Wednesday, 27 November 2024


Members

Member for Berwick


James NEWBURY, Gary MAAS, Matthew GUY, Pauline RICHARDS, David SOUTHWICK, Nick STAIKOS, Wayne FARNHAM

Members

Member for Berwick

Debate resumed.

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (18:01): In the 1 minute left I do want to advise the house that over the last 2 hours I have attempted to speak with the government at the highest levels to avoid the Parliament being misused in the way that the government used it for an hour before grievances. That has been declined again. Both before the motion was moved and during the grievance debate I made every effort to explain to the government how upsetting it is that the government would use this Parliament in the way that it is being used, and the government has said no. The government has said no, so for the next hour they will waste Victorians’ time. They should be ashamed by the misuse, and it just shows the character of this government.

The SPEAKER: As we return to the motion before the house –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Minister for Planning and Leader of the Opposition! I will not tolerate this. You will both be removed from the chamber. This has to stop, and it stops now. While I am in the chair while this motion is before the house, members will be respectful.

Gary MAAS (Narre Warren South) (18:02): I would like to begin in relation to the amendment moved by the member for Brighton. I move:

That, in relation to the amendment moved by the member for Brighton, the word ‘Labor’ be omitted and replaced with the word ‘Liberal’.

The member for Brighton takes great pride in coming to this place and using privilege to impugn members of the house. He does it several times. He does it often. I in fact have in the past been impugned by the member for Brighton using privilege. The member for Brighton was once an employee of the Australian Parliament House, and he himself was the subject of an investigation that was conducted by the Department of Finance. If the member for Brighton wishes to use imputations in this place while there is a substantive motion against the member for Berwick and he seeks to play games in this place, the member for Brighton should realise that both sides can play it that way.

Going to the motion, I come to this place as a very, very proud migrant man. I come to this place being one in this great state of Victoria, where people come from over 200 backgrounds, speak more than 260 languages and follow over 135 different faiths. I do so with great pride, and a day never goes past that I am not grateful to my parents for making the tough decision to come here. What a great place Victoria is. You are able to have the freedom to follow your faith, and you can be embraced by your community, whether it is Springvale or whether it is Narre Warren South.

These are the fantastic things about our great community. I love that recently I got a chance to join the Honourable Ingrid Stitt, the Minister for Multicultural Affairs; the Honourable Sonya Kilkenny, the Minister for Planning; many local south-east MPs; our Victorian Multicultural Commissioner; Uncle Mark Brown from the Bunurong Land Council; and members of our local community. And, you know what, that includes our local Sikh community as well. We announced the name of the lake at the Berwick Springs estate, and we called it Guru Nanak Lake. It was a good-news story. It was well received in our local Indian and Sikh communities and received global attention. It was a good-news story – global attention in Victoria, in Berwick Springs estate, in my pocket of Narre Warren South. It represented all the great things about Victoria, and it spoke to what great Australians each and every one of us are.

But unfortunately this focus has turned bad in the case of our multifaith and multicultural communities. In our society there has been backlash from not only those on the right but those on the far right as well, those who seek to divide for the benefit of a political or bigoted end. Once you divide, you open the gap for extremists to fill. And, you know what, the Liberal Party have seen this before. We know they have. I read a social media post from one who attended the rally that was organised by the member of Berwick, and this is what it reads:

Indians consistently play the Aboriginal card as if it gives them licence to replace us.

White Australians must stop caring about being called ‘racist’ and re-assert dominance over the country our ancestors built, or non-Whites will gang up –

on us –

and take it from us forever …

It is that simple. That was said by a neo-Nazi, a leader of the neo-Nazi group that attended the rally organised by the member for Berwick. When you seek to divide –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, I am deeply concerned about the megaphone this member is giving –

The SPEAKER: What is your point of order?

James Newbury: I am deeply concerned about the unparliamentary words that the member is using in giving a neo-Nazi a megaphone.

Tim Richardson interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Mordialloc can leave the chamber for half an hour.

Member for Mordialloc withdrew from chamber.

The SPEAKER: I appreciate that this debate before the house is very emotive. I remind members that slurs, innuendos and name-calling are absolutely inappropriate. This house should be better than this.

