In her half-baked rant at the National Press Club the henna-haired hater, Pauline Hanson said “the policy of multiculturalism in Australia was “utterly flawed” and while the country was multiracial, it must be monocultural.”
Complaining about people who speak a language other than English at home she asked the rhetorical question; “How can you generate social cohesion if people can’t speak the language?”
My son has a migrant mother. Both of them speak two languages perfectly, including English. My 8 year old grandson speaks three and can read two of them while my 6 year old granddaughter speaks four and can read three, including English.
There are no problems with their social cohesion. In a modern internationally connected world fluency in more than one language is an asset unless, like Pauline, you want to live in some linguistic apartheid Bantustan.
My great-grandfather on my father’s side migrated from Ireland in the late 19th century. He came on the Samuel Plimsoll, a ship built for the immigrant trade.
That’s right, even after the famine caused by the malignant neglect of the Bastard Brutish Empire that Pauline admires, there was a thriving migrant industry.
My ancestor came to an Australia where the Irish were still despised and discriminated against. He found work, eventually established a business and raised a family who went on to make significant contributions to Australia, particularly in NSW.
He remained connected to his Irish culture as did subsequent generations. Will Pauline demand that be erased or are we now Australian enough? After all that great Australian anti-hero Ned Kelly was an Irishman fighting an oppressive colonial establishment.
My late father was born at the time Terence McSwiney, the Mayor of Cork during the Irish Revolution died in a British prison and was named after him. McSwiney’s crime was writing patriotic poetry and articles critical of the British rulers.
Today Pauline would probably jail him if he spoke out against her as he surely would have. While I am proud to be an Australian and deeply love my country, I am proud of my Irish roots.
Will Pauline decide I am not Australian enough and deport me back to where I came from like she does with senators and Australian citizens Mehreen Faruqi and Fatima Payman both of whom are conscientious and hard-working and turn up for Senate sittings?
Unlike Pauline Hanson who only attends 50% of them and when she does, contributes nothing other than frequent tantrums.
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