Sam Dastyari (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is hard not to be moved by the many condolences given across the political divide for Gough Whitlam today in the Senate. I rise to offer my condolences to the family and friends of our former Prime Minister.

There are many among us, myself included, who are here because of the legacy of Gough Whitlam who in a small way personified the incredible impact he had on Australia and Australian society. I was a child born in Iran, a nation at war, but welcomed to Australia in the midst of the bicentenary celebration. I was raised in Sydney's multicultural suburbs.

My short lifetime, before I was given the privilege of serving in this place, was spent among the world's most wonderfully diverse communities. I am just one Australian, who, like many of us here, is from another place, with another history, another culture, who was gifted the great opportunity of Australia by Gough Whitlam.

I am fortunate to have thanked Gough for that gift both in person and through my commitment to the values of the Australian Labor Party. My parents, my sister, my family and my children are eternally thankful to him.

Today, during this time, I would like to reflect on Gough Whitlam's living legacy among the ethnic and multicultural communities of Australia that I grew up in and among—the richness, the vibrancy, the diversity, the colour and the movement. In this place and the other place, we have been reminded repeatedly over the past week of what Australia was like before Gough and what Australia became after Gough. Like the world's great visionaries, he saw what was and with great clarity saw what could be and he took the action to ensure that it could be done.

Over the last week, I have asked my friends in the multicultural communities—the elders and the youngsters—what impact Gough Whitlam had on their lives. Again and again, they pointed with firmness and clarity to his contributions to race relations and in giving dignity to their cultures, while extending a warm welcome to Australia. He embraced all of us, not just some of us. As Senator Peris noted earlier, Gough understood how racism hurt.

Early on, the Whitlam Labor government took three steps to change how race affected our migration policy: firstly, to introduce legislation to ensure that all migrants, whatever their origin, were eligible for citizenship after three years of permanent residence; secondly, to issue instructions to our embassies overseas to totally disregard race as a factor in the selection of migrants; and, thirdly, to ratify all international agreements relating to immigration and race. One of these was the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which led to the introduction of our own Racial Discrimination Act in 1975. I respectfully note the work of the Fraser government and other governments and especially Gough's great friend, John Menadue, in continuing these policies and in turning away from White Australia era.

I would like to use the opportunity provided to me in this chamber to lend my voice to the words of others on these changes and what they mean today, more than a generation later. I would like to share a few words of some ethnic community leaders in Sydney and what they wanted to say about Gough if they had been given the opportunity that I had been given. Ms Maha Abdo, the 2014 NSW Human Rights Ambassador and an executive officer of United Muslim Women Association, says:

Gough Whitlam opened up opportunities for families like ours. He is the reason I am where I am today and doing what I do. His legacy will live forever and we are the ones carrying it forward through our actions with courage and willpower. Wasalam.

Professor Nihal Agar, the chairman of the Hindu Council of Australia, says:

Gough Whitlam had a vision for a culturally diverse society. We refer to him as the "greatest reformer in Australian history". He will be remembered always by multicultural Australia as a leader with egalitarian principles who fought for a just society.

Varuni Bala, the head of the Australian Tamil Congress, tells us:

Australian Tamils proudly call Australia home because of this great man and his vision. A vision of an outward looking, progressive and egalitarian Australia. We were one of the beneficiaries of the introduction of the official policy of multiculturalism and Racial Discrimination Act. The first expressions of this policy were the introduction of new translation services for migrants, and the establishment of multicultural radio services. As a community, we are proud that Tamil is now a HSC subject.

Aneeta Menon, a young leader from the Fijian community, tells us:

Making discrimination on the grounds of race and ethnicity in Australia illegal was the single most pivotal moment in creating an enriched multicultural community.

My good friend Sheikh Huque, the president of the Bangabandu Council Australia, on behalf of the Bangladeshi community tells me:

Australia was the first among western nations to recognise Bangladesh. Under Gough Whitlam's instruction, Australia assisted Bangladesh to secure membership to the United Nations in 1974. He was the first and last Prime Minister of Australia to pay a state visit to Bangladesh on January 19 1975 and sent James Allen, who spoke Bengali, as the first High Commissioner as a demonstration of goodwill towards the new nation.

Where the mighty tree falls, a forest rises in its place. We in this place measure our contributions to this country in many ways. One way is to judge the impact that our actions will have on the lives of the poor and the powerless. But we know, you and I, that the contributions that we make in this place to the lives of their children are always much more important. We are all the children and the grandchildren, a line of succession coloured in many hues, of the many great contributions made to this country by Gough Whitlam.