David Southwick: On a point of order, Speaker, I take offence at the member for Bentleigh referring to us on our side and suggesting that we dance with Nazis. I take absolute offence to that.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Bentleigh can leave the chamber for half an hour. The member for Caulfield is warned.

Member for Bentleigh withdrew from chamber.

Gary MAAS: I am aghast that this person was in attendance in my community of Narre Warren South, and he was not there as a resident, he was not there as a concerned regular visitor to the lake, but he was there in his capacity as a neo-Nazi. Let us be clear about the facts here. The member for Berwick organised this rally. He placed full-page ads in the local paper, he wrote to everyone in the neighbouring electorate and he placed blanket digital ads around the place. The member for Berwick was also the beneficiary of a full-page advertorial in the local paper. He gave a nod to the worst kind of innuendo, and it is against our multicultural communities. He went ahead and he fanned the flames, and he sent invites out far and wide to a divisive protest. As I said, when you divide communities –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, I am deeply worried about the allegations that members of the Labor Party are making about you in their reflections from the back bench.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Eureka can leave the chamber for half an hour. There is no point of order.

Member for Eureka withdrew from chamber.

Gary MAAS: There is no place for hate in Berwick Springs estate or in Narre Warren South or in the great state of Victoria. The guise of consultation should not be used as a tool to create division and open up hate and bigotry in this state. The history of Nazis is really well known, and what I want to know is: what side of history do the Liberal Party want to stand on and what side of history does the Leader of the Opposition want to stand on, and do they stand with neo-Nazis or do they stand with the government and condemn the member for Berwick for organising and promoting this dangerous and divisive protest?

Matthew GUY (Bulleen) (18:12): As a former minister for multicultural affairs, I find this a repulsive, disgraceful, desperate motion that demeans everything that all of us do in this chamber. For the previous speaker to start making references to all of the Liberal Party and a relationship with, in his words, Nazis –

Members interjecting.

Matthew GUY: I would like to speak. I did not interrupt yours, so if you do not mind I will have my say, thank you.

The SPEAKER: Member for Footscray, you are warned.

Matthew GUY: To say that to the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, who is a Jew, at this time, with what is happening in our state, where you are in government and there are people out the front of synagogues –

The SPEAKER: Through the Chair, member for Bulleen.

Matthew GUY: To say that to someone like me, whose great-grandfather was murdered by the Nazis in Ukraine, whose auntie was denied medical attention and died in a German labour camp because they were denied medical attention by the Nazis south of Hamburg, and to walk into this chamber and to say that on this side of the house we would not condemn anything to do with Nazism or the Nazi party is disgusting, and it demeans everything we do in this chamber.

I think I would be the only member of this chamber and maybe this Parliament 50 per cent of whose staff are Sikhs. I go to Sikh temple with my mates. They are not my staff; also some of them are my mates. They are my friends. I did not discover the Sikh community, dare I say like the Premier or the Minister for Planning, for the sake of politics; they are my friends. I have been to the Golden Temple with them. I have been to Bangla Sahib with them.

Juliana Addison interjected.

Matthew GUY: Who are you?

The SPEAKER: Member for Wendouree, you are warned.

Matthew GUY: This motion, as the Minister for Planning has come in here and said – her words ‍– is about respect. So let us talk about respect as per what the Sikh community believe is respect, because the word ‘gurdwara’ has the word ‘guru’ in it, and the last guru was a book. When you go to a gurdwara, you see the book which is the emblematic symbol; it is the last guru. Anything to do with the last guru, as I said in an adjournment which is still not replied to by the Minister for Planning, has to be pure. You must take off your shoes when you go into a gurdwara. You must wash your hands. You must not have drunk alcohol that day. You certainly cannot smoke in a gurdwara. You cannot eat meat. When you go to the Golden Temple – the member for Berwick has, as have I – you will find that everything around the Golden Temple –

Members interjecting.

