Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, President. And I thank the government, at the outset, for their cooperation in the joint proposal of the amendments to this motion. At a time when, right around the globe, we see enormous fracturing of politics and the way politics is conducted, and at a time when there are media and media sources perpetuating evermore extreme and conspiratorial material and perpetuating remarks that are offensive to other individuals, it is important on occasions like this that the parties of government in a country like Australia speak with one voice when it comes to central and important values for our nation. And I make clear, as the motion as proposed to be amended by Senator Wong and myself makes clear, that racism and discrimination have no place in any place, anywhere, at any time, against anyone in our nation or elsewhere. There is certainly no place in this parliament for racism or discrimination. My personal experiences will self-evidently be vastly different to those of senators of other backgrounds, who have confronted racism or discrimination leading to hurt, to injustice, to stereotyping or to prejudice.

I say to all Australians—be they others in this place or elsewhere, be they Indigenous Australians or migrants to our nation throughout the generations—that you are all valued, that you are all important, that you all, and should all, enjoy the rights and responsibilities accorded to all Australians, rights and responsibilities in equal measure to all, regardless of their background.

We all, in this great country, do have enormous rights accorded to us and enormous opportunities that are not available everywhere else around the world. But we carry some responsibilities too, and particularly the responsibilities to show respect—respect to those rights, respect to the opportunities accorded to us and respect to the systems that have provided for those opportunities—and with that, there ought to be clear respect for one another.

In this place, in this parliament, we enjoy certain privileged rights, enhanced rights, but also very clearly enhanced responsibilities for our conduct. And this parliament, as per the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins's report last year, and its title, should set the standard. That report focused on a range of different conduct issues, but frankly it should apply in all manner in relation to the way our nation engages. This place should set the standard in all of our conduct and on any of the issues and approaches that we undertake. Members and senators are of course free to seek change, but they should, in seeking change, respect the rights, the institutions and the practices that give them, in this country, the opportunity to seek those changes. Members and senators will disagree, but they should show respect for one another.

President, my advice to senators of all stripes is: stay out of the gutter; rise above the Twitterverse; play the ball, not the person. Even in the conduct of this debate the interjections, the swipes and the insinuations have hindered, not helped, in the conduct of being able to make clear statements in relation to the condemnation of racism; in relation to the assurance of all Australians, especially migrants, that they are valued and welcomed; in relation to the importance of this parliament being a safe place to work; and in relation to making sure that it is clear to all senators to engage in debates respectfully. Please look to the bigger picture and be the bigger people that Australians of all views and values overwhelmingly want us to be.