Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

One of the great privileges of this place is we get to speak to 24 million to 25 million Australians. But I want to address my comments this afternoon to the seven million Australians who were born overseas. My parents were born overseas. These are Australians who have had the great privilege of holding an Australian citizenship certificate. I know members in this place all share my pride in attending those events and speaking at those events. You can see the pride in the eyes and on the faces of those individuals as they hold that certificate. I love speaking to those newest Australians and taking the opportunity to tell them that, in becoming Australian, not only have they joined the greatest club on earth but they are as Aussie in that moment as Albert Namatjira, Bob Hawke and Don Bradman—in a more modern context, perhaps John Howard, Steve Smith and Cathy Freeman. The point is that there is only one class of Australian citizenship, but if this proposal is acceded to by the Australian people I will never be able to say that again. Australians like my parents, who held that certificate of citizenship, will never be able to claim they are as Aussie as Indigenous Australians. Exclusive rights will be conferred on those individuals.

Yesterday in this place, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs accused me of being someone who can't read. I appreciate she withdrew that statement, but the truth is that some of those seven million Australians can't read English. My father is perhaps one of them—I might get a serve when I get home! The reality is that's why we're in this place asking questions. We asked the minister 20 questions this week, and it's for her to answer those questions so that Australians who don't have what my parents worked hard to give me—a fantastic education—can understand this proposal. Instead, what we've heard from the minister is, 'We don't want to engage in the culture wars,' and, today, 'I'm not going to answer that question.' Give them the information they seek. What do you have to hide? Australians deserve that information. Don't try to hoodwink them to change something no less important than the Australian Constitution.

Right now, if the Prime Minister wants to show leadership, he should pause; he should accept the Leader of the Opposition's invitation. Let's move forward as they did in 1967. Let's enshrine the recognition in the Australian Constitution. Let's move forward together as one nation. It is an opportunity to have that moment. But the Prime Minister doesn't want that moment; he wants his moment. He wants his Vincent Lingiari moment. He wants to be Gough, pouring the handful of sand into Vincent Lingiari's hand. He wants his Redfern-Park-speech moment.

That's not leadership. Leadership right now is understanding that we can move this forward. Accept the invitation of the Leader of the Opposition. I myself prefer the words 'Indigenous heritage', 'British foundation' and, importantly, 'immigrant character'. That would bring us all together. Best case scenario right now is that we wake up on 15 October and Australians are suffering a referendum hangover. It will be a deeply divided Australia, which will put the cause of reconciliation backwards. Don't be that Prime Minister; be a prime minister that takes this debate forward—one Australia moving forward towards reconciliation. This is his choice now; it's the Prime Minister's choice. Does he want an Australia, on 15 October, that's deeply divided or one that can celebrate its unity and move forward?

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