STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator DARMANIN (Victoria—Deputy Government Whip in the Senate) (13:42): In my first speech to this place, I said: Diversity and difference are the magic that make our local communities into the places we love and Melbourne into one of the most vibrant cities in the world. The politics of fear and division help no-one and hurt us all. We must stand up for what's right, because hope will always triumph over hate.

I stand by those words today and every day just as strongly as I did then because multiculturalism has enriched Australia and it continues to do so. We are a country built on migration. Our diversity is not accidental, and it is not a recent development.

It is a defining characteristic of modern Australia and one of our greatest strengths. I'm a proud Victorian senator. The proportion of overseas-born Victorians who come from non-main English-speaking countries is 78 per cent, the highest in Australia and something that I celebrate.

You see that strength every day in our schools, our workplaces and our neighbourhoods. You see it in the small businesses that bring life to our communities, the fantastic food and the workers who care for us when we are sick, teach our children and help build our country. In fact, half of Australia's health workforce was born overseas.

These are the people who chose Australia, and what a privilege it is for us that they've chosen to come here and care for our loved ones and for us when we are sick. The promise of Australian multiculturalism is simple. It is the promise of a fair go—that everyone gets a fair crack at life no matter their background or how long they have been here.

There are those who want to turn back the clock to an Australia that is no longer who we are. We must not be afraid ever to call that out, because multiculturalism is about diversity, not division. It's about interaction, not isolation.

It's something that I will stand up for every single day, and, in the face of hatred and division, we should always choose hope, respect and inclusion because they are the values that have built the Australia that we know today.