Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

As a migrant who came to this country in 1973, I had the opportunity to emigrate from Scotland to a number of countries. I chose Australia because Australia was a multicultural country and Australia was a country that had decent rights for working people and treated people fairly. I took the view that for my family it was better to come to Australia. I have been so fortunate in this country as a migrant. But my fortune has not been matched, certainly in recent times, by new migrants coming to this country who don't have a command of the English language and who come here to make things better for their families. I don't think running an argument about free speech, as in what we saw yesterday, was an appropriate response to what I witnessed in here last night.

I have sat through most of the first speeches since I have been in this place—for nearly 11 years now. Some of them I have completely disagreed with in the context of what has been said, but I have shown the respect that people deserve when they stand up to do their first speech. Yesterday was the first time that I have walked out of a first speech. I walked out on Senator Anning's speech because I thought it was absolutely despicable. I thought it was race baiting. I thought it was the worst racist thing I have witnessed in here. I've witnessed some terrible things in here, with some of the nonsense we hear from One Nation, but this took it to another level. My concern is that, as long as we sit in this place and say nothing about that type of race baiting, then we weaken democracy in this country.

I have taken the view that free speech is important. But I did follow one senator on the doors this morning who was arguing that this was free speech in action. This was not free speech. It was race hate. It was racism of the worst kind. A reporter asked that senator, 'What would you do if that was put against you?' I just don't accept his argument that people would argue back and stand up for themselves. It's okay for a highly educated, Australian-born person with a command of the English language, with all the power and privilege you get from being a senator, to say that you would stand up for yourself. But that's not what most people in this country have. They don't have that education. They don't have that power. They don't have that privilege. To stand up and excuse what Senator Anning did here yesterday as simply being free speech, and to say that someone who is offended by that should stand up for themselves, shows how far backwards we have gone in this country since I took the view that Australia was the best place for me to emigrate to as a skilled tradesperson and to bring my family.

We have gone backwards. We have gone backwards a long way. When Senator Hanson stands up and does her race baiting, we think that's a normal part of debate in this country. It's not a normal part of debate, it's racism. And it's not a normal part of debate in this place when Senator Anning stands up and uses his first speech to divide this community. I don't feel the least bit intimidated by anyone in here. I left school at 15. I'm a working-class guy. I can stand up for myself. I've got a great deal of power. I've got a great deal of privilege by being a senator in this place. But even I, because of my accent, have been told that I've been unintelligible in this place by those opposite. I've been told to 'speak Australian' by those opposite. We must get away from that. We must treat this place with the respect it deserves. We are leaders in this place, and everyone who comes to this country should be judged by the contribution they make—not their race, not their religion. It's about the contribution they make to this country.

Many, many migrants make a contribution—a contribution that is harder for them to make than it is for white, highly educated Australians. They come here with no money, but they come here with lots of hope. I had $80 when I came here, the equivalent of a week's wages. I've come a long way from that. But, for many in this country, they'll be the ones that are cleaning Woolies, they'll be the ones that are pushing the trolleys at Woolies, they'll be the ones that are digging the holes to keep this country going and they will be getting ripped off. And yet we've got a senator that would come in here and denigrate their contribution to this country. I'll tell you: if I were on an operating table and I had a Muslim surgeon fixing my problems, I wouldn't be worrying about what religion they were or where they came from. It's the contribution that people make that is important in this country. I thank Senator Cormann for the contribution he made. He is a first-generation migrant himself. But I would say to Senator Cormann: make sure the rest of your senators, the rest of your MPs, understand how difficult it is for migrants when they come to this country. They are faced with huge challenges, and they don't need Senator Anning or Pauline Hanson trying to rip them down. It's just unacceptable.

We are a better country than this, and we need to stand up for the issues that are important to this country—treating everyone fairly, treating everyone equitably. I support this motion. I support it because it's the right thing to do. If we allow racism to run unchallenged in this place, if we can't deal with it at the apex of our constitutional operation, then what happens out in the streets will become even worse. We all have an obligation to treat people fairly and equitably and to treat them on the basis of their contribution to the country, not where they come from, not what their religion is, not what the colour of their skin is. We need to change that now, and we need to stand up for every Australian, for our fellow Australians, because that's what's important in this place.