Matthew GUY: If you would not mind, please. How do you know that is the only one? How do you know? You will find that everything surrounding the Golden Temple is vegetarian. There are questions which still need to be answered, which the member for Berwick has asked and I have asked, in relation to naming something – and the Minister for Planning cannot even say the name correctly. Guru Nanak Dev Ji – ‘Dev Ji’ means religious respect, ‘Ji’ is a term for respect. I would say ‘Speakerji’ as a respectful term for you, Speaker. That is what Indians say when they are giving respect to someone. When you have Guru Nanak Dev Ji, which is the correct name for that lake, that means you cannot stock it with fish like the government has for people to go fishing. That is disrespectful to Sikhism. You cannot eat meat around that lake and have a barbecue. As I said in this chamber not two weeks ago, I was horrified to hear the Minister for Multicultural Affairs say, ‘Let’s all go down and have a barbecue at Guru Nanak Lake.’ This is incredibly disrespectful to those in Sikhism who know Guru Nanak Dev Ji to be one of the most eminent religious figures in history. You cannot engage in tobacco smoking. You cannot go down there and get stuck into beers. That is completely disrespectful. What has been asked for by me and by the member for Berwick are explanations for this, and a proper amount of respect to be given to one of the most esteemed religious figures in history.

I have been to a number of gurdwaras in the last few months. Something that is very disrespectful to Sikhs – like it would be to any religion, but certainly to Sikhs – is to stand at the podium at a gurdwara and make promises to a community, to a congregation, that you then do not honour. This government, with great respect, has made many promises ranging from a Ghandi park to Indian aged care to money for the Blackburn gurdwara to a whole range of things – so many I have raised in this chamber – which have not been honoured. The community is rightfully asking me on Radio Haanji, they are asking me when I go to gurdwara and they ask, as you can imagine, my staff as a contact: why would the Labor Party – their words – come to our gurdwara and make these promises and say these things in our gurdwara, standing next to the book, which is emblematic, which is the last guru, and not honour those commitments, some of which are from the first term of this government, from 2016?

That is what respect is. And disrespect is also to then make those commitments and, frankly, do it for politics and some might say lie and some might say deceive. Whatever it might be, it is obviously disrespectful to Sikhs and to Sikhism to run into this chamber and put this motion forward. With great respect, I am not sure the Minister for Planning actually believes it. Whether she was told by the Premier or told by the member for Macedon, I do not know. But I think if anyone standing up – the member for Narre Warren South or any other member who wants to stand up after this – really believes this motion, maybe they can repeat it and the words in it outside this chamber. It does not say ‘you encouraged people’, which was what the planning minister’s speech and presentation earlier today said; it says ‘for bringing neo-Nazis’ – for ‘bringing’ them.

I say this again to you, Speaker: if someone in this chamber believes in this motion – any following speaker – I put the challenge to them that they should repeat this motion. It is only two lines. Have the courage and the respect to the Sikh community, who they claim to be standing up for, to say that outside this chamber, because it is not difficult to do, and it will tell all of us, including those in the Sikh community, whether or not Labor, the government, are doing this for the sake of cheap politics, to politicise an ethnic community – which, as we know, the Labor Party has done a lot of – or because they actually believe what has been said. I think we all know the answer to this, don’t we? Because we have seen this from some of the recent IBAC reports. Was it the Operation Watts investigation into branch stacking which involved ethnic branch stacking?

There is a history, and the one history that is found by many investigative bodies is of the Australian Labor Party using and abusing ethnic communities. They are not my words. They are the words from investigative bodies who have looked into these matters, whether it is the Macedonian community, the Greek community, the Vietnamese community or others. Now all of a sudden it just seems to be coincidental that when the government is in trouble, particularly in growth areas, falling below 30 per cent primary in opinion polls, the Premier, who has never, ever, ever talked about the Sikh community in her quarter-of-a-century parliamentary career, comes into this chamber and now suddenly has found the Sikh community and wants to talk about gurdwara and goes to India – she does not leave New Delhi, I might add, but she goes to India.

I think the member for Brighton is correct. He has asked the government, ‘Please don’t proceed with this motion. It demeans all of us.’ From the Speaker to the Deputy Speaker to all of us as MPs, it demeans this chamber because, frankly, it is not real; it is not true. The contents of the motion are really quite low. We can go back, and I can move amendments to then replace the word ‘Liberal’ with ‘Labor’. We can do this every speech, but it is demeaning this Parliament.

Surely there is something better for us to talk about for the sake of the people of Victoria, whether it is our healthcare system, whether it is law and order, whether it is the state of our finances, whatever it might be. Maybe we should talk about that rather than a concocted motion from a political party that has been using and abusing ethnic communities for the best part of 40 years. To come in here for a disgusting motion moved by a minister who I do not even think believes what she moved – I say again for any single one of you who speaks next: say it outside the chamber if you believe it.

