Australia’s Parliament looks nothing like its multicultural community

Maria Vamvakinou and Peter Khalil would like to see Australia’s Parliament reflect the country’s ethnic diversity. Photo: AAP

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has often touted Australia as the “most successful multicultural” country in the world.

The claim, however is questionable as far as the make-up of Australia’s state and federal parliaments are concerned. Though Australia is multiculturally diverse, Government is far from it and the Australian Labor party, lead by Anthony Albanese, would like to see the country’s diversity reflected in its leadership.

At the moment, just 15 out of 227 Parliamentarians are non-European (6.5 per cent), five Indigenous (2.2 per cent), 10 are from non-European backgrounds (4.4 per cent), 23 from Southern Europe or Jewish backgrounds (10.1 per cent).

During the presentation of Labor’s Multicultural Engagement Taskforce Report, offering recommendations for a more multiculturally diverse Australia, Labor’s leader Anthony Albanese said: “I stand before you today as the first person without an Anglo-Celtic name to put themselves forward as prime minister of this country, think about that – 120 years.”

Maria Vamvakinou MP, Member for Calwell, the first woman from Greece to serve in Australian Parliament said that during her last 20 years in Federal Parliament, the number of MPs from CALD backgrounds have hovered from 6 to 9 per cent, without a significant increase. She said her part, in particular, enjoys the involvement of multicultural communities as far as branch membership is concerned.

“The issue of dual citizenship, when it was raised, is one of the big factors, but this wouldn’t exclusively be the only reason for the lack of diversity,” she told Neos Kosmos. “When you look at the institutions you have to look at these historically, and they have been dominated by one particular group in government. The dominance of the group continues and becomes the political culture and is reinforced in a deliberate and non-deliberate way. We have to try and change that culture.”

Ms Vamvakinou said it is a culture which “preceded us, and repeats itself”.

Chair of the Labor’s Multicultural Taskforce, Peter Khalil, the son of Egyptian migrants who fled their home “in search of a safer and brighter future”, has spoken to numerous stakeholders to find out why there are less people from ethnic communities in positions of power.

“There are a number of cultural and systemic barriers in place preventing people from even getting into a position to run for Parliament,” he told Neos Kosmos. “Encouraging increased diverse access to and participation in our institutions other than small business, such as academia, the law and government departments will naturally broaden the pool of people from diverse backgrounds that would be interested in running for public office. Much of this needs to start from the grass roots as well, by encouraging people to run for council and state office.”

There have been suggestions that the lack of representation could be remedied by political parties introducing diversity quotas, however Mr Khalil would like to see more structural changes.

“I don’t think quotas are the right way to go for encouraging ethnic diversity in Parliament. I think there needs to be a wider cultural change, and programs put in place to encourage training, mentoring, and making Parliamentary work more accessible for people with family, work, community and other responsibilities. This won’t be accomplished in the short term, but it’s incredibly important that we at least start on this important policy area,” he said.

Ms Vamvakinou said quotas can also impede efforts to promote diversity. “Once a quota is filled, there is no compulsion to exceed the quota, and it can act as an inhibitor itself,” she said, adding that she came into Parliament under the Labor Party’s “affirmative action program” rather than a quota system.

“We need to change the culture to make it easier for the system to be more encouraging to multicultural communities,” Ms Vamvakinou said, adding that she had to overcome stereotyping. “Don’t let stereotyping prevent you from being what you want to be,” Ms Vamvakinou advises people from emerging communities who would like to enter politics.

Why does it matter?

In order to function as a fair, egalitarian society, both Mr Khalil and Ms Vamvakinou believe it is important for Government to reflect contemporary Australia.

Diverse parliamentarians, which reflect the country’s cultural make-up are crucial as they possess a lived experience of racial discrimination, migration, and other issues unique to multicultural communities and hence serve as a voice for those Australians.

“We bring different perspectives to the Parliament. We’re able to add important, but subtle cultural knowledge to debates and bills in Parliament, which ensures that when laws are being discussed and made people from diverse backgrounds and how legislation will affect them is being considered. I think our presence in the Parliament as encourages young people across the country by showing them that no matter your background or upbringing, if you work hard you too can one day be elected as a member of Parliament or Prime Minister,” Mr Khalil said.

“I don’t know what the total solution is but I do know that one of the disadvantages of being in a Parliament that doesn’t reflect wider community lacks an understanding of the nuances of people they are making policies for,” Ms Vamvakinou said.

neoskosmos.com