Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Minister Watt, representing Minister Giles. Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It's observed throughout the world on the day police in South Africa killed 69 people at a peaceful protest against apartheid in 1960. Only in Australia is 21 March celebrated as Harmony Day, with barely a mention of racism. Harmony Day is a Howard government invention that whitewashes racism and sweeps it under the rug.

We know that in Australia too many people feel the fear of racism every single day. On the weekend, Melbourne saw the despicable allowance of hate, with neo-Nazis saluting on the steps of the Victorian parliament. Will the government ditch Harmony Day and Harmony Week and restore the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, with its original purpose of recognising the pervasive nature of racism and combating it?