Pauline RICHARDS (Cranbourne) (18:22): Let me tell you about the Sikh community that I serve and about how they live their faith. I talk about them a lot in here, and I am proud to do it again. I know some people from our community are watching on. These are the things I have learned. I am not Sikh, but these are the lessons I have had in becoming a little bit more understanding and a little bit closer to the people I serve: how they live their faith through Vand Chhako, and I am not sure about my pronunciation, but it means ‘sharing’; Kirat Karo, which is ‘to live honestly’; Naam Japo, which is ‘to chant the name of the true god’; sarbat da bhala, which means ‘wishing for everyone’s happiness’; and of course the one that so many of us from across this Parliament understand about is service.

Many of us are very familiar with Dr Harpreet Kandra from the Siri Guru Nanak Darbar gurdwara in Officer, together with his wonderful wife and family, who have been side by side with our community at times of great grief, including recently when members of the community passed in drownings. His response was to organise swimming lessons and to overcome his own fear of swimming. But that is not all. He organised vaccinations for people during COVID and food relief. His commitment to the environment is without par. He provides cups of tea. He provides a shoulder for people to lean on. In response to objections to the placement of the gurdwara in Officer he doubled down with hospitality.

Of course there are the Sikh volunteers – quiet Manpreet, who has turned up to Anzac Day services, to the Lynbrook lake, checking in on people who need help and gently and so modestly and humbly serving the community and living his faith. Sukhwinder is the most modest and humble woman I know, who never walks forward into the limelight. She serves and lives her faith by cooking food, including for people who are homeless and people whose lives are complex. She provides dignity to those who are in desperate need. And how many of us have heard the dulcet tones of Jaswinder, who has become world-famous. He is kind of a big deal. He is on the ABC News. He is recognised internationally and considered to be a great Australian. He is celebrated by us all, because of the work of the Sikh volunteers, and we all know about the Sikh volunteers. They are spoken about reverentially internationally. We know that they drove to the floods and the fires. We know that they provided food service, that they were lauded universally for the work they did. And given every opportunity, we have celebrated their work. Before the fires and the floods, at the time of the Christchurch mosque killings, I arrived at the local mosque, like so many of us did, for open day. I was 10 minutes early, but Jasbir was already there. He walked into the mosque and asked if he could pray with the imam at the mosque in solidarity. I have got to say, there was hardly a dry eye in the place as he quietly, without fanfare, stood in solidarity with his brothers and sisters in the Muslim community.

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to celebrate the naming of a lake in Berwick, and they came to celebrate with their children. They brought food to share with the community. They brought bottles of water because the sun was shining. Just let that settle in. Those children were so happy and running around in the way that children do. I was telling my mum about it afterwards – I have Polish and Prussian–German heritage, and Fritsch Holzer Park in Hawthorn is named for my family – and she said ‘Oh, how wonderful it is for the children to have a name that is so familiar to them, just like the Irish heritage in the names of the places down near Warrnambool that recognise those other places from my heritage.’ Finally they were going to have a name. My mother is 92. She thought it was about time. It is pretty simple and straightforward. I showed her some of the photos of the children.

But this was hijacked. There is a post I have got from the rally that was organised and advertised by the member for Berwick and somebody in the other place:

Me and the boys at the Liberal Party Klan rally at Berwick Springs on Tuesday to take the lake back for the White Man!

This is what was brought to our community at a time of celebration, at a wholesome opportunity for a community to come together while people were sharing food and water and celebrating with joy. This was brought to our community, and we stand here and reject it, just like we rejected it in 2018 when I stood on polling booths in Cranbourne and had members of our African-heritage community crying as they arrived to vote. Members of our African-heritage community remember what happened in the south-east when Peter Dutton and those opposite decided to weaponise the disadvantage that is experienced by people in our community. I will never forget a woman walking in pregnant, in tears, a woman with African-heritage children, and I thought, ‘No, not this time.’ I could not imagine it would ever happen again, because it is not sport. This is not sport. What we do here is not sport.

