Ms BURNET (Clark) – Honourable Speaker, I have not had the chance to recognise the contributions of the new members who did their inaugural speeches yesterday. We had such a range of eclectic speeches. It was wonderful and it really identifies Tasmania. We heard from new ministers Mrs Archer and Mr Pearce, and from Mrs Green, Professor Razay, Mr Di Falco, Mr Mitchell, and Mr George. Five of those seven talked about their migrant stories, and the importance of diversity. To have that in our parliament is representative of Tasmania.
This evening we are we are joined by the Chair of the Multicultural Council of Tasmania, Ms Jade Li. Welcome. The CEO of the Migrant Resource Centre of Tasmania, Gillian Long, and Sahana Sehgal, who is the senior executive assistant. Thank you for attending and representing your communities and organisations and to witness this debate on the Greens’ notice of motion. I would also like to just have a shout out to those people listening or reading from Hansard.
It should not be a radical thought to say that racism is not okay. That marches organised by neo-Nazi organisations on 31 August across Australia, but not here in Tasmania, have no place in the 21st century, and that people from any country, no matter what their background, should be welcome in Tasmania.
Yet, if you attended one of the March for Australia rallies, you could have been led to believe that migrants and even Palawa are not welcomed in their own country. That migrants were the reason for the housing crisis, the healthcare crisis, the cost-of-living crisis. That if we only deported the migrants, these things would be magically fixed. What nonsense.
I, along with my colleague Mr Bayley, and member for Hobart, Ms O’Connor, attended the rally for Hobart, which was held at the same time on these very lawns in front of this parliament. I was very proud to speak as multicultural spokesperson for the Greens at the rally. And we also heard from my former colleague councillor Mike Dutta.
Mike said, ‘What would happen if we deported all the migrants?’ We would lose our taxi and bus drivers, for a start. We would lose our doctors, our health professionals, and our nurses. We would even lose our parliamentarians. The health system would crumble. We would lose our engineers, our IT professionals, our small business owners, our favourite restaurants, and I would take that further. We would lose the very fabric of our society, what makes Tasmania unique.
Each of us has our part to play that makes this place in our community special. It is like the layers of a favourite dish, perhaps a lasagna, the strata of the sandstone of this place that our collective story is what makes Tasmania special.
The March for Australia Rally was like the one held before five or so years ago. It was not something that I thought worth promoting. Yet this is a piece of the story of Tasmania that we ignore at our peril.
It is the story of ignorance. It is the story of intolerance. It is the story of system failure, where housing and education and health shortfalls mean that migrants are being blamed for government failure.
From colonial invasion, difference over the years has categorised Tasmanian society, but doing this now on the basis of race, skin colour or any other point of difference, is not the type of Tasmania the Greens desire. What will it be next, disability, gender, sexuality? We have been here before.
This is born of systemic racism, such as the White Australia Policy and ongoing government policy that does not allow people the right to gain citizenship and the rights to childcare or welfare, and still removes children from Aboriginal families or incarcerates Aboriginal people at higher rates than non-Aboriginal people.
Last week at the Planning Institute of Australia conference, which I spoke about in my adjournment speech yesterday, participants heard from Jade Li, who was part of a panel of how important design and planning can be to help break down barriers. Making places culturally inclusive is a starting point, making people feel welcome and valued. Urban spaces must be an invitation for all but quite often cities are friendly, not welcoming. We need to work to break down those barriers where people gather, where housing solutions allow for places to socialise or cook, or for multi‑generational housing. I know this is very close to your heart, Jade, so I really appreciate it hearing those comments. These are deliberate ways to tackle systemic racism and are vital to help break down unseen barriers.
On Saturday night the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Willie, and I were at a Bucaan Neighbourhood House multicultural long table dinner held at Claremont. We were sat next to strangers from different cultures and ate a meal made by cooks from the Middle East, Afghanistan and the Philippines. We celebrated community and difference, and we learnt of things we had in common with each other. In this simple act, we tackled loneliness and isolation.
As Tasmanians, immigration is in our blood. Over 40,000 years ago, the First Peoples arrived here from the Australian mainland, bringing with them unique cultures and identities that continue to shape our island. Then came the British and Irish, convicts and free settlers alike, who found their homes here. Then came the Germans, who arrived in boatloads in the 1850s, and I better say Scandinavians, just so that my husband will be happy, and the Chinese who arrived in the 1870s for gold and tin mining. Since then, Tasmania has seen waves of immigrants, the Polish and the Dutch, who arrived here after the World War II, working in the zinc works and on the hydroelectric scheme, in forestry and mining. In more recent times, we have seen waves of Indian, Nepalese, Afghani and other migrants, including some refugees, who came seeking opportunities and looking for a new and different life in Tasmania.
Tasmania is built on immigration. It is our strength, not our weakness. Instead of punching down, we should be celebrating our collective diversity. It is what strengthens us., unites us and brings us together. The Greens want to make it clear that there is no place for hate in Nipaluna/Hobart or room for intolerance in Lutruwita/Tasmania. There is room for those who have come from over 177 countries who call this place home. The Greens will always stand against racism and hate. I commend Dr Woodruff’s motion to the House.
