CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
EMBARGO: 8: 05 PM
PERMA MNETE
FOR MEDIA MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30 1981
INAUGURAL ADDRESS ON MULTICULTURALISM
TO THE INSTITUTE OF MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS
Mr Chairman, Councillors and members of the Institute,
distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I greatly
welcome the invitation to give the Australian Institute
of Multicultural Affairs' inaugural lecture because of the
opportunity it provides to explore issues important to the
future of our country.
Like most people, my sense of what the future might hold is
conditioned by my understanding of the present and of the
past. History and experience impose responsibilities upon
us. In many areas, they compel us to respond to unpleasant
facts. To do otherwise would be to betray reason and responsl. hility.
History and experience also illuminate what we may strive for,
and it is no less a betrayal of reason and responsibility to
be afraid of achieving the full extent of what is possible.
Jt is perhaps the greatest failure of all to be blinded
to real possibilities by myth and prejudice. Many of the
world events which have taken place in our lifetime may giye
us just cause for pessi'mis. 1i. In Australia's case, however,
in the area we are considering tonight, we are fortunate that
our recent history reveals above all that our country has
an enormous capacity for social change, and has developed
a maturity and tolerance that few would have dared predict
in 1945.
Although Australians have always traced their roots to a
variety of cultures, at the end of the Second World War the
balance of numbers and perspectives was such that any discussion
of multiculturalism would have been dismissed as irrelevant
or anathema. Public and political opinion decisively favoure. a
maintaining a population and culture overwhelmingly Anglo-Celtic
in character and so apparently did the Australian tradition,
The lessons of Australian history appeared to support the view,
that the diversity our society would tolerate was strictly
limited. We had witnessed the disastrous unwillingness of
/ 2
-2
of white settlers to even contemplate a just accommodation
with the aboriginals, and the bitter course of relations
between Europeans and the Chinese and South Sea Islanders.
We had experienced the importation into a new nation of conflicts
between English and Irish, protestant and catholic, which
formed the basis of long-lasting divisions. We had seen
newer European migrant groups being given a less than welcome
reception by the established society. Of course even ties
of blood did not spare the British migrant from a measure of
suspicion and hostility especially if he or she was so
unwise as to express a word of criticism about life down under.
Yet despite all this, driven by the conviction that Australia
must " populate or perish", governments in the post-war period
mounted a massive program of immigration, a program which was to
create one of the world's most diverse populations. The
transformation wrought by that program on our society has been.
immense and dramatic, but-it was not deliberate.
Australia's first Minister for Immigration was merely expressiLng
the public and political consensus when he advised the
Parliament in 1946, " The Government's immigration policy is
based on the principle that migrants from the U. K. shall be
given every encouragement and assistance. It is my hope
that for every foreign migrant there will be ten people from
the United Kingdom... aliens are and will continue to be
admitted only in such numbers and of such classes that they
can readil. y be assimilated". Such a statement was an absolute
prerequisite for the new immigration program to secure the
support of all major political parties and the general
Australian community.
Policy consensus and continuity was made clear by his successor
from the other side of the House in 1950: " This is a British
community and we want to keep it a British community..."
Considerable social and political efforts were made to achieve
the twin goals of maintaining an* homogeneous population,
and assimilating those who were different. But these
efforts were in vain.
The hope that settlers from the United Kingdom would vastly
outnumber others was confounded by the composition of successive
migrant intakes. And as immigrants from other source countries
settled in growing numbers, they refuted the expectation that
they would assimilate, that they would shed their identities
like snakes their skins. They held fast to the parts of their
heritage they valued and endeavoured to pass them on to their
children. But if the initial premises of immigration policy
were soon invalidated, so too were the fears that prompted themn.
/ 3
-3
The record shows that Australia has since 1947 settled almost
three and a half million people from more than 100 countries.
The record shows that Australia has been capable of embracing
an ever increasing degree of ethnic and cultural diversity.
The record shows ' that the Australian ' people, from wherever
they have come, have enriched and strengthened this country
with their cultures, their energies, th ' eir commitment and their
children. Together, we have built a nation which today, by
any international standard of comparison, must be judged a
success.
There is no doubt that this achievement has been sustained by
the economic growth and prosperity Australia has generally
attained since the war. History shows that societies are
most prone to racism and communal disdrd during periods of
economic difficulty. In Australia as elsewhere tolerance has
been at a premium when the gold has run out, or work difficult
to find. But there has been far more to our acceptance of
diversity than favourable economic circumstances. Our
achievement reflects social and political processes as well
as economic ones. It is important that we recognise them.