Those children who came to that lake to watch this great celebration were there with their families, to be a part of our community in the same way that my family are part of this community, and that has been taken away by this, and I will not let that go. That is why we had to have this motion, because our community is expecting us to stand against this type of hate.

So I am kind of furious in the way that I need to be because it is our community that is getting damaged by people who are playing games. And we can talk in semantics – ‘We left when they arrived. We were there for a few minutes – not many minutes.’ But I do not know if that cuts it with me, because I worry that we are talking about people whose lives are damaged in a way that does not do this place dignity. Whether it is the African gangs comments that damaged us, whether it is Peter Dutton talking about not being able to go out for dinner, whether it is the member for Hawthorn walking up and down the shops in Hawthorn talking about crime in a way that demonises people, we are not going to let that happen this time.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, under standing order 120, at least, the word that the member used is highly offensive and I would say unparliamentary and reflected on a member specifically. I would ask you to counsel the member not to use words like that in the chamber.

The SPEAKER: I am going to counsel all members again about how this motion can be very damaging with the words that they use and to be very careful.

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (18:32): We have seen the best of this Parliament, and we have seen times in this Parliament when we have come together united on hate. We have come together when atrocities have happened. The previous member just mentioned Christchurch. I can recall in this Parliament a number of very, very moving speeches from both sides about the atrocities that happened during that time. We came together after the events of 7 October, and members of both sides spoke very passionately about Jews that were murdered by terrorists, united in the cause of calling out hate, calling out division, calling out terrorism and supporting those that had been targeted.

We came together for the call to ban probably one of the most evil symbols in our lifetime, the Nazi swastika. The member for Brighton particularly and I worked with the Liberal Party to ensure that that piece of legislation came to this Parliament. I remember sitting at the table with the Minister for Multicultural Affairs at the time, after I had done an adjournment, and saying, ‘We need to do this,’ and getting the commitment to then form a committee, which ultimately got it done. For this government to weaponise Nazis like they have today is the worst of this Parliament that I have ever seen by a long shot. I cannot believe we are having members of the government throwing insults across the chamber like ‘You’re happy dancing with Nazis.’ I just cannot believe it.

My father-in-law came here after his mother escaped from Nazi Germany and was not brought up in his home as a Jew because his mother did not want anything to happen to him again. So he went to school and he had sandwiches that people thought were a bit strange because he was of Hungarian background, and only when he was at the age of 12 or 13, when he saw other boys wearing a kippah, some of whom were having their bar mitzvah, he came home to his mum and said, ‘What are those boys wearing the skullcaps? What are they all about?’ And she said, ‘They’re Jewish, and you’re Jewish.’ For the first 13 years of my father-in-law’s life he did not know he was Jewish, because they hid it after what happened. That is just one of so many stories of what happened. Half of my wife’s family got wiped out from the Holocaust, and they are far too common stories.

I think most people in this chamber would know that I am very, very careful calling anybody a Nazi, but when it happens and when you see them, you call it out. You leave and you call them out. I am very proud, and I think it is probably fair without going into too much detail, of what we have done on this side of the chamber after Nazis turned up on the steps of Parliament. We called it out, and the member that those opposite are referring to, when Nazis turned up, called it out. He called the police and he left. What more are you expected to do? I know how these people operate, because I see them every day. I see how they operate every day. They are deliberately going to these events, and, guess what, they may turn up to some of your events.

A member interjected.

David SOUTHWICK: I hope not either. I really hope not. If any of these horrible, hateful, disgusting individuals turn up, you call it out and you leave. You do whatever you can and you call the police, because they do not deserve to be anywhere. They are filthy, rotten human beings. That is what the member did. And, do you know what, he did not go to the Herald Sun and talk about it publicly because that is the attention and the megaphone that they would have wanted. But he made sure that Victoria Police were aware of what these people were doing, gatecrashing an event. They had an agenda, and the member acted appropriately. So for those opposite and for the government to weaponise this in the way that they have is disgusting. It is absolutely disgusting, and it just feels to me like every time this government is in trouble they go low. They are quite happy, this government, to work together –

Nick Staikos interjected.

