MARK DREYFUS
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
SHADOW MINISTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
ANDREW GILES MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR CITIES AND URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE
SHADOW MINISTER ASSISTING FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP
MEMBER FOR SCULLIN
Sharing the Stories of Australian Muslims
The shocking findings that 80 per cent of Muslim people living in Australia have experienced discrimination based on their religion, race or ethnicity is further evidence for the need for Australia to establish and implement a National Anti-Racism Framework.
The Australian Human Rights Commission report Sharing the Stories of Australian Muslims was commissioned in the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks in Christchurch in 2019, and found that for four out of five Australian Muslims, this act of terror made them afraid for their community.
The New Zealand Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch made clear that it was radical extremist voices and groups in Australia that contributed to the Christchurch terrorist's radicalisation on our shores.
We must recognise this.
The report does not make specific recommendations for government, but proposes a number of community solutions, arising from the stories that were shared: effective engagement; public awareness; early inter-faith education; increased media representation of Australian Muslims and strengthen media guidelines to ensure fairer reporting.
The report also repeats the Australian Human Rights Commission’s calls for a National Anti-Racism Framework to address racial discrimination and inequality, to strengthen multiculturalism and to build social cohesion.
For the last year, Labor and a coalition of peak multicultural groups have been calling on the Morrison Government to commit to a comprehensive national anti-racism strategy, one aimed at empowering communities and changing attitudes.
But nothing has happened while we know racism, including islamophobia and anti-Semitism, has been on the rise.
Labor will always stand for a genuinely inclusive society in which everyone belongs and can fully participate.
Racism and discrimination is repugnant to our values and all Australians, and particularly all politicians, need to take a stand against it.
WEDNESDAY, 21 JULY 2021
