multiculturalism_matters

During the couple’s visit to Prague, Governor Bashir led a discussion at a dinner hosted by the Prague Society on the issue of Australia’s experience with multiculturalism.

Both the governor and Sir Nicholas exemplify the richness of Australia’s multicultural heritage. Both have achieved and contributed much to our society.

Governor Bashir spoke of the great opportunities Australia had provided for its migrants, the support it offered them to help them make difficult adjustments to a new society, including special language translation services, and the richness that our migrants have brought to our society and to our economy.

I would also argue that multiculturalism in Australia has led to the development of a cohesive, innovative, progressive and dynamic society.

Australia has been ranked as having the lowest risk of political instability in the world.

Australia ranks third in the world on the U.N. Human Development Index.

Australia is enjoying its 15th consecutive year of economic growth, growth that has been well above the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) world average.

Over the past 25 years, Australia has become one of the most open and competitive economies in the world. Our standard of living now exceeds that of all G8 countries other than the United States. For five consecutive years, it has been ranked as having the world’s most resilient economy.

Five of our state capital cities are rated by the Economist Intelligence Unit as being among the world’s top 12 “most livable cities.”

Migrants have contributed significantly to Australia’s sporting prowess, including coming in an extraordinary fourth place in the last two Olympic Games.

Migrants also contribute immensely to our rich academic, cultural and culinary life. They have, for example, been instrumental in making Australia — traditionally a beer-drinking nation — the third largest exporter of wine in the world. Our multicultural society also helps our large tourist industry and our position as a place of learning for over 300,000 international students every year.

All this is not to say that social cohesiveness is not an issue in Australia. Every now and then disruptions occur that the media is quick to attribute to ethnic tensions —although that is often only part of the story. But these disruptions are, I believe, dwarfed by the great positives that have come from our cultural diversity.

The issue of an Australian national identity is also one that has been on the government’s agenda. Indeed, in October, it will be introducing two measures to promote social cohesiveness and Australian values.

First, from mid-October, most people who apply for permanent or selected temporary visas to Australia will be required to sign a “values statement,” which confirms their commitment to abide by Australian law and to respect the Australian way of life.

Australian values include: respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual, equality of men and women, freedom of religion, commitment to the rule of law, support for parliamentary democracy, and support for freedom of speech.