SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
LAUNCH OF " DIVERSITY IS GREAT, MATE"
NORTH PERTH 16 JULY 1989
Premier Peter Dowding,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am delighted and genuinely proud to be here today, back in
the city of my youth, to launch this publication on
community relations in the inner-city area of Perth.
The booklet is the result of a project commissioned some
eighteen months ago by my own Office of Multicultural
Affairs and the Western Australian Multicultural and Ethnic
Affairs Commission.
It is the product of an exhaustive and probing examination
of how a community of contemporary Australians learn, work
and live together.
The North Perth project set out to examine how an ethnically
and culturally diverse community worked in practice how
the people here live and relate to one another.
North Perth is a microcosm of multicultural Australia. It
is an old centre born again with a new generation of
residents. In the area covered by the survey, forty five
per cent of the local population was born overseas many of
them have arrived in recent years from countries in Asia.
So North Perth offers much for us to learn about the
Australia our children these children will inherit.
Will it be a nation-divided by animosity and racial
friction? Or will it be a diverse and rich community;
stimulated, not frightened by its own variety; and united by
a shared commitment to this great country and to all of the
best things that distinguish Australians?
The answer is, I hope and believe, indicated in this report.
2.
Over the last few years, the increasing diversity of
Australia's population has been accompanied by increasing
community debate about immigration. Some have claimed that
the intake of immigrants, particularly from Asian countries,
inevitably threatens Australia's social cohesion.
That is a view that bears no critical examination. The
exam Iple We have of the inner-city area of Perth gives the
lie to such claims.. It proves, above all else, that it is
not diversity itself that is divisive, but rather prejudice
and intolerance..
What the researchers found, when they came here, was a
community of people living in a peaceful and industrious
manner people who like the area and feel positive toward
its diversity people whose diversity is combined with
respect and acceptance.
Here we have an example, repeated throughout Australia, of a
truly multicultural community in which persons of differing
ethnic, cultural and linguistic heritages are able to relate
to each other on equal terms; in which one's position in
society is not determined by one's birthplace or ethnic
background; in which people are judged by what they say and
do and not by what they look like; in which an Australian is
not someone who conforms to a particular stereotype but
whose commitment is to Australia.
Because that's what's important. It doesn't matter where
you were born, or how long your family has been in
Australia, or what is your colour, creed or race. What's
important is your commitment to Australia.
What has distinguished so many of the people who have come
to Australia to build a new life here is that quality of
commitment. And what characterises the North Perth
community depicted in this survey is, ultimately, the
deepseated commitment of its people to Australia.
So these findings are both optimistic and challenging
Optimistic, because they are a clear indication that a
harmonious multicultural society can be and is being
achieved; Challenging, because they question the views of many who
have expressed fears and concerns about the ethnic
diversity and composition of our society.
Indeed, both the optimists and the pessimists should welcome
this report. For the optimists it vindicates their faith.
For the pessimists, it should alleviate their fears.
The multicultural policies of my Government have been
developed and adopted as a key social policy in recognition
of the unique diversity of ethnic, linguistic, cultural and
religious Qrigins and identities of the Australian
community.
They are policies which aim to ensure that all Australians,
irrespective of background, have an equal opportunity to
participate in the cultural and political life of the
nation; to shape the decisions that affect them; to obtain
their fair entitlement to Government services; and, within
the law, to enjoy their own culture, practise their own
religion and use their own language, as well as English.
Multiculturalism has three essential elements. First, we
should support the right of individuals to maintain their
cultural identity, within the constraints of Australian law.
Multiculturalism promotes a climate of mutual acceptance in
which diversity, not conformity, is seen as a virtue and a
strength. Second, we must recognise the social justice dimension of
multiculturalism. Australians cannot have a fair go if they
face barriers and prejudice against their colour, their
command of English, their religion or ethnic background.
The third aspect of multiculturalism is integral to the
economic future of Australia. Failure to remove inequities
based on ethnic origin would mean a waste of human
resources. At this time, more than ever, we must cultivate
and utilise the skills and talents of all Australians,
regardless of their background. In this fundamental sense
all Australians, whether first generation or eighth, have a
vested interest in the policy.
Multiculturalism is for all Australians and it requires, and
deserves, the whole-hearted support of all of us as
individuals because, in a very real sense, we all stand to
gain from it.
It is in this context that I will be launching a package of
measures, a National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia,
on 26 July.
The National Agenda is an agenda for all Australia and for
all Australians. It will serve to remind us of the
significant contribution that immigrants have made to
Australia, to our culture and to our economy. But it also
highlights the fact that more needs to be done if we are
fully to utilise the skills and knowledge of our migrant
communities.
There is still prejudice and intolerance in sections of the
Australian community. Indeed, the bus shelters, telephone
booths and blank walls of this city are defaced each week
with the posters of anger and hate.
I know that Premier Dowding and his Government are intent on
eliminating this shameful face of Australia. Governments of
all persuasions have a responsibility to show courage and
leadership in the face of such cruel intolerance.
You can be assured that my Government will be making its
contribution in terms of a determined community relations
campaign when we launch the National Agenda 10 days from
now. Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased I have come to North
Perth today. It has given me renewed confidence that the
Australia we will bequeath our children will be a place
worth living in. It certainly will be if it is a place like
North Perth.