One critical process has been the way Australia's ethnic
communiti * es have developed, the initiatives they have
taken and the responses they have evoked. Migrants established
churches, community groups, welfare associations, schools and
sporting clubs through which they could preserve and develop
those aspects of the inheritance they valued.
They established ethnic communities, but they did not cut
themselves off from the community at 1 rge. They asserted
their right to be accorded a place * of'respect within the
Australian community, within its established constitutional
framework, a place that acknowledged their linguistic and
cultural needs and rights. Patiently and doggedly ethnic
commnunities sought out and changed the attitudes of the press,
educators, welfare agencies, churches, politicians, public
servants and the general public. They secured acceptance
of the issues which concerned them as legitimate and
significant items on the nation's social and political agendas.
The process of change which was involved took place with
relative speed. I say " with relative speed" not in order to
gloss over the years of neglect, but rather to emphasise that
it takes time to re-appraise established ways of seeing
society and yet that is what has been achieved.
What has occurred is more profound and more subtle than the
recognition of the needs of ethnic communities, important as
that has been. We have not simply grafted an ethnic dimension
on to an otherwise unchanged conception of ourselves. There
has been a fundamental reappraisal of the established way of
seeing Australia. In iQ'Ulticulturalism, we have forged a / 4
I -4-
ra dically innovative basis upon which we can respond as a
nation to Australia's diversity, to its challenges and
opportunities. It is a basis which offers at once both an
understanding of the present and a vision of the future built
upon that understanding.
The key elements of multiculturalism can be simply stated.
They are based both on realism and idealism. The starting
point is the recognition and appreciation of the fact that
the Australian population is derived from a wide variety of
ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and that these backgrounds
are important to the way Australians see themselves. The sheer
dutation and magnitude of immigration into this
country, the plain facts of the composition of Australia's
population mean that even if we wished otherwise ethnic and
cultural diversity can neither be ignored nor readily
extinguished.
We know that the attempt to enforce conformity holds high
costs both for the individual and the society. It denies
people their identity and self-esteem. It drives a wedge
between children and their parents. Ultimately it poses a
real threat of alienation and division. We cannot demand of
people that they renounce the heritage they value, and
yet expect them to feel welcome as full members of our society.
Realism alone dictates that cultural differences must be
responded to in a positive way.
But multiculturalism is concerned with far more than the
passive toleration of diversity. It sees diversity as a
quality to be actively embraced, a source of social wealth
and dynamism. It encourages groups to be open and to interact,
so that all Australians may learn and benefit from each other's
heritages. Multiculturalism is about diversity, not division
it is about interaction not isolation. It is about cultural
and ethnic differences set within a framework of shared
fundamental values which enables them to co-exist on a
complementary, rather than competitive basis. It involves
respect for the law and for our democratic institutions and
processes. Insisting upon a core area of common values is no
threat to multiculturalism but its guarantee, for it provides the
minimal conditions on which-the well-being of all is secured.
Not least, multiculturalism is about equality of opportunity
for the members of all groups to participate in and benefit
from Australia's social, economic and political life. This
concern with equality of opportunity is dictated by both
morality and hard-nosed realism. I am talking here about
basic human rights, not benevolence which the giver bestows
or withdraws at will. No society can long retain the
commitment and involvement of groups; that are denied these
rights. if particular groups feel that they and their children
are condemned whether through legal or other arrangements to
occupy the worst jobs and housing, to suffer the poorest heal. th
and education, then the societies in which they live are bent
on a path which will cost them dearly.
Thus multiculturalism speaks to us forcefully and directly
about a ra[ nge of fundamental issues of relevance to all
Australians. It is not an abstract or alien notion, not a
blueprint holding out utopian promises, but a set of guidelines
for action which grows directly out of our society's aspirations
and experiences. That is why multiculturalism has so
quickly entered our political and social vocabulary and
become a central reference point.
Many of you present tonight were and continue to be central
actors ixD the history of Australia's multiculturalism.
It must be a source of wry amusement for you to hear on
occasion the suggestion that multiculturalism is some opiate
for the ethnic masses concocted to divert attention from what
are described as " real issues". To haVe one's heritage
respected, to be treated with dignity on one's own terms, to
contribute as full and equal participants in Australian
society, these are issues of the most fundamental importance.
I think each of us will have our own perception of the moment
when multiculturalism became more than an aspiration. In my
own perspective, in terms of substantive governmental action,
that moment came with the Commonwealth's acceptance in 1978
of the Report of the Review of Post-Arrival Programs and
Services to Migrants, popularly known as the Gaibally Report.
The report identified multiculturalism as a key concept in
formulating Government policies and recognised that Australia
was at a critical stage in its development as a multicultural
nation. It re-examined existing assumptions and methods, and
urged the need for policies and programs to take new~ directions.
