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

Everyone has the right to live without fear of racial abuse, discrimination and violence, but far too many people in Australia continue to suffer racial harm and trauma. People already marginalised by the mainstream are further targeted in one racial tirade after another. It seems that espousing racist crap has absolutely no consequences for public figures, despite all the harm and humiliation they cause. Take Sonia Kruger, who has gone on to win a TV popularity contest. How disheartening that is. This is the same person who vilified people like me on national TV, when she went on a rant calling for an end to Muslim immigration. Given many chances, Sonia Kruger has never even come close to an apology for her hateful anti-Muslim remarks. Now she has won a Gold Logie. And it's not only that: Sonia Kruger continues to be platformed by major media outlets across Australia. How disappointing. But, sadly, this is not surprising to anyone who has been at the receiving end of racism.

Anti-Muslim racism isn't just normalised here; it is celebrated. Vilifying Muslims, other people of colour and First Nations people actually seems to elevate your profile in this country that is so steeped in racism. Our media and public discourse continues to normalise and enable racial hatred. This is deeply problematic and yet another reminder of how much work needs to be done in this country. Racism is so harmful and has wide-ranging negative impacts on individuals, on communities and on societies as a whole.

At the heart of it, racism is a control mechanism. It seeks to silence and exhaust people of colour until we decide that it is just not worth it to keep sacrificing our own health and safety to keep fighting. Its intention is to force us out of the public debate, away from demanding our rights, and to sit in the corner as passive observers with our heads down. My presence in the Senate remains an affront to many. They are offended that people of colour and Muslims have the audacity to not only exist but to open our mouths and join the public debate. But I'm still here and proud of my identity as a brown Muslim migrant feminist woman and as a Greens senator. People with stories like mine are asked to constantly explain our existence. For some, we will never be Australian enough. As author Toni Morrison said:

The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.

I have not been shy of rocking the boat and calling it like it is, but it is undeniable that I and others like me who talk about racism do bear a cost: death threats, persistent and insidious trolling online and abusive phone calls. But what other options do we have? I wonder how many voices have been silenced. I wonder how many good people who would add so much to our public debate, who have so much to offer to our communities, have been forced to take a step back because of the devastating impacts of racial hatred. We must do more to ensure our public spaces and discussions are not just free of racism but actively antiracist. We must ensure that people are held accountable for their racist views, but, time and time again, we see a lack of accountability.

Former AFL player Sam Newman goes on one racist rant after another on his podcasts, with his latest one attacking First Nations people, their history and culture. Yet major companies Apple, Google, Spotify and other podcast platforms have not pulled his content down. Racism in sport isn't new. It is not in the least bit surprising to anyone who follows sport that players and supporters can unleash racial hatred on First Nations people and people of colour at any time. In fact, sport remains a deeply unsafe place for marginalised people.

Although I have been focused on women's football lately, it's no secret that my heart belongs to cricket. But the reality is that cricket has been steeped in racism and is a sad reflection of broader societal prejudices and inequalities. I was watching the ashes on TV when Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja was singled out for abuse at Lord's, only recently. This is another one in a long line of incidents of discrimination that Khawaja has had to face, not for his playing but for who he is: a brown, Muslim migrant. In a recent interview, Khawaja talked not only about the overt racism he experiences but also its more insidious, structural form. He noted that the entire Cricket Australia board, national selectors and senior coaching staff are white. How is that possible in such a multicultural nation and in such a multicultural sport?

But sport is not the only unsafe and exclusionary workplace around. There are too many. Just look around us in parliament. Yes, there are a few more First Nations people and people of colour in this place, but we are nowhere near reflecting the streets and suburbs of Australia. This small, positive change must be accompanied by a genuine and transformational commitment to antiracism in every political party and structure. From MPs to political advisers, there is very little racial diversity here. Racism continues to be deeply exclusionary. Nearly a quarter of Australians aren't white, yet we still see so little cultural and racial diversity among those in positions of leadership, power and public life. Surely this can't be acceptable to us. Surely this is not something that we could be proud of. Yet, day in and day out, it feels like people of colour and First Nations people in this chamber are the only ones speaking out about it.

I want to particularly acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people whose very identity is yet again being used as a political football in the debate on the Voice. The Leader of the Opposition should be condemned for his recent comments saying the Voice proposal 'will re-racialise our nation'. How out of touch is this man to not acknowledge the deep disparities and disadvantages First Nations people face? The truth is: this country is and has been racialised ever since invasion. We have a long and bloody history of colonisation in Australia, and First Nations people still face the worst of racism and discrimination. We must commit and recommit to ending this, not on behalf of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities but alongside them. There is still such a reluctance among many to acknowledge that we are a settler-colonial society. It is a simple fact that Australia is a nation built on the invasion and colonisation of sovereign nations. It surprises and saddens me that this reality is still denied, often so vehemently.

Across the country, people of colour suffer. We suffer the harm and humiliation of racism. We suffer the insults and the isolation yet we must carry this burden all alone with the work of also calling it out. Despite the toll it takes on us, we must continue to be the lone voices in this place crying foul, and we must do this all with a brave face. The personal toll racism takes on each and every one of us is extraordinary yet we go on in the hope that one day this place will reflect the streets and suburbs of our nation, that one day we will reckon with Australia's colonial past and make amends. I hope that day is coming sooner rather than later. Despite the personal toll that it takes on me, I will continue to fight racism with whatever I've got.