David SOUTHWICK: Member for Bentleigh, the words that you used before are unforgivable. I think the member for Bentleigh should know with the amount of Jews that he has in his electorate that you do not just throw ‘dancing with Nazis’ across the table to a Jew. You do not do that, member for Bentleigh. You do not do that to a Jew, member for Bentleigh. You do not cast every member of the Liberal Party as dancing with Nazis, particularly given the stance that the Liberal Party and this particular Victorian Liberal Party have taken from day dot. Matthew Guy, the former Leader of the Opposition, was part of the team which instigated the ban on the Nazi swastika. We led the charge in this place. It is all very well to be able to do it; the record speaks for itself. Do you know what, member for Bentleigh? We did it together, and we were very proud to do it together. It is not about taking credit. What it is about is saying you stand up for what is wrong and you stand up and you say, ‘That’s wrong.’ That is what we are doing, and that is what we have done.

I tell you what, we were on a unity ticket when the policy was announced way before the legislation came to this Parliament. Six months before, a policy to ban the Nazi swastika was adopted and passed by the party room of the Liberal Party in solidarity by the Liberal Party. This is a side of Parliament that stands against Nazis, and this Parliament should be a Parliament that stands against Nazis. This should be something that we are on a unity ticket on – standing against Nazis. Do not use it to weaponise. Do not use it to politicise. Do not use it because your polling numbers are down and you want to then try and actually weaponise it. Do not use it to weaponise it. You know very well this is just all politics, and this is not what people want. The member reacted appropriately in what he did; he reported it to the police. How many times has a member of the Labor Party reported things to the police when far-left activists have turned up their events? How many of those far-left activists that want to see the end of Jews, that want to see ‘from the river to the sea’ turn up to far-left events within the Labor Party, to the Labor caucus and to the ALP conferences? When they turn up and say, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ how many of the Labor Party turn up and call that out at ALP conferences?

Do not do this when it suits. Do not do this because your polling numbers are bad. Do not do this because you have neglected the west. The government cannot do this when they have neglected the west and neglected the north. Multicultural communities have been neglected; Africans, Indians and Muslims all alike have all been neglected by this government. Now this government wants to use a most horrific term and categorise and weaponise it in such a way that is offensive beyond belief. It is all very well to stand in unity, as we should, because the multicultural state is something that we should all be very proud of. It is something that has taken generations and years of this Parliament –

Nick Staikos interjected.

David SOUTHWICK: Not your interjection, member for Bentleigh, because you are already a disgrace. This has taken years to form, but you do not try and weaponise the most horrific term ever. Calling people Nazis just because you think you can get a headline – that is what the Labor Party is all about. They are about a headline. It is a disgrace. This is the worst form of Parliament that I think we have seen, and it is not the way we should be behaving. I tell you what, the government should grow up.

Nick STAIKOS (Bentleigh) (18:42): For those tuning in at home, that was an example of defending the indefensible. I am going to talk about an experience I had in September. In September I travelled to India with the Premier of our state. When I travelled to India we had a four-day packed itinerary in Delhi. On the fourth day we visited the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib Sikh temple. We were taken through that temple on a tour – it is a magnificent building, a magnificent monument. At some point on the tour we were taken through some double doors that led us to this giant kitchen, the biggest kitchen I have ever seen in my life. There were hundreds and hundreds of Sikh volunteers in that kitchen cooking curry, rice, naan bread and roti bread. Do you know why they were doing that? Because day in, day out that temple feeds thousands of underprivileged people.

You know what, I was raised as a Christian. I was baptised in the Greek Orthodox Church. I attended Catholic schools. I live by the part of the gospel that says, ‘Faith without works is dead.’ But do you know who the people are who live by that better than any of us? They are the Sikh people. When this government wants to ensure that the state of Victoria reflects the people of Victoria, the greatest multicultural state on earth, and says that the Berwick Springs lake should be called the Guru Nanak Lake, named after the founder of this beautiful, peaceful religion, those opposite organise a hateful rally against that and then Deidre Chambers – the Nazis – have turned up. Deidre Chambers, what a coincidence! I mean, what are we talking about today, Speaker? The fact is, if you participate in bigotry and if you participate in racism, the Nazis will turn up. That is the golden rule.

