Tuesday, 17 February 2026

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Prevention of Family Violence) (13:37): It was my great pleasure to be invited to and to attend this year’s open mosque day, alongside many of my colleagues, to support our wonderful and diverse Muslim community and to push back against harmful narratives and combat hate and division. Open mosque day has become a mainstay of our multicultural event calendar, becoming even more important following the Christchurch mosque terrorist attack in 2019.

This year’s open mosque day could not have come at a more important time. In the wake of the horrific antisemitic terrorist attack in Bondi, Muslims in Victoria unequivocally condemned these attacks, yet they are being scapegoated, blamed, abused and attacked for the hateful actions of two individuals, actions that have no basis in Islam. This scapegoating does not start and end with our Muslim community. Some in this place continue to show that they are prepared to fan these flames, hiding behind parliamentary privilege to peddle divisive rhetoric and cast aspersions.

We are now hearing harmful narratives out of the Liberal Party about good and bad immigrants. These words create harm and hurt, not only to our proudly diverse multicultural community but to our whole society. It is divisive and prejudiced. It pits Australian against Australian, and it ignores our shared history of migration and our proud history in Victoria as a place of sanctuary and acceptance for those fleeing persecution. Victorians, whatever their cultural background, see through this and they reject it. The Labor government will continue to stand with our proud multicultural communities today and every day.