Ralph Babet (Victoria, United Australia Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Multiracial—yes, no problem. Multiculture—heck, no. Multiculturalism does not work. It does not work. It is a failed experiment that has only served to dilute what is great about Western culture and to fracture social cohesion. To say this is not to attack migrants; I myself am a migrant. But my family did not migrate to Australia in order to reproduce a foreign culture, as multiculturalism encourages migrants to do. My parents came to Australia because the culture was already closely aligned with the culture of my country of birth. We recognised the uniqueness of the shared cultures, and we knew they would provide us with the freedoms and the opportunities which are not afforded elsewhere.

I believe that the Australian culture is superior to all others, obviously. I love Australia. But, sadly, not all migrants share this view. The West made a grave mistake when it embraced moral relativism, which, as a natural consequence, led to cultural relativism. By rejecting objective truth, we lost any basis for observing that some cultures are more preferable to other cultures. Rather than taking pride in our culture, we assured migrants that they could live in Australia without adopting our culture. Far from being enlightened and progressive, this is a grave mistake that destroys our social cohesion and fractures our nation. Rather than being a multiracial society sharing the wonderful culture of freedom, prosperity et cetera, we have become a multicultural society that cannot even agree on a flag, let alone the core values.

We now have migrants arrive on our shores who not only do not share our values but in some cases actively oppose those values. All of this can be traced back to the Whitlam Labor government, which adopted multiculturalism as official policy. They accepted people from cultures at odds with ours, and they promised that they would be free to persist with their counterculture once they got here. The eventual result, which is obvious by now, was that parallel societies began to form and, worse, that certain groups began to show contempt for Australian culture and values while demanding respect for their own.

Progressives will no doubt label me a xenophobe or maybe even worse, but open your eyes. See what is happening all around Australia, in our suburbs, in our cities—and not just here. See what's happening all across Europe as well. All cultures are not the same. That's a fact. They're not the same. Western culture has been uniquely prosperous, and it is not by accident. The truth that progressives cannot admit is that the West has been built on a Christian foundation. The sooner we insist those coming to Australia are aligned with our values and embrace our culture, the sooner we will have social harmony.

The prophet Amos once asked, 'How can two walk together unless they are agreed?' It was obviously a rhetorical question; they cannot. Right now we're a nation pulling in many different directions, and if this continues we'll be torn apart. The sooner we admit to the folly of multiculturalism and insist that those joining us align with our values, the sooner we'll get back to being the lucky country that made us so appealing in first place. Far-left Marxists have infected our institutions and halls of power with their mission to destroy our nation. These people, with their hatred disguised as tolerance and their evil intentions masquerading as social justice, loathe Western civilisation, our traditions, our history and our Christian foundations. These Marxists are intent on undermining family and culture, and multiculturalism has been one of their preferred and most effective weapons.

If we really care about Australia, we will do all we can to preserve our culture and to boldly assert once again that Australia is a great place to live. If you are fortunate enough to live here, then you are responsible for embracing and promoting the Australian way of life. If you cannot do that, then perhaps Australia is not the place for you. Pack your bags and leave.