Central to these directions-~ was a commitment to the principles~
of equal opportunity and equality of access to general services,
the provision of special services where these are needed; respect
for cultural diversity; consultation, self--help and self reliance.
On the * basis of. these the Galbally Report charted a * bold new-course.
A number of its recommendations broke new and untried ground,
some were complex and difficult of achievement, and required
considerable organisational adaptation. The Government warmly
welcomed the report, accepted its recommendations in toto and
moved rapidly acro ss a broad front to mount initiatives and
programs designed to overcome the years of neglect and ad hoc
responses.
Accordingly the Commonwealth has, since 1978, developed a major
orientation program for new arrivals and introduced innovative
Engligh language instruction; promoted multicultural education
in Government and non-Government schools; boosted the child
migrant education program; extended the provision of special.
welfare services to migrants by substantially increasing
the number of grant-in-aid social workers; established a
network of migrant resource centres; established the Australian
Institute-of Multicultural Affairs; extended ethnic radio
services; and carried out a range of research projects in
particular areas of need. / 6
6
Another of the Report's recommiendations relates to an initiative
that I regard as particularly significant, the establishment
of Channel 0/ 28 a service unique in the world. It is very
deliberately . entitled " multicultural,"-not " ethnic television",
because its intended audience is all Australians, whatever
languages they speak, whatever their particular ethnic and
cultural identity. Multicultural. television has screened an
impressive range of high quality international programs and presented
aspects of Australian life which other channels have tended to
ignore._
Many of the achievements of the first twelve months have been
encouraging. The news program, for example, has been widely
praised in media circles for the scope-of its international
coverage. Channel 0/ 28 has established a viewing audience
not just from ethnic communities but from the community at
large. Even the sceptics have been impressed. Indeed it was an
unusual, but not unpleasant experience to have " The Age"
reversing its initial editorial stance by admitting that
" Channel 0/ 28 is making its critics ( ourselves included) eat
their words". Multicultural television wa ' s just one of the ma ny
initiatives that was recommended in the 6albally Report. The
task of putting these initidtives
in place has required a considerable commitment of effort and
resources on the part of all, involved, and as it is now three
years since the Government agreed to the Galbally Report, both
the community and the Government need to know what the results
have been. Accordingly, as the GaJ-bally Report recommended,
there will be an independent evaluation of its objectives
and outcomes, and whether changes need to be made. The Institute
of Multicultural Affairs has been requested to undertake the
evaluation, and we expect the report to be presented in time
to be considered before next year's Budget.
We need to know whether the recommendations of the Report have
been effectively implemcnted, whet'her timetables have been
met, whether expenditure has kept in line with commitments
and, where adjustments have been made, whether they were
appropriate. We need to know whether the recommendations
reached the objectives they were designed to achieve, whether
outcomes have measured up to intentions, and if not, we need
to examine avenues for further action. Wie need to know whether
the experience gained over the past three years indicates
alternative means of achieving the objectives, or even the
need to pursue new objectives and programs.
Let me make it quite clear that the Government is unequivocally
committed to programs which meet priority needs. We are committed
to further action where priority needs are not being met by
existing programs, and to maintaining the impetus generated
by the Galbally Report. What is important above all is to
have in place programs and. services which do work to create
and strengthien the fundamentals of a multicultural society. / 7
-7
I have spoken at length about the role of Government, but
there are limits to what Government on its own can achieve.
In the first place it is quite plain that the success of
Government programs themselves is dependent on popular support:,
without that support even the most elaborate plans and prograns
are of little value, symbols rather than substance. A truly
multicultural society cannot be created by political will and
action alone. Multiculturalism is reflected in and determined
by the face to face relations of every member of the community.
in all walks of life. The essence of multiculturalism can be
realised only in the attitudes and behaviour of people in
areas which are beyond the proper reach of democratic government.
A law on the statutc book punishing those who use racial or
ethnic insults will not compel neighbours to respect and
appreciate each other's cultural heritage. A code of
conduct for the media, which warns against denigrating ethnic
groups will not prevent advertisers and scriptwriters using
exclusively anglo-saxon models for their heroes and heroines.
Educational institutions can introduce multicultural courses
to raise their students' awareness of Australia's social
adversity, but these cannot guarantee cultural sensitivity in
all places where it is most needed, by doctors toward their
patients, by teachers toward their pupils, by lawyers and
social workers toward their clients.
Ultimately, the responsibility for multiculturalism rests not
just on the Government but on the community at large. And in
the Australian community, over the past decade, multicultural
awareness and practice have indeed spread at a growing pace,
and ideas and impetus for change continue to flow from
individuals, groups and organisations.
