Wednesday, 21 February 2024

Ministers statements: multicultural communities

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:10): On Sunday I was in Glen Waverley with our fabulous members for Glen Waverley and Ashwood. We know Glen Waverley is one of the most diverse communities in Australia, and we saw on Sunday the great multiculturalism of our state in action. We saw it on the streets with the celebrations around the Year of the Dragon as we celebrated Lunar New Year and the lantern festival. I also saw it at the Monash SES on Sunday, where I had the chance to thank volunteers like Jenny and Choong, who are both part of their local SES and proud members of the local Chinese community in the Glen Waverley area.

This gives us much to celebrate, but also at the same time there are some in our communities right now who we know do not feel at peace and who we must support. To quote Julie Szego:

… I never thought that I’d have to be speaking about lists of Jews being drawn up and released in Australia …

I was shocked, like I am sure almost all of us were. I hope everyone was shocked when they read those reports of these lists. My support goes to those who have been targeted. I also assure you that Victoria Police are investigating any potential criminal acts. It is a fact – we have seen it since 7 October – that antisemitism and indeed Islamophobia have increased. We reject this in all of its forms, which is why we stand in support of the work with communities on banning Nazi symbols and salutes and also on anti-vilification reform, which we are leading. I also commend the Commonwealth for the work they are doing to toughen doxxing laws.

I also want to acknowledge and recognise the heartbreak that Palestinian and Muslim Victorians are feeling as the Gaza conflict continues and support the statement of the Prime Minister last week where he called for a humanitarian ceasefire. We are doing all we can here in Victoria to provide support to our communities who are grieving in this difficult time.