Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I still get goose bumps hearing that iconic song, It's Time, from the 1972 election. For me, it captured so much of the optimism that was embodied in the vision and policies of the Whitlam-led federal Australian Labor Party. I do not actually remember it when it happened. It was in playing a small role in supporting the 20th commemoration of the dismissal 20 years after 1975—in 1995—that I sought the footage and we were given permission to play it at that commemorative function.

My observation is that the emotions felt at that time, by both rusted on followers of and converts to the Labor cause alike, were obviously a high point in Australian political idealism. They are emotions that people hunger for still as they look to the Labor Party to present this higher vision for Australia. The expansive policies and programs of the Whitlam government have changed Australia for the better. They started many initiatives which were subsequently brought to fruition by subsequent governments, and they worked on many campaigns and ideas that may not have come to fruition at all but remain part of that large body of ideas that are pursued by the Labor Party and by people who have at their heart a progressive nature.

I want to reflect on just a few of these achievements today, and it is an interesting and very long list of achievements. I put my own list together listening to and reading the media commentary and listening to colleagues here today. Just off the top of my head, it includes everything from the pulling together of the Order of Australia so that Australians would have our own system of recognition, which I think is an enormous achievement, to the republic, environment conservation, heritage preservation, equal pay, freedom from discrimination, the arts, industry, regional development, being a confident global citizen, land rights, universal health care, free education and multicultural Australia, which is one I do want to focus one.

The Minister for Immigration in the Whitlam government from 1972 to 1974 was Al Grassby. He was the person who launched Australia's policy on multiculturalism in 1973, earning him the tag 'father of multiculturalism'. The first official reference to multiculturalism is in a 1973 speech entitled 'A multi-cultural society for the future'.

During this time, the Whitlam government introduced a variety of wide-ranging reforms in citizenship, immigration, services for people from non-English-speaking backgrounds and Indigenous affairs. This included introducing community radio in a range of languages for the first time. Of course, as we have heard today already, they banned racially selected sporting teams from playing in Australia and applied new non-discriminatory procedures for the selection of migrants and the issue of tourist visas.

One of the specific initiatives that I want to reflect on is immigration policy. This is summarised by the Whitlam Institute who reflect that many aspects of the White Australia policy had already been removed up to that point, but discriminatory measures in immigration still remained, and certain privileges and advantages were still given to white or British migrants and denied to others. It was the Whitlam government that acted to remove this discrimination. The Whitlam Institute goes on to reflect that before the election of the Whitlam government the assisted passage migration scheme, which provided financial assistance to new migrants, discriminated against immigrants on the basis of their ethnicity. The Whitlam government was the government that extended the scheme to include immigrants of any ethnicity. Further, eligibility for citizenship was made more equitable. Before the Australian Citizenship Act 1973, migrants from non-Commonwealth nations had to reside in Australia for five years before they were eligible for citizenship, whereas Commonwealth migrants could qualify after one year of residing in Australia. The Whitlam government's legislation meant that all immigrants, regardless of their origin, were eligible after three years residence in Australia.

During this time as well it was reflected on that the absence of non-Anglo Australian cultural representation in popular culture, especially in the media, was attracting a lot of comment. The question was asked: how often do our television screens reflect anything like the variety of migrant groups encountered in a real-life stroll through our city streets and suburbs? It was not a stretch that these observations formed part of the motivation for the subsequent government's—the Fraser government's—1978 Galbally report. As an important aside, the Galbally report recommended additional program structure around Australia's multicultural society and articulated principles for access and equity for all Australians. These principles remain alive and well today. The Galbally report also provided the framework for the establishment of Australia's Special Broadcasting Service, the SBS.

Following the passage of the Racial Discrimination Act, the minister at the time, Mr Grassby, was appointed the Commissioner for Community Relations. With two staff, he set about putting it into action. Of course, Gough was at the launch. At the time, he said:      

The Racial Discrimination Act wrote it firmly into the legislation that Australia is in reality a multicultural nation, in which the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Aboriginal people and of peoples from all parts of the world can find an honoured place … For the first time Australia affirmed its opposition to all forms of racial discrimination ...

Today I would like to pay my respects and acknowledge the leadership provided by Gough Whitlam and the Whitlam government in shaping a genuinely multicultural nation. We were by definition, anyway, but it had yet to be reflected in formal policy and programs. The Whitlam government showed us and called it what it was. We were already a diverse nation, with our diversity stemming well before the great wave of post Second World War migration.

Combined with the profound steps taken by the Whitlam government in progressing the rights of Aboriginal Australians, human rights and this theme of equity, regardless of one's race or ethnicity, became one of the Australian Labor Party's themes, one of our principles and I am proud to say it remains so to this day. ACT branch members whom I work with constantly remind me that this is one of the great principles of Labor and it is all of our responsibility to uphold. Gough was at one time a member of the ACT ALP's Canberra South's sub-branch and I am sure they will take the time to reflect on that auspicious membership in their monthly meeting to come.

Today we are commemorating Edward Gough Whitlam, Companion of the Order Of Australia, Queen's Counsel, but to most Australians he was a genuine hero. He changed their world in many ways and he gave us a sense of pride and national identity. For me personally the legacy that this man has left me as a Labor activist and representative in this place is Australia's place in the world, that we are a nation that can stand on our own two feet proudly, confidently and with a strong vision for the future.

He was able to stand up and bring new conversations into the parliament, new issues that were affecting people, born out of what his experience was in talking to people and in taking the time to do so. These are all wonderful lessons for us and it is incumbent upon us all to uphold the legacy that Gough Whitlam gave us and to still take these lessons and apply them in a very genuine way, as I try to. But, most of all, it was his optimism and outward focus for Australia to take its place in the world and for this I am truly grateful.

I would like to extend my condolences to the Whitlam family. I would also like to extend those to Senator Faulkner—he is obviously feeling pain now—and to each and every one of my colleagues in reflecting on Gough Whitlam, his life and his extraordinary contribution. I should just speak for myself: it has had an uplifting effect. It has helped remind me of the Labor legacy and why I do the work I do. Thank you, Gough.