THE HON MARK DREYFUS QC MP
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
SHADOW MINISTER FOR NATIONAL SECURITY
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
TIME TO SHOW LEADERSHIP, MORRISON SIGN THE CODE OF ETHICS
Labor has today invited Prime Minister Scott Morrison to make a solid bipartisan commitment to improving standards in Parliament, by putting a Parliamentarians Code of Race and Cultural Ethics to the first joint party room of the sitting fortnight next week.
The past few weeks have seen political rhetoric in Australia have hit a new low. While despicable comments about the tragic Christchurch attack made by right-wing politicians have rightly been condemned by both major parties, it is time to take a more positive step.
It is time to be explicit in our commitment to a set of standards that the Australian public expect their Parliamentarians to abide by on matters of race and culture. It is time for leaders to unite in condemning the hateful and divisive rhetoric of Senator Anning, Senator Hanson and those who seek to stoke racism and other forms of bigotry for political ends not just with our words, but with our actions too.
To have members of both major political parties as signatories to this Code would send an unmistakable message that both major political parties in this country completely reject any form of division or discrimination on the grounds of race or religion. It's what the people of Australia expect us to do.
Following the re-election of Pauline Hanson in 2016, all members of the Labor Caucus signed the Code, modelled on an earlier version put to the Parliament in 1998 by Labor Senator Margaret Reynolds when Ms Hanson was first elected.
Despite an invitation by Bill Shorten to then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to put that same Code to his joint party room, nothing was progressed. Now is the time for the Coalition to change its mind. Now is the time for Scott Morrison to show some leadership to put a stop to bigotry.
Members of the Labor Caucus who have arrived since 2016 will be asked to sign the Code at its next meeting in Canberra on Monday.
A copy of the letter written by Bill Shorten and the Code is available here.
THURSDAY, 28 MARCH 2019
