Multifaith Communities, Harmony Day & Multiculturalism

Dr RAHMAN (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, over the last month a lot of us have enjoyed engaging in several events that celebrate our diversity, and I thought that was worth reflecting upon briefly tonight.  

 On 14 February we had a huge interfaith reception next door, which was a celebration of the NT’s multi-faith communities. There were 60-odd groups represented and it was a huge tapestry of the world all in one room. 

 It was a privilege to be the emcee, on behalf of the Chief Minister, and to introduce the guest speaker, Imam Adama Konda, who I grew up with. He is a man from Burkina Faso, of all places. Try to find that on a map. He was one of many multi-faith leaders who spoke well and very kindly on that day, including Bishop Charles Gauci, Father Christos Tsoraklidis, Mr Gurkkal and Dr Edwin Joseph, the multicultural president. There was great wisdom shared from all of them.  

There are several other events I could go through in the same vein. I will not go through them all forensically, because I want to draw attention to the bigger picture. There were a couple of things that I think we all delighted in. People have been celebrating a number of things to do with Ramadan, which this year neatly coincides with Lent, making it easier for people across the spectrum to all suffer in silence together, exercise self-restraint and be mindful of trying to do good.  

On 9 March many of my colleagues and I—in fact, many of us in this room, across parties—were at the United Muslims of Northern Territory Interfaith Iftar event at the Hilton, which was lovely. I ate my fill that night. Likewise, just this weekend we were at the Islamic Society of Darwin Grand Iftar in Casuarina, which was a lovely celebration. It was lovely to see so many people of different faiths all breaking bread together.  

There have been so many different Holi events that I do not know which one to pick, but everyone has delighted in being able to play Holi, throw the colours around, get out there and get mucky. For anyone who has been wondering, the reason I am not there is that I am allergic to half the dyes. I found out the hard way several times over. I am no longer allowed to get coloured in colours; I will turn out in hives. It was a phenomenal opportunity for everyone to come together, particularly to celebrate our growing Nepalese community which is now shooting up the ranks as one of the most numerous ethnic groups represented in the Northern Territory. 

Last week, on 19 March, we had a massive Harmony Day celebration outside. Everybody was resplendent in orange. On 21 March, on Harmony Day itself, a number of you will have attended different things across the Territory. I was lucky enough to go to the ARRCS (Australian Regional and Remote Community Services) group, which had a little gathering. It was fantastic to celebrate Harmony Day with other people.  

The thing that binds all this together—this is the point I want to make—is we are not a multicultural nation by accident; there is something underlying all of this. Behind all the costumes, colour, food and saying how wonderful diversity is, lies effort. It is worth remembering that because it is not something we should take for granted.  

Our First Nations people are the original inhabitants who provided multicultural experiences in many ways, engaging with people across shores. For 65,000 years ATSI people have sustained many cultures and more than 250 languages on this continent. If we fast-forward to the post-World War II era, from 1945 to 2024 we welcomed 7.5 million immigrants, which included almost one million of them as refugees and people in humanitarian need. More than half of the Australian population was born overseas or has at least one parent who was born overseas and 5.5 million Australians speak a language other than English at home. They are the foundations of the diversity in this Chamber. It is worth remembering that we go back a long way in that regard. 

It was not until 1973 that the White Australia policy was removed, which was not that long ago. Think about what that was—a policy that excluded non-European immigration. During that period immigrants were expected to leave their cultures and languages behind. Forget your Laksa Festival; it was a different time. 

In the 1960s and 1970s we started to move forward and question whether that was necessary, and wanted to be a more inclusive country, probably from 1973 onwards. Al Grassby, the Immigration minister in the Whitlam government, was the first person to release a paper called ‘A multi-cultural society for the future’. It presented a bold vision of a society that embraced cultural difference while fostering unity, and marks the beginning of our formal recognition of multiculturalism as a strength of our society. 

In 1975 at a ceremony proclaiming the Racial Discrimination Act in Parliament House, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam first referred to Australia as a multicultural society. He was supported in the speeches that surrounded that by the Leader of the Opposition at the time. 

In 1977 we had the Ethnic Affairs Council advise the Fraser government. It recommended a public policy, finally, on multiculturalism in its report, Australia as a Multicultural Society. In 1978 the Fraser government implemented the first official national multicultural policy. That was only 45 years ago. It is not that long that we have had multiculturalism. That is the reality of it. That was in accordance with the recommendations of the Galbally report. 

In 1979 we had an Act of parliament establishing the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs. In 1986 that was repealed by the Hawke government, but then replaced in 1987 by the Office of Multicultural Affairs which was created in the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to give it proper weight and gravitas and to recognise that multiculturalism belonged as a central concern of government within its central agency. 

In 1989 the Hawke government produced the National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia, which had bipartisan support. In 1996 the OMA (Office of Multicultural Affairs) was absorbed by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs under the Howard government. The Howard government, likewise, launched its report in 1999, Australian Multiculturalism for a New Century: Towards Inclusiveness.  

I will not cover the period between 2000 and the present day—the last 25 years—because it is not necessary in the sense that there have been some policy shifts, but basically there has been bipartisan support for multiculturalism across Australia over that time. However, there have been challenges, and multiculturalism has been threatened at times. We live in tumultuous times and a time of global turmoil and instability, fragmentation and politics being driven to extremes on both edges. We live in relative harmony here, and we take it for granted to a large extent. 

It is great that we have the Chung Wah Society with the lions, the Laksa Festival and the events that we have, but do not forget these were all hard-fought and won gains. It would not take much to erode them. It does not take much for social fragmentation to occur. When people are economically and socially stressed— which I think it is fair to say they are in the Northern Territory now—that is when stuff kicks off.  

It is important that we, as Members of the Legislative Assembly, fight for multiculturalism. It is not just a word; it is an ethic, and it deserves being fought for in my opinion. The point I make is that it is also a policy commitment, which is why I gave that exhaustive documented history, if you like. The policy was also hard-fought and won over time, and it requires attention, nurturing and a genuine ongoing commitment to ensure that it does not crumble in our face.  

I was lucky when I first went to the UK to study for my PhD to work for a gentleman called Professor Ceri Peach. The late Emeritus Professor Guthlac Ceri Klaus Peach was a professor of social geography and an adviser to numerous British governments over a long time about British white people and Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus getting along and not getting along. This was a guy who advised government on social cohesion and what ends up happening if you do not put in place the right policy settings and you do not defend those rights. He wrote extensively about race riots as well.   

I had a long time to think about these issues under his tutelage. I learnt a lot. At the time I sort of resented it thinking, ‘I come from multicultural paradise; I do not need to know any of this’, but it turns out that it is useful to know because some of what is going on in the Northern Territory now makes me worry about how durable our multicultural polity really is. 

He offered me a cautionary note at the time about fighting for multiculturalism, and I offer that to the House now as well. The UK, which is every bit as diverse as here, does not have nearly the same unified front when it comes to multiculturalism. Bear in mind that Prime Minister David Cameron declared in 2011 that state multiculturalism was a failure in the UK. I never want to see that happen in the Northern Territory. I think it is important that we fight for multiculturalism and remember how much value it gives us. I will wrap up on that point.   

I am excited that Stuart Park Primary School has extended its multicultural celebrations, and on Friday I will be at its Harmony Day Assembly Spectacular. Long live our commitment to multiculturalism in Australia.