Page 1194 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 29 March 2017
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These issues are especially pertinent to me as the member for Yerrabi. Yerrabi boasts one of the most multicultural societies in Australia. A quick scan of the 2011 census tells us this story. Almost one-third of Yerrabi residents were born overseas and almost one-third speak a language other than English at home. These figures have only become more diverse with the addition of Jacka, Moncrieff and Throsby and their thriving multicultural communities.
Yerrabi is an excellent example of how multiculturalism can unite us rather than divide us. My own community is particularly concerned about these proposed changes. Most recently I had the president of the Canberra Muslim community contact me and other members of the Assembly. He said:
Our Muslim communities across Australia are in a heightened state of fear and anxiety about the proposed changes to Section 18C of the Act. We, the Canberra Muslim Community, urge you to do all that is in your power to oppose the proposed changes to Section 18C of the Act.
And this ACT Labor government will. It is worth considering his words though:
We, the Canberra Muslim Community, urge you to do all that is in your power …
I accept, as I noted before, that we cannot affect the federal legislation here. But are we powerless? I think not. We have local powers and we should act. A motion with tripartisan support opposing the changes to 18C will also send a strong message about what this Assembly believes and what Canberra stands for. I support the motion that Mr Steel has moved today.
MS ORR (Yerrabi) (10.52): I thank Mr Steel for bringing this motion forward today, for highlighting the fantastic celebrations of inclusivity that have been taking place across the territory this last month and for providing the opportunity to recognise the importance of inclusion as a core value for our community. I have spoken in this place on a number of occasions about the richness and diversity of our community and have boasted of Canberra as one of the most inclusive cities in the country. However, if we are to live up to this claim, this promise, if we are to be the truly inclusive community we aim to be and claim to be, we stand up and speak against the things that threaten and undermine both the inclusivity and diversity of this city.
As Mr Steel’s motion states, we must acknowledge the need to continuously improve our support for inclusion and embrace diversity. Our country has long been shaped by difference. The struggle of our Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders to gain recognition and acceptance is the first tale in this story but sadly not the last. Even the British settlers brought old feuds to this new land. While Australians have always prided themselves on a lack of class differences, Irish-Australians were seen as suspect into the 20th century due to the nature of their creed.
Successive waves of migration have changed our nation. Immigrants from east and south Asia came to Australia before we were a nation, important to the bustling communities of traders and shopkeepers that grew up around the goldfields. Australia’s migrant story continued after the Second World War with people seeking
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