of their faith; it's how we do that by law.

The second point I make is that I wholeheartedly endorse the three principles which guide Labor's consideration of these bills: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the extension of the federal antidiscrimination law framework, as I just outlined, and, in doing so, the protections which already exist in law against other forms of discrimination and which should not be weakened. As the two parliamentary inquiries, the submissions and the debate have clearly demonstrated, the government's bill falls short of these principles. Plus there is considerable uncertainty as to the constitutionality and the operation of the contentious provisions.

So the third point that I make, therefore, is that the bill must be amended to ensure we don't introduce new forms of discrimination, to remedy the government's errors and incompetence, and to address the glaring gap of vilification. This is an opportunity that this bill provides for us to deal with this issue.

I reached the conclusion that I've stated having listened carefully to everyone who's contacted me: people of faith and no faith in our community who want and deserve protection from discrimination on the basis of their faith or religious beliefs, and numerous others from every suburb in Bruce—I being but one—who do not want to be subject to discrimination on the basis of their sexuality, gender, disability, marital status and so on. It should not be beyond the wit of this parliament to extend antidiscrimination protections to faith groups while not undercutting the existing rights of Australians, and to legislate in a way that brings Australians together. As the Labor leader said so aptly, we have the opportunity tonight to bend the arc of change—'to bend the arc of history towards justice'.

The amendments that Labor foreshadowed today will address the bill's deficiencies; they will improve the bill; they'll fix the problems. I make four points. Firstly, they'll improve the statement of belief provisions to reassure people of faith without discriminating against other Australians and stop the Commonwealth's overreach and overriding of state protections. Secondly, they will protect all kids from discrimination—all kids, gay, straight, trans, whoever. All kids deserve our love and protection. Overwhelmingly, religious schools do not want to discriminate against kids for being who they are. Other speakers have gone into the stories of their electorates—I could do the same, but I will spare us the time—particularly of the Catholic schools locally who've embraced, loved and supported the kids who've come out and helped them reconcile with their families. That's the work of good schools every day, day in, day out, in this country. And Labor's amendment will strengthen this legislation and protect all kids. Thirdly, we will prohibit discrimination in the provision of aged- and disability-care services. Really—how difficult is that for the government to agree to? The providers are calling for us to do this. Yet the conservatives on the other side can't get their head around it. Fourthly, we will use this as an opportunity to ban vilification on the grounds of religion, to prevent people from threatening, intimidating, harassing or vilifying others on the basis of their faith. All of these improvements are important. We should all be able to agree on all of them.

The last deserves special comment for my community. The government's bill fails to protect people of faith from vilification—a glaring omission if we're serious about preventing discrimination against people of faith. We know—I know, in my community—that Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are on the rise; the Sikh, the Hindu and other visible religious minority communities are targeted too. But, perversely—deliberately, perversely or incompetently; who knows, with this government?—the government's bill fails to deal with this urgent issue of vilification that is of greatest importance to many faith communities. Indeed, it's the No. 1 issue which so many faith communities ask the government to address, and they don't.

So Labor will push for these amendments, which I hope will pass this House. But, if they fail, of course we will not stand in the way of the Senate considering the amendments. That's how the parliament works. Frankly, we have a better chance of securing the outcome in the Senate, but I hope we can rise to the occasion and do the right thing here tonight. We will move the amendments here. We will move them there. We will insist on them here and there. This is the quickest and the proper way to resolve this. This is the best way to secure and strengthen the protections. So that is my position.

I'll make a final reflection in closing. Previous speakers have well outlined the government's failure in action and leadership—in particular, the Prime Minister's lack of grace and leadership; his failure to keep his word and promises that he has made. As the Labor leader said powerfully: this should have been a unifying moment for our nation. This should have been driven by love. That was always Labor's objective, and it should have happened three years ago, not in the dying days of this parliament, on borrowed time, with half the parliament given 24 hours notice of what the government is now proposing. The objective of the faith groups I have spoken to is to secure protection from discrimination—a shield, not a sword to discriminate against other Australians. Instead, the government's bill pits one group of Australians against another group of Australians against the next group of Australians and so on—against each other. Rather than uniting the nation, this bill is now dividing the nation. We can and must fix this here.

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