Angus Taylor has repeatedly refused to say whether he supports multiculturalism in Australia, sidestepping five questions at a press conference about his views and claiming “there’s all these vague words running around”.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers accused the opposition leader of “playing footsie” with One Nation and Pauline Hanson’s call for a “monoculture” in Australia, as Labor ministers committed to backing multiculturalism.
“One of the reasons why the Liberal party is dying in [Taylor’s] arms is because his efforts to out–One Nation One Nation are becoming increasingly pathetic,” Chalmers said in question time.
Hanson’s demands for a “monoculture”, from her speech at the National Press Club last week, have been met with opposition from other members of the Liberal party. Shadow minister Jonno Duniam on Monday called it a “bizarre concept” and spoke of the “success of multiculturalism”.
Hanson, in her press club speech, claimed multiculturalism was a “failed policy” that gave all cultures the “equivalence to ours”.
“Surely opposing that is not racist, it’s common sense,” she said.
Hanson has not expanded on exactly what she meant by “monoculture”, but on Channel Seven’s Sunrise on Tuesday, she claimed her idea was “about being united as strong under the one culture”.
“I’m not saying forget where you came from or your cultural background, by no means,” Hanson said.
Hanson – who, in her first speech to parliament in 1996, infamously claimed Australia would be “swamped by Asians” – pointed to Japan, an historically ethnically homogenous country, as an example for Australia to follow.
“Japan has a monoculture, so what’s wrong with Australia having a monoculture?” she said.
Asked whether he supported the idea of a monoculture on Tuesday, Taylor did not confirm or deny, saying “the culture I want to see in this country is people in this country who believe in and support Australian standards… commitment to our parliamentary democracy, a commitment to the rule of law, a commitment to our basic freedoms, a commitment to equal respect and dignity with all Australians”.
Asked whether he thought multiculturalism was an integral principle of Australian society, Taylor did not directly answer. Pressed further on whether he believed the set of values he outlined could coexist with multiculturalism, he answered: “I don’t quite know what you mean by that question”.
“I don’t think this is complicated, and I’ve said it many times, and I’ll keep saying it because that’s what we believe, we will discriminate based on values. We won’t discriminate on race.”
Asked again whether he thought Australia should be a “monoculture”, Taylor replied: “explain to me what you mean by this. There’s all these vague words running around.”
Asked in further questions about multiculturalism, Taylor again pointedly declined to endorse the policy, asking: “do you want to define it for me?”
“We can have people from all over the world, of all races and religions in this country, but they must share those core values,” he said.
Despite his requests for a definition of multiculturalism, Taylor has appointed a shadow assistant minister for multicultural affairs – senator Dave Sharma – in his frontbench team, a position which also existed under predecessor Sussan Ley. Former Liberal leaders John Howard, Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison and Malcolm Fraser also named multicultural affairs ministers.
Taylor’s office was contacted for comment on whether he supports the policy of multiculturalism.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese, asked about Hanson’s remarks, told a press conference: “modern Australia is not a monoculture and it never has been.”
“Yesterday, I was at an Assyrian function, it was a wonderful function in southwestern Sydney. Should that be allowed to happen?” he said.
“I’ll be meeting next week with… members of the Jewish Orthodox community who are here. Is that okay in Australia?”
“We have had a rich culture, and when we look at the Socceroos, we see examples of that rich culture… It’s who we are. So, it’s really a nonsense argument to go back to something that was actually never there. And I think that it’s an example of policies and a vision for the country that isn’t thought through, that doesn’t represent who we are in 2026.”
Chalmers, speaking in question time soon after Taylor’s press conference, slammed the opposition leader’s remarks.
“This side of the House recognises in Australian values, the vast and important contribution made by multicultural Australia. Not for this side of the House, this rubbish, playing footsie with the monoculture language, being pushed around by the One Nation Party.”
Albanese claimed the press conference questions to Taylor were “not a complex question, because we’ve never been a monoculture”.
At the press club, when asked whether it was possible to become a monocultural society after generations have celebrated Australia’s multicultural history, she claimed it “hasn’t worked”.
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