Response to Anti-racism Motion

Greens MLA Andrew Braddock moved a motion today regarding something he calls ‘anti-racism’. On behalf of the Canberra Liberals, I denounced racism in any form and acknowledged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s unique experiences of racism.

Much of the rest of the motion was sloppy, calling on the ACT Government to do things it is already doing or is legally required to do. Many Canberrans have lost faith in this government, but I found it odd for a member of the coalition prod his own government this way.

I also expressed my pride in belonging to Canberra’s most multicultural political party. In the 2020 election, the Canberra Liberals preselected three times more culturally and linguistically diverse candidates than Labor and the Greens combined, and we were the only party to elect some of those candidates.

Nevertheless, I rejected Mr Braddock’s attempt to make me undergo ‘anti-racism training’. This replicates a failed national Greens policy to force all MPs and Commonwealth workers to be indoctrinated in ‘white privilege’, ‘white fragility’, etc. I found it absurd for Mr Braddock to lecture people like Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee (also a migrant) and me on racism.

I did, however, offer for the Canberra Liberals to provide ACT Labor and the Greens with some practical ‘anti-racist training’!

Click on the arrow button to read my speech.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. In this motion, Mr Braddock asks that all members of this Assembly denounce racism. As the record will show, I and my party colleagues have repeatedly denounced racism in this chamber, we do the same thing in our private lives, and today I rise on behalf of all Canberra Liberals members to once again formally and publicly denounce racism.

Racial discrimination is ugly regardless of what form it takes, and it should not happen. We all have important roles to play when it comes to recognising and striving to eliminate manifestations of racism in our communities.

I likewise acknowledge the unique experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who have endured racism and continue to experience race-based discrimination here on the lands of their ancestors. It should not be this way.

Addressing other pieces of Mr Braddock’s motion is not so straightforward. For example, section 5c calls on the ACT Government to ensure that directorates and other government units comply with the legal requirements in the new Multiculturalism Act –passed just last month with tri-partisan support – and report back to the Assembly by the end of June 2024. Is Mr Braddock worried that, without his prodding, the Labor-Greens government to which he belongs will not actually enforce this new piece of legislation? Or is he worried that the bill wasn’t written quite right? If so, then why did he not try to amend it when the matter was debated last month?

The Multiculturism Act itself requires directors-general to include statements of compliance with these new legal requirements in their annual reports. Following that, the minister ‘must, as soon as practicable after each financial year’, report back to the Assembly on how well directorates and other administrative units have complied.

In other words, this section of Mr Braddock’s motion merely repeats the legal requirements already present in the new Multiculturalism Act. Again I ask, does Mr Braddock have so little faith in his own Greens and Labor colleagues and the ACT public service that he feels it necessary to call on them to obey a law that his own government drafted? I acknowledge that very many Canberrans have lost faith in this government to do the right thing, but it is quite a development for a Greens member to have perhaps reached the same conclusion. Another possibility is that Mr Braddock has been a bit sloppy in preparing this motion.

The motion also calls on this Assembly to note that ‘Canberra is a rich, diverse, and proudly multicultural community’. As a former Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs, and as a migrant to Australia myself, I am very happy to not only note but confidently endorse that statement. I have a long record of standing up in this place to celebrate and speak in favour of multiculturalism.

As a member of the Canberra Liberals, I am proud to belong to what is demonstrably the most multicultural political party in this territory. Multiculturalism is not something that the Liberals give speeches about; it is who we are.

As a rule, I don’t often pay much attention to such things, but Mr Braddock’s motion did prod me to go looking for some figures. In the 2020 election, ACT Labor preselected 25 candidates for the Legislative Assembly, only one of whom came from a culturally and linguistically diverse or CALD background. The ACT Greens did a bit better, with two candidates. In stark contrast, the Canberra Liberals preselected nine CALD candidates. This means that the Liberals had three times as many ethnically and racially diverse candidates endorsed by its Canberra membership as ACT Labor and the Greens combined.

I note too that we are the only party in Canberra whose CALD candidates were successfully elected in 2020. And for the past two-and-a-half years, we have been led with compassion, competence, and skill by a woman of colour who is also a migrant.

I bring these points up only because Mr Braddock in his motion seeks to compel all members of this Assembly to ‘undertake anti-racism training by the last sitting day of 2023’. Based on the figures that I just cited, I can certainly understand why ACT Labor and the Greens might feel that such a step may be necessary for their respective parties, but as a proud woman of colour and migrant myself, I find it shocking for Mr Braddock to stand up in this place and suggest that I, opposition leader Ms Lee, or the other Canberra Liberals need his patronising, patriarchal guidance when it comes to understanding racism and discrimination. Has he no self-awareness? I strongly encourage Mr Braddock to check his privilege.

I wish to be especially clear here. What Mr Braddock is asking for is not just normal diversity or anti-discrimination training. His party went into last year’s federal election with a policy that they would, quote, ‘mandate anti-racism training’ for all MPs and Commonwealth employees. It appears that Mr Braddock is now seeking to bring this failed policy down to the territorial level. Importantly, the national Greens policy document makes it clear that widely accepted anti-discrimination training is not what Mr Braddock has in mind. His goal is training that, quote, ‘will differ significantly in purpose and content’ from standard diversity training.

And what are the significantly different purpose and content of the training that Mr Braddock wants to compel me to undergo as a woman of colour? According to the Greens policy statement, I am to be taught that, quote, ‘since white people in Australia hold most of the political, institutional, and economic power, they receive advantages that nonwhite groups do not’, leading to something called ‘white privilege’. The outcome of the training that Mr Braddock has convinced himself that I need is to, and I quote again, ‘unpack white privilege and white fragility’ and to better understand the ‘everyday racism’ faced by racial minorities, including the discrimination experienced by women of colour.

I sincerely hope that Mr Braddock is not too fragile for this woman of colour to point out the absurdity of his standing up in this place as a member of the Labor-Greens coalition to lecture me, opposition leader Ms Lee, or any other Canberra Liberals member on these subjects. The irony! Again, I strongly suggest that Mr Braddock check his own privilege. Or to use an apt Greek proverb, ‘Physician, heal thyself’.

Madam Speaker, I and the Canberra Liberals are committed wholeheartedly to combatting racism and racial discrimination. To this end, I am always happy to learn more about practical and proven approaches to fostering and increasing racial and multicultural harmony. I am deeply grateful to be a member of the Canberra Liberals, who exemplify this harmony. Will all due respect, however, I am not interested in a privileged white man trying to mandate that I be re-educated to think like a member of the Greens Party.

If the Greens and/or ACT Labor are interested in some practical anti-racism training, however, I am happy to have a chat with Ms Lee to see if the Canberra Liberals might be in a position to provide some.

Thank you.