Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It give me great pleasure to rise to say a few words on the motion moved by the member for Bennelong. It gives me an opportunity to talk about multiculturalism within my own electorate and across Australia more broadly.

It's no secret, as all in this debate so far have commented, that Australia has a rich immigration and multicultural history. It is one of our greatest strengths. It will help equip us for a future where everybody can be part of our social and economic life. Quite often when I'm speaking at events in Bendigo I talk about our culture in Australia being many cultures woven together—that rich tapestry we bring to this country and share with each other. It comes as no surprise to many of us that at the last census, in 2022, just over 7.7 million Australians indicated that they were born overseas. That's about 30 per cent of our population having been born overseas. Many, many more have at least one parent who was born overseas. This is part of the statement that we all read at citizenship ceremonies.

I am one of them. I'm the first in my family to be born in Australia, but I do recognise that I am often not asked about my history or my culture or when I came to Australia, because of the colour of my skin. That is something that we need to continue to address as a society. Those of us who were born here, regardless of the colour of our skin, are all Australians and all have something to contribute.

It is good to know, though, from the statistics and research that has been done, particularly by social cohesion reports, that the majority of Australians agree. Eighty-nine per cent of Australians say that multiculturalism is a good thing. Eighty-five per cent say that immigration improves Australian society by bringing in new ideas and new culture. Ninety-one per cent of Australians agree that someone born outside of Australia is just as likely to be a good citizen as somebody born in Australia. I do find this statistic a bit troubling because we are talking about exclusion, but it is good to see that 91 per cent of Australians do agree that someone born outside of Australia can be a good citizen, if they choose to become an Australian citizen.

The government recognises and welcomes the extraordinary, positive contribution that we can all make and that successive generations make. That's something, too, that is important to recognise about multiculturalism. It doesn't matter whether you yourself migrated to this country or whether it was your great-grandparents or your great-great-grandparents; all of us have part of that culture to share—that Australian story.

Whilst I am the first in my family to be born in Australia, my partner and my children are part of a long multigenerational legacy. My partner's great-great-great-grandparents emigrated to Australia from Ireland and from Germany back during the gold rushes. That's part of the history of my home town of Bendigo. Many people migrated to Bendigo in central Victoria during the gold rush era. Whether they were from Afghanistan, China, Germany or the US, or whether they came from England or broader parts of the continent, they migrated to try and strike it rich in, or to support, the goldfields.

In more recent times, we've had a resurgence, with many people choosing to make Bendigo their home, and at our citizenship ceremonies, where there's that proud moment to recognise their countries of origin, quite often there are 15 to 21 countries that people have come from—and I know that our citizenship ceremonies in Bendigo are quite small compared to some of those in Greater Melbourne, like Greater Dandenong and Wyndham Vale. It really does demonstrate that rich tapestry that we have across our country.

Our government is getting on with supporting, where we can, that rich diversity and celebrating the many ways in which migrants and multiculturalism have strengthened our country. I've mentioned citizenship. We've also started to expand support in terms of education opportunities, English-language opportunities, and we're building to make sure that the next generation has the same opportunities. As I've said, in my town we celebrate our diversity. It is our greatest strength.

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