Australian Multiculturalism for a New Century: Towards Inclusiveness
2 Australian Multiculturalism: Towards Inclusiveness (continued)
Question and answer #2
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2.3 A vision for Australian multiculturalism
The Council is confident that the great diversity of skills and talents of the Australian people, and the strength of our democratic system and the principles and values that underpin it, will ensure that our culturally diverse community achieves success through all its members working together towards a common vision.
The Council recommends the adoption of the following vision for Australian multiculturalism:
A united and harmonious Australia, built on the foundations of our democracy, and developing its continually evolving nationhood by recognising, embracing, valuing and investing in its heritage and cultural diversity.
This vision builds upon the Joint Parliamentary Statement of 30 October 1996 that:
'this House:
- reaffirms its commitment to the right of all Australians to enjoy equal rights and be treated with equal respect regardless of race, colour, creed or origin;
- reaffirms its commitment to maintaining an immigration policy wholly non-discriminatory on grounds of race, colour, creed or origin;
- reaffirms its commitment to the process of reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, in the context of redressing their profound social and economic disadvantage;
- reaffirms its commitment to maintain Australia as a culturally diverse, tolerant and open society, united by an overriding commitment to our nation, and its democratic institutions and values;
- denounces racial intolerance in any form as incompatible with the kind of society we are and want to be.’
Its essence is that it gives priority to the unity and wellbeing of the Australian community as a total entity. It sees all members of our society:
- valuing and celebrating the diversity of the culture that we all inherit, contribute to and share;
- working together in harmony to continually develop, on the foundations of our democracy, our common identity as 'citizens’ of the multicultural Australian nation.
The Council sees this vision as the ultimate goal and guiding rationale for multicultural policies and the most viable option we must pursue as a nation if we are to maximise the dividends of our diversity, while continuing to avoid the serious communal disharmony that has weakened many other pluralistic societies.
At the heart of the vision is the moral challenge of living together in a united community, as people sharing core values and sustaining a harmonious society, while at the same time celebrating our diversity.
At a time when much public discussion is about self-interest and individual rights, the Council considers there is a need for Australian multiculturalism to give due emphasis to the national interest and community obligations.
The Council believes that, provided Australian multiculturalism pursues this vision, we can be confident that our cultural diversity will not be divisive but will instead be a unifying force for all Australians.
2.4 Multiculturalism and Australian democracy
The democratic roots of Australian multiculturalism
The Council starts from the proposition that Australian multiculturalism has been built on our free democratic system.
Australian democracy guarantees us our freedom, our basic human rights and our fundamental equalities. Likewise, Australian democracy requires our loyalty and our commitment to the basic structures and principles of our society.
The democratic foundations of our society contain a balance of rights and obligations: the basic structures and principles of Australian democracy make us a free society but our freedom in practice is dependent upon our abiding by our mutual civic obligations; as Australians we have equal rights and equal obligations but, while all Australians have a right to expect equal opportunities, our society does not guarantee equal outcomes; and we owe loyalty to Australia, whose laws, institutions and traditions guarantee our basic human rights.
This is a constitutive principle of our nation that is of fundamental importance to the development of Australian multiculturalism.
Not only has our democracy evolved in such a way as to give rise to multiculturalism, but our democratic institutions and traditions also provide the foundation and framework that enable diversity in many forms to flourish in our society.
Some implications flow from this: to recognise that it is the principles and structures of Australian society that guarantee us our basic rights and freedoms is to understand what binds us as a people; to accept that we have fundamental equalities and similarities as human beings and 'citizens’ is to acknowledge that a generally harmonious community must be built on mutual respect; and given that the Australian population is racially, culturally and socially diverse, the proper functioning of our democratic society requires us to live constructively with this diversity.
Further, as individuals we share many concerns and goals, many of which are related to social harmony.
The greater our understanding of the goals we share, the greater the prospects for social harmony; and the more complete the social harmony, the more likely our concerns will be allayed, leaving us freer to pursue our other goals.
Our democracy sees the challenges and opportunities confronting any Australian as arising from our common human condition and membership of the Australian community.
It does not seek diversity in our society as an end in itself; rather it welcomes and values diversity as a great cultural, social and economic resource.
And, while it exalts individual rights and obligations, one of the hallmarks of our society is its active and vibrant group life.
People from all walks of life belong to a variety of groups, and a pluralist democracy such as ours is enriched when people come together on the basis of their shared values and interests.
Our democracy gives Australians the freedom to express their identity within multiple affiliations and according to a wide range of cherished traditions and customs.
At the same time it seeks unity built on such moral values as respect of difference, tolerance and a commitment to freedom, and an overriding commitment to Australia’s national interests.
This is what binds us in our diversity and makes us a political community.
Australians generally agree on the attributes of a harmonious society - justice, compassion, tolerance, cooperation, respect for individuality and a shared commitment to the common good.
The Council believes that the best way to ensure that multicultural Australia continues to develop as an essentially harmonious society, for the good of all Australians, is to protect and strengthen our democratic values and institutions and to continue to build multicultural policies and programs on the foundation of our democratic system.
When Australia was founded on 1 January 1901, and the colonies became States in the Commonwealth of Australia, the foundations of our liberal democracy were well established, although the perspective of that time was very insular.
Since then Australia has progressively abandoned its structural insularity. The White Australia Policy has been abolished, the 1967 referendum began the process of formal acknowledgement and recognition of our indigenous people, and many social and economic reforms have placed us in a good position to meet the challenges of a global economy.
Throughout this period of enormous change, we have maintained our commitment to our democratic and egalitarian traditions.
As we approach the Centenary of Federation, it is timely to remind ourselves that these traditions and structures remain in place, and are as strong as ever.
They are core values on which our social infrastructure is built.
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