Grievance Debate Member for Oxley: Right to Free Speech Multiculturalism
Extract from the WEEKLY HOUSE HANSARD Database Date: 2 December 1996 (18:00)
Ms HANSON (Oxley) (6.05 p.m.)--"Ever since I made my maiden speech in this House there has been a vicious, non-stop campaign of abuse and insults against me organised by some sections of the print and electronic media, academic snobs, backroom editors hiding behind their reporters, some loud-mouthed taxpayer funded minority groups and of course the Liberal and Labor parties. I have been accused of being a bigot, a racist, a bad wife and mother and an evil person. There are many other hurtful things said about me that I will not bother to repeat, because it will only give these cowards--all anonymous, I might add--the opportunity to gloat."
"Apart from these things, I have been hounded by letters from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and its Race Discrimination Commissioner. They have demanded explanations of statements attributed to me by the media, most statements of which have been distorted and taken out of context. Some talk show hosts have attributed statements to me I have never made and put words in my mouth, even though I have sent them copies of my speeches to set the record straight."
"Even my staff have been publicly abused in this House, with false accusations that the member concerned would not dare repeat outside this chamber. The national solicitor for the National Aboriginal and Islander Legal Service Secretariat even wanted to start a challenge to my right to take the oath as a properly elected member of this House. All this has been designed to shut me up. The professional multiculturalists have abused me and tried to intimidate me. That campaign will fail."
"I would like to make two comments about this campaign to silence me. First, these professional exploiters of taxpayers' money ignored the thousands of people who have made literally thousands of phone calls and sent thousands of letters and faxes to me supporting what I say and what I stand for. These people have come from every imaginable walk of life--old Australians, new Australians, indigenous Australians and, yes, many Asian Australians. These ordinary people rarely speak out in public and, when they do speak out, governments ignore them and what they say. I will continue to speak for these ordinary Australians whom all the major parties ignore--good people who deserve to be heard."
"Second, this campaign has been designed to shut me up--to stop me, as a member of parliament, saying the things I said during the election campaign and which helped me win the seat of Oxley, which has been neglected by every Labor government because they took the people of Oxley for granted, just like they took the working men and women of Australia for granted."
"Let me make one thing clear: I am not a racist by any definition of that word. None of my remarks in their proper context could be fairly regarded as racist. I am not opposed to any person or group because of their race, colour, or national or ethnic origin. I do not think that anyone is superior or inferior to anyone else because of their origin or background."
"But I am opposed to, and so are the vast majority of Australians, discrimination in favour as well as against any person or group. I want equal treatment for all Australians. I will say again what I said in my maiden speech: I do not think any Australian is better or worse than any other Australian because of their race, colour, or national or ethnic origin. All I ask is that any Australian, regardless of their origin, should give Australia their full and undivided loyalty. "
"I am opposed to the policy of multiculturalism because history and the rest of the world show us that multiculturalism never works. It stops new citizens from giving this country, their new home, their full and undivided loyalty. I am not a racist; I am a realist. A truly multicultural society can never be strong and united. United States President Bill Clinton pointed out when he was in Australia that the world is littered with the bodies of people killed in failed and tragic attempts at multiculturalism."
"As far as I am concerned, all I am doing is representing fairly the views of the great majority of my constituents. This is part of my responsibility to the people of Oxley. In June 1955 this House gaoled the journalists Fitzpatrick and Browne for their publications concerning a parliamentarian which this House said were a serious breach of its privileges. I would venture to say that the content of those publications in 1955 was far less intimidating of the parliamentarian concerned then than the persistent, wicked and unprincipled campaign waged against me by a vocal, self-interested minority."
"Let me say this: I am not and I will not be intimidated by this campaign. It is my duty--I repeat, my duty--as a member of this House to speak my mind inside and outside the parliament and to represent the people of Oxley who voted for me. My views are no secret. I have made my views crystal clear to the people of Oxley and the whole of Australia. I am speaking for everyone who is supporting me. Thousands of people have rung me, spoken to me and rallied to support my views."
"As a citizen, the right of free speech under the law is fundamental to our nation and way of life. As a democratically elected parliamentarian, it is vital. Stopping free speech will lead in the end to a totalitarian society, ruled by dictators, where no-one will have the right to disagree. This is why a lot of Asians are supporting me: because they have left countries ruled by authoritarian governments and have come to Australia to enjoy democracy at its best. This campaign of intimidation is nothing more than an attempt to shut me up. Well, I won't shut up. I will speak out both as a citizen and as a parliamentarian."
"The worst recent slander against me was by Mr Cousins, the Chief Executive Officer of Optus Vision, who said my remarks were evil and who tried to draw a parallel between Hitler and me. As Mr Cousins announced his resignation soon after he attacked me, I can only wonder at his motives. For someone seeking public and government support for the erection of ugly cables which have been extremely unpopular with many people and many communities, I find it strange that he would use a public forum to attack me and misrepresent my views."
"I will do my duty to the people of Oxley and the people of Australia without fear or favour. I will not be silenced by intimidation and threats from a small minority. I will not be deterred by the cheap insults made of me by the Malaysian Prime Minister, a man who presides over a country in which Indian and Chinese minorities are systemically discriminated against, where the judiciary fears for its independence and where the democratic process is very fragile. I respect the right of people to disagree with me, and I will not abuse people because they disagree with me. As a parliamentarian doing my duty for the people of Oxley and the people of Australia, not only are these attacks on me; they are attacks on parliament itself, the guardian and protector of our freedom."
"Instead of attacking me--as a few of my colleagues have done--they should consider the end result of this attempt to silence me, because in time they, as will I, be answerable to the people at the polls. If someone cannot speak freely in this House, where can they speak freely?"
Ms HANSON (Oxley) (6.05 p.m.)--"Ever since I made my maiden speech in this House there has been a vicious, non-stop campaign of abuse and insults against me organised by some sections of the print and electronic media, academic snobs, backroom editors hiding behind their reporters, some loud-mouthed taxpayer funded minority groups and of course the Liberal and Labor parties. I have been accused of being a bigot, a racist, a bad wife and mother and an evil person. There are many other hurtful things said about me that I will not bother to repeat, because it will only give these cowards--all anonymous, I might add--the opportunity to gloat."
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