I believe it is no coincidence that the strengthening commitment
to Australian multiculturalism has accompanied the expansion
of our foreign policy perspectives and ties with inany new
nations. It is in part because we have reconsidered our own
society that we have been willing and able to make a distinctive
international contribution to the struggle against racism
to the defence of human rights, and to the needs and
aspirations of the Third World. These have earned us
recognition and support amongst nations with whom we once
believed we had little in common, and who viewed us with more
than a touch of suspicion. If empathy and respect for each
other's basic values and concerns are the heart of multiculturalism,
their growing prominence has had a deep impact on our affairs
abroad.
But we are not here to celebrate the arrival of the multicultural
millennium, much more needs to be done, by Government, by the
community, by each and every one of us. The commitment to
multiculturalism is demanding of our time, our energy and our
resources, and there is no finishing post where we can stop
and say that the task is done. * But the commitment is a
necessary one. / 8
8-
Multiculturalism is the most intelligent and appropriate response
to the diversity which characterises our society, but anyone
with an understanding of history knows that appropriate and
intelligent responses are not the only ones. There are no
-forces of historical inevitability which guarantee our
progress in multiculturalism, this depends on the actions and
commitments of individuals. The challenge is ongoing, because
social change is inevitable. The nature of our present
social diversity will itself continue to undergo change as some
countri~ s decline as major sources of immigrants, and others
emerge.-We will need to adjust to new groups, just as we have
previously adjusted to those who now form an integral part of
the Australian community.
The " w of whom I speak i-s not only A~ istralians of Anglo-Celbic
origins, but all Australians. To a newly arrived group,
earlier migrant communities and their children are now as much
a part of the established community as are those who can trace
their forebears to the First Fleet. If there is any doubt
about the importance of a multicultural response it is dispelled
by what we can learn from the record of ethnic and cultural
conflicts in other countries.
The key lesson to be drawn from their experience is that there is
no social peace to be found in the failure to acknowledge
the rights of ethnic minorities to realise their full potential
socially, economically, politically and culturally. For if
these rights are not recognised the assured consequence is a
loss of trust in the society that cannot be quickly regained.
The result is demands for change generated at a tempo that
no society can accommtodate. Attitudes and bargaining positions
harden. The less constructively a society responds to its own diversity
the less capable it becomes of doing so. Its reluctance to
respond, fuelled by the fear of encouraging division, becomes
a self-fulfilling prophesy the erosion of national cohesion
is a result not of the fact of diversity but of its denial
and suppression.. That is the lesson that we should learn from
overseas, that the path'---we have chosen is correct. Let us grasp
the reality of our own experience. our reality is that in
Australia people can retain a commitment to their heritage-.-and
make a total commitment to Australia. Our reality is that by
responding to the fact of Australia's diversity we have not
created, and will not create, situations where particular
ethnic communities form exploited, alienated, separate groups
within our nation.
There are differences between ethnic groups in Auistralia,
but they are not the product of structural and impenetrable
barriers. Look at any of our major post-war migrant groups
and their children, and you will find significant numbers who
have acquired new skills and resources, and made achievements
and contributions of which they and all Australians are justly
proud. Our reality is that agrowing number of Australians
share the conviction that for Australia multiculturalism is anr
opportunity to be seized, not a threat from which to retreat. / 9
9-
The appointment of the first group of members of the Institute
who are convened here for the first time is a very real and
tangible indication of this. Your appointments are both a
recognition of the contribution you have already made, and an
expression of confidence in the work . you will continue to
undertake in promoting multiculturalism. At the political
level all major parties are in broad agreement on the general
approach that multiculturalism offers. In the community at
large we are more open to and trusting of social diversity
than we have ever been. This is particularly true of our
youth. -They have grown up with diversity as part of their
lives, they are at ease, with it, and do not have the fear
and distrust that grows from the unknown.
Australian multiculturalism is a uniquo achievement. Australia
may have stumbled into the multicultural epoch. We were a
nation comparatively small in size and insular in outlook.
But within a period of time that is short in historical
perspective, Australia has been enlarged in capacities,
talents and outlook by millions of men and women from every
corner of the globe.
Today, while other societies still perceive ethnic cultural
diversity as a problem to be contended with, Australia, without
pain, without conflict, has broken through and this breakthrough
is a significant achievement indeed, especially for our children.
Let us take strength and confidence from this knowledge and
work together to bring the promise of multiculturalism to
fruition, that promise of a cohesive nation that draws strength
and unique character from its diversity. That is my faith
and my commitment.-coo---