Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I had the opportunity today to go down to my department to speak about the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and to launch a report that I'm very proud of, which is about trying to ensure that within the foreign service we not only ensure that everybody can be the best they can be and are not held back but, more importantly, celebrate and make front and centre one of our great strengths as a nation, which is our diversity; that we bring the experience of First Nations people and that proud heritage to our foreign policy and to our diplomacy; and that we leverage and utilise all of the talents of the diverse cohort which makes up the people who work for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

I also say to you that it's what we all do to eliminate racism. It's what we do in our lives, it's what we do in this chamber, it's what we do in our workplaces, it's what we do on public transport and it's how we speak. One of the things I would really encourage in this place is for us to try to speak as a collective, because I would hope that, on this issue, we actually share values. My view on what things are called is that I personally don't have an issue with the word 'harmony', but I'm also happy to talk about the elimination of racial discrimination and my own personal experience of racism, to try to empower those who still experience racism too often and so often and to do all we can to ensure we live in a society and a world and operate in this chamber in a way that is respectful and inclusive. (Time expired)