Dr ALY (Cowan—Minister for Small Business, Minister for International Development and Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (09:01): Next week, from Monday 16 to Sunday 22 March, Australians will mark Harmony Week. This year Harmony Week holds a much more sombre note, coming just three short months after the horrific antisemitic Bondi terror attack and two racially motivated planned attacks in Perth that were intercepted by police. This is why Harmony Week must be a call to action—because Harmony Week does not stand alone. On 15 March, just one day before Harmony Week starts, we will acknowledge the International Day to Combat Islamophobia, where we stand against discrimination in all its forms. Islamophobia causes real harm to individuals. It divides communities and it has no place in multicultural Australia. Prejudice based on religion or belief has no place here. Harmony Week culminates with the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March, a day that reminds us that racism is not abstract, it is not historical and it is not harmless. While it always falls within Harmony Week, this important international day is a day born of tragedy. On 21 March 1960, peaceful protesters in Sharpeville, South Africa, gathered to demonstrate against the apartheid government's oppressive 'pass laws', which restricted the movement of black South Africans. The protest was organised as an act of non-violent resistance, where participants deliberately presented themselves without the required passbooks, challenging the discriminatory system. Police opened fire on that crowd, killing 69 people and injuring more than 180. The Sharpeville massacre became one of the most defining moments of struggle against apartheid. The international reaction to Sharpeville was immediate and profound. Reports of the massacre sparked global outrage and increased pressure on the apartheid regime. In response, the United Nations declared 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This declaration called on the international community to redouble its efforts to combat racism, prejudice and discrimination. So, from its start to its end, Harmony Week is not just about celebration. It's also about responsibility. I take this moment to remind the chamber that 'Harmony Day' is a concept first introduced by the Howard government in 1999. Following a 'study' commissioned by Eureka research, the then government sought to reconceptualize the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination as 'Harmony Day', effectively eliminating the meaning and substance of that day. The then government sought to replace it with a superficial day of celebration, as if multiculturalism could be reduced to celebration of food, festivals and colour. So I speak in this chamber to draw attention to the significance of this day. The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reminds us that racism has no place anywhere and that Australia has no tolerance for racial hatred. Harmony is not a poster. Harmony is not a slogan, and it's not something that we can afford to talk about only when it's easy or only when we dress ourselves in colourful costumes. It's something we have to build, something we have to strengthen and something we have to defend. Australia's multicultural success did not happen by accident. It happened because generations of Australians, including migrant Australians, built a country strong enough to welcome people from every corner of the world and confident enough to be enriched by them. Our story begins with the world's oldest continuing culture—the cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, 60,000 years of culture, of teaching and of learnings—and it continues through centuries of contact, exchange and migration that have shaped the modern Australia we know today. It has been strengthened by successive generations of migrants who came here in search of opportunity, safety, freedom and a better life. In doing so, they helped build this nation—a nation that has proved to be the lucky country for so many, including my own family. Today, Australia is home to people from more than 300 different ancestries. While we've always been a continent of many languages, today we are also a nation of many faiths and many traditions—a nation that celebrates Christmas, Easter, Hanukkah, Lunar New Year, Holi, Ramadan and so many more wonderfully enriching cultural days. We're a nation enriched by millions of people who have brought their histories, their effort and their hopes to help us build something better together. But let me be clear. People who have chosen to come to Australia are here because they want to embrace our democratic values and share in our way of life—a fair go, mutual respect and equal opportunity regardless of gender, circumstance or where you come from. That is what a modern, multicultural Australia represents—not a loss of identity or a weakening of values but shared values, shared responsibility and shared belonging. I know this personally. I said in my first speech in this place that it is not the circumstances of my birth that define me. I said that I was not born in Australia, but I am surely born of her. Like so many Australians, my story is shaped by opportunity and by belonging. I know what it means to be given the chance to build a life in this country and to be part of a nation that is strengthened, not threatened, by diversity. This sense of belonging is central to a socially cohesive community, where every Australian feels that they can participate fully in our shared civic life. This matters. It matters because our social cohesion is not abstract; it's what allows neighbours to trust one another, children to feel safe at school and people of different backgrounds and faiths to live together with mutual respect. It's what makes our diverse nation not just possible but strong. When our social cohesion is put in jeopardy, we must defend it, not just with words but with practical actions. The Albanese Labor government is supporting communities to build connection and to build resilience at the local level. We're strengthening the organisations that do the important work of bringing people together. We're investing in initiatives that promote inclusion, belonging and mutual respect, because building harmony requires more than goodwill and more than just motherhood statements. It requires work—real, serious, ongoing work. It requires governments to lead, institutions to act and communities to be supported. In Australia, mutual respect is not optional. Let me be equally clear about this. No-one in Australia should be abused, threatened, harassed or attacked because of who they are. No-one should be made to feel like they have to hide their identity to stay safe. No-one should be told they are not a real Australian because of the colour of their skin, the clothes they wear, their accent or their heritage. No-one should have to second-guess wearing a cross, a kippah, a hijab or a turban or speaking their language in public. No-one should be forced to carry the burden of proving that they belong. Racism is not just a personal offence; it's a direct attack on the values that hold this country together. History teaches us that racism does not stay contained. It starts with exclusion and suspicion, with language that diminishes people's humanity, with the idea that some Australians are somehow the lesser—less entitled to dignity, less entitled to safety and less entitled to respect than others. When that thinking is left unanswered, it corrodes the social fabric. It undermines trust and legitimises hatred. And, as we have seen, it can lead to violence. That's why we can't be complacent. That's why we can't wave racism away as if it's somebody else's problem. That's why we can't let racism win, because multiculturalism is not self-sustaining. Social cohesion is not guaranteed, and respect cannot be taken for granted. These things must be nurtured. They must be defended, and they must be renewed by each generation. So, this Harmony Week, let us all say clearly that we will celebrate our diversity, but we'll also defend it. We'll honour difference, but we will reject division. We will back belonging with action, and we will continue the work of building an Australia where every person from every background can live with dignity, with safety and with respect. That's the kind of Australia I know. That's the kind of Australia that Australians deserve, and that's the kind of country that this Albanese government is determined to continue to build.