Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening in this grievance debate to talk about the current state of our national conversation here in Australia and the fact that it seems to be broken. I rise to talk about social cohesion and the tone of the debate at the moment in Australia—in this place and in the community. From the outset, I want to put on record again my support for people to protest, to express their views to their representatives and to participate in our democracy, because, without protest, without views being expressed openly, we lose what makes our system of government so special. When we disagree respectfully, when we can test each other's ideas, that's when the best decisions are made in the interests of Australians.

But, at the moment, I fear that we are losing some of that. I fear that, in recent months and years, anger is increasing, listening is declining, respect is evaporating. Too often, the facts are not a key feature of discussion. It is reaching a point where debate, both in this chamber and outside of parliament, is reduced to sound bites and clickbait. Genuine positions are twisted and misrepresented. Opposing views are becoming attacks on the very character of the individuals who hold them. Political opponents are being presented as enemies. We in this chamber are not enemies of each other. It's my belief that everyone here genuinely is here because they want what's best for Australians, even if we disagree on how best to achieve that.

In the last few days, we've seen the vandalising of war memorials here at the national War Memorial, in my electorate. I just want to condemn that in the absolute strongest terms. These memorials, which I am so proud to have in the electorate that I represent, are there to honour the service and sacrifice of all Australians who have served. They should be treated with the utmost respect, always.

We've also seen, in recent days, a teenager arrested for plotting a terrorist attack against MPs. We have seen, even today, terrible vandalism and disruption at electorate offices. What happened to the member for Macnamara's office was absolutely shocking, as was what has happened in the member for Wills's office, and these are just two examples among many. I think these violent actions and disruptive actions do nothing to further the causes of the people that are claiming to represent those causes in doing these things. They do disrupt people's access to their local member, as part of their democratic right to go and see their local member about issues that affect them—be it a Centrelink, NDIS or immigration matter. People are not feeling safe to go and do that. Peoples' offices have been closed, and, as for our staff—electoral staff, who are incredibly hardworking people who care about their communities—they are being put in increasingly dangerous and distressing situations. It needs to stop.

Almost every MP has been labelled a war criminal or a supporter of genocide. I say, as someone who has been copping that for many months now, it's ridiculous. Our government has been calling for a ceasefire for over six months. Our government is delivering aid to Gaza. Our government has called for Israel to cease attacks on Rafah. I want to say this in the context of the many speeches I have given on this since 7 October and the many speeches I gave on Palestinian rights before that—since I was elected in 2019. I understand the deep distress people are feeling about what's going on. I understand the way people in my community are feeling. I've been listening to them on this issue. But there is a dehumanising of politicians that is happening at the moment, which is not good for the debate at all. It is not helping people to be heard, and it is not encouraging people to want to be politicians and to represent their communities in this place. It is becoming such an ugly game at the moment, with some really serious accusations being thrown around, and the temperature of debate is damaging our social cohesion in this country.

In recent years, around the world we've seen violent attacks on MPs. We've even seen people killed. This is not something that we should be blase about. This is not something remote from us in Australia. We can't believe that we are immune from that. We need to be careful about the conversations we are having in this place and the impact that they are having on people in our communities. I would say that every member of this House and the other place and many involved in state or territory politics have experienced real and physical threats to their safety or incredibly confronting emails and conversations with people. It is not doing anything to further causes. As I say, too often the facts have gone missing in these discussions.

This being a grievance debate, I have been reflecting on a few things and I want, as part of this, to bring together a few reflections I've had. One is about an amazing event that I had the great honour to MC on Sunday night, which was a fundraiser for one of our Labor candidates for the ACT assembly seat of Murrumbidgee, Noor El-Asadi—a wonderful candidate and an inspirational woman—and my amazing colleagues from the federal party the Deputy Speaker, the member for Lingiari, the member for Holt and, also, the member for Swan. These four women are inspirational not just to me but to young women everywhere. Each of them brought such an incredible story that we had the chance to hear that night. I feel that this is something that is lost when we are all just diminished to people who are presented as not caring, as not listening or as not having human reactions to things that we are hearing in the community and seeing unfold around the world.

There is another event I want to reflect on. I recently attended a documentary screening of a film about a constituent of mine, Dr Nilofar Ebrahimi, who is an obstetrician-gynaecologist and former member of the Afghanistan parliament. Subsequently she has come to Canberra seeking refuge here following the Taliban takeover. This documentary was one of the most moving things I have ever seen. People were sitting there crying, watching her story and that of a groundbreaking journalist in Afghanistan, Shakila Ibrahaimkhel, because they were women and doing these things as women for the first time. It really brought home the struggles that people have for democracy and equality. One of the most moving parts of this was where Nilofar said: 'I was the first in my community to be a doctor. I was the first to be a politician.' Another part was where, after you see her struggles, her separation from her family and her fears for the safety of her young children, she said, 'If I wasn't a real representative, why would I do this stuff?'

First of all, the message is that we cannot forget the women and girls of Afghanistan, who have now gone for over 1,000 days without access to education. That is something that Nilofar's organisation she runs here in Canberra, the ZamZam Foundation, does to support them. I think it's important that we all just take a moment to think about what people in this place are trying to achieve. We are listening, we are people and we feel the same things that people in the community feel. We should all, including in this place, take the temperature down on debate and work together for a peaceful democracy.