Sam Lim (Tangney, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

A lot has been said about the Voice, and a lot of negativity oozes from the opposition. Today I want to share a very positive experience. Our electorate of Tangney is one of the most diverse in Australia. Around 45 per cent of its population was born overseas, way above the national average of 27 per cent. This means we have a culturally and linguistically diverse community like no other in Australia. This experience I'm talking about shows once again how diversity and multiculturalism foster values like dialogue, harmony and respect.

With a little bit more than a week's notice, over 300 people gathered at Murdoch University last month to listen firsthand to local First Nations speakers about why the Voice is so important to them and how it has the potential to improve thousands of lives. These people came from very different backgrounds: First Nations, Chinese, Indian, Malay, Latin, European, and Australians of other ancestries. Many admitted not knowing what the referendum was for, not knowing what the Voice was, not knowing how it would work. But instead of giving in to despair, to a campaign of fearmongering and of misinformation, they decided to come together and respectfully listen, learn and debate. This shows us that the Voice cannot bring division. It can bring us all together. It can bring us all together in listening to each other, in respecting each other and in recognising that there are voices that have been silenced for far too long.

None of this would have been possible without the efforts of our volunteers, the fantastic team at Murdoch University that so generously supported us and all the speakers that shared their time, wisdom and belief with us.

Each vote counts. We have the opportunity to start correcting the injustices of the past. To my constituents of Tangney: your vote counts. I know that I'll be voting yes when the time comes, and my hope for all my fellow Australians is that you will take the time to come together like we did, that you get to listen to your brothers and sisters and that you vote following your heart.

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