Do you know what I was doing today with a number of my colleagues? I was upstairs launching the Allan Labor government’s anti-racism strategy. I spent a lot of time with my colleague Sheena Watt in the other place co-chairing the Anti-Racism Taskforce, because this government believes in combating racism. We were joined by members of the First Nations community and we were joined by members of the multicultural community. Not a single Nazi turned up. To those opposite, Nazis do not turn up to our events. They are not welcome at our events. We fight Nazis on this side of the house, unlike that side of the house.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, under standing order 120, I take personal offence.

The SPEAKER: The member for Bentleigh did not mention any members by name.

Nick STAIKOS: For the last 20 years I have been either a local councillor or a member of Parliament. I have therefore attended hundreds of citizenship ceremonies, and every time I speak at a citizenship ceremony I say to the new citizens that I am speaking to that there are three things that set our country apart from the rest of the world: our Indigenous people, our multiculturalism and our social safety net. Those opposite say similar things and they get their selfies, then they go on 3AW and they say something entirely different. But we live by our values and we stand by our values on this side of the house; those opposite do not.

In my role as Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier and in my role as Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs I am often at multicultural events throughout our state, and often I am joined by the Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs. That man is the Leader of the Opposition, and the Leader of the Opposition says one thing at those events and then comes in this house and says something entirely different, because the Leader of the Opposition’s main priority is to appease the hard right of his party.

I am not just a member of a government that supports multiculturalism; I am a member of the party of multiculturalism. My family arrived in this country 60 years ago, and my grandfather became an Australian citizen years later when Gough Whitlam was the Prime Minister. Do you know why? Because Gough Whitlam made migrants feel welcome in this country. That is what he did. He made migrants feel welcome in this country. We are the party of multiculturalism. We do not just pay lip-service to multiculturalism; we honour multiculturalism, we are loyal to multiculturalism and we support multiculturalism. That is the difference between this side of the house and that side of the house.

What I would say about that side of the house – and, you know, we have heard a lot of rubbish from that side of the house – is that that side of the house is a nasty, bigoted outfit.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, earlier you warned the house and provided guidance to the house about the words that all members used, and most members have heard you.

The SPEAKER: What is your point of order, member for Brighton?

James Newbury: The words the member has just used are unparliamentary and are demeaning this whole chamber.

The SPEAKER: I have heard words bandied around in this chamber from both sides of the house during this debate. There is no point of order.

Nick STAIKOS: He is a strange unit, there is no doubt about that. But what I would just say –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, under standing order 120, I take personal offence.

The SPEAKER: Member for Bentleigh, withdraw.

Nick STAIKOS: I withdraw, Speaker. The member for Brighton has said he is not a strange unit, but what I would say –

The SPEAKER: Member for Bentleigh, you are pushing the boundaries. You have withdrawn once, and I am going to ask you to do it again.

Nick STAIKOS: I withdraw. But, do you know what, I am really concerned about this pattern of behaviour by those opposite. Trump has just been re-elected in the United States, and a lot of people are saying, ‘Thank goodness that our politics is not like the United States,’ but it is heading that way, let us be honest with ourselves. In the last term when we were debating the pandemic legislation there were a number of odious people who assembled outside this Parliament with gallows, with nooses, with all of those things. Those opposite fraternised with those people. At the end of the day, if you participate in bigotry, if you participate in extremism, you attract Nazis, It is that simple. If you participate in bigotry, if you participate in that sort of extremism, you attract Nazis. And then they think, ‘Oh, my gosh, Nazis have turned up to this rally against the Sikh people.’ Well, really? It is just absolutely incredible.

I say the Labor Party is the party of multiculturalism. It is the party of diversity. Can I also say one of our greatest strengths as a state is our multiculturalism and our diversity. That is why we are the preferred state of international students – because they know that they can come here and that it is a multicultural state, a diverse state and a welcoming state. We are the most multicultural place on earth, and it is time we stopped pretending that multiculturalism was bipartisan, frankly; I am sick of pretending that it is bipartisan. Multiculturalism as government policy was started by Gough Whitlam. It is a Labor policy, and it is only Labor who supports multiculturalism. It is only Labor, frankly, who jealously guards our diversity from the extremists opposite. And, do you know what, frankly, those opposite – (Time expired)

Wayne FARNHAM (Narracan) (18:52): I cannot believe the rubbish I just heard in the last 10 ‍minutes. I cannot believe the rubbish that just came out of the member for Bentleigh’s mouth. It was the biggest load of whatever I have ever heard. This motion today is why Victorians have lost faith in politicians; it really is. This motion is a grubby and low attack on the member for Berwick. This is why the public opinion of politicians is so low – because we bring forward grubby motions like this that are false; they are not true. Not one thing in this motion that has been put forward by the Minister for Planning is factually correct. It is not factually correct, and I would love to see –

Members interjecting.

Wayne FARNHAM: If they went to the member for Berwick’s Facebook page and they had a look at the photos of the people that were there – have a good look at the photos and have a look at all the different nationalities. This was a rally about government consultation on the naming of a lake – or a lack of consultation. That is what the rally was about.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Bentleigh can leave the chamber for an hour.

Member for Bentleigh withdrew from chamber.

Wayne FARNHAM: I have just heard that we are bigots, we are racist –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Member for Bentleigh! When the member for Bentleigh returns to the chamber in 1 hour tomorrow, he will apologise to the Chair.

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, as the member for Bentleigh was leaving the chamber he called me a racist. He called us a bunch of racists. I find that highly offensive and ask him to withdraw.

The SPEAKER: I did not hear that, member for Evelyn, and I have asked the member to return and apologise.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, he also called me a racist. I take personal offence. I know you asked him to apologise to you for his strange behaviour, but he spoke –

The SPEAKER: The member for Brighton will resume in his seat.

James Newbury: Speaker, can I finish my point of order, please?

The SPEAKER: What is your point of order?

James Newbury: My point of order, on standing order 120, is that both the member for Evelyn and I were called racists, and we both ask for him to apologise for his words.

The SPEAKER: I will speak to the member for Bentleigh when he returns to the chamber.

Wayne FARNHAM: We have been accused of being racist and bigots and not believing in multiculturalism or any of those things that have been said in that 10 minutes of rubbish when the member for Bentleigh was speaking. Just let me point out a few facts to the other side that they have clearly forgotten. Next to me, the member for Warrandyte is Malaysian Chinese. The member for Mornington’s wife is Hong Kong Chinese. I have a Filipino fiancée. My leader’s wife is Italian and Greek. The member for Brighton has an Ecuadorian wife. The member for Bulleen is Ukrainian; his wife is Macedonian. The member for Caulfield is a Jew. Ann-Marie Hermans, the other lady that attended the rally, is Sri Lankan. Trung Luu in the other place is Vietnamese. So how can that side stand up and call us racist and call us bigots?

A member interjected.

Wayne FARNHAM: And do not forget the Irish. This is the type of grubby, crap politics that is why the Victorian people hate politicians. This is a waste of time. You have made false accusations against the member for Berwick. No-one on that side of the chamber, not one on that side of the chamber, is brave enough to say it outside – not one of you.

Tim Richardson interjected.

Wayne FARNHAM: Member for Mordialloc, you can mouth off all you want, but you say it outside the chamber and see how you end up. You are absolutely –

Members interjecting.

Wayne FARNHAM: Then say it outside. You say it outside. Read that motion outside and see what happens. That is the problem with this motion: they have brought it in with parliamentary privilege and they have had a grubby attack on the member for Berwick, and they hide behind these doors. There is not one Labor member on that side of the chamber that would be brave enough to say this outside – not one. It is a pathetic attempt to smear someone’s reputation.

I went to India with the member for Berwick. We went to the Golden Temple, and we saw exactly what the member for Bentleigh was talking about. Anyone that tries to call the member for Berwick a racist, a bigot or a neo-Nazi sympathiser is absolutely full of rubbish. He never invited them to the rally; they turned up. What did he do? He called the police and walked away. What else are you meant to do? No-one over there has said to me yet what he was meant to do. He did not invite them; they turned up.

I tell you what, when they turn up to one of that side of the chamber’s rallies, which they will, my goodness are they going to cop it in this place. As soon as they turn up to a Labor rally, we will go hell for leather on that side of the chamber for what they have done to the member for Berwick today. It is a grubby, unsubstantiated attack on a good member of Parliament who is trying to look after his community because of the lack of consultation by the government. That is what the rally was about. The member for Cranbourne knows that. She knows it, and I will tell you what, it is absolutely disgraceful what this lot have done to the member for Berwick.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.