After we walked out on Senator Hanson’s racist speech, my office was flooded with hundreds of calls of thanks. Then in just a few short days over 11,000 of us signed a pledge to stand united against racism. This is an opportunity to bring our communities and voices together with a message of unity that cuts through the noise of parliament. It’s hugely ambitious but I think we could reach 50,000 by the end of this year. Will you join the pledge too?
What Senator Hanson said on Wednesday night in our parliament was racist and bigoted, she chose to scapegoat an entire community, she tried to divide and hurt people. Hanson’s words have the potential to rule the next six years of this senate. The Liberals are already showing how badly they want to work with Senator Hanson and appeal to her voters.
But we know that all of our voices could be louder than her’s, if we use them together. So, we’re going to build an enormous pledge against racism – the biggest ever to go before the Parliament.
In just a few short days after the walk out over 11,000 of us have already added our names. It’s hugely ambitious but I think we could reach 50,000 by the end of this year. Will you add your name to the pledge now?
Tony Abbott had tea with Senator Hanson in her first week back, they want to work together. Michaelia Cash, Minister for Women, gave her a hug straight after the infamous speech. Senator Hanson is ready and waiting to work with Malcolm Turnbull – and his conservative backbench are closely aligning themselves with her agenda.
Two decades ago many of us saw the damage of Senator Hanson’s words to people, to whole communities, to our nation. She has a bigger platform now, including three party colleagues and a six-year senate term. But it is the words of Australian of the Year Lieutenant General David Morrison that are guiding us “the standard you walk past is the standard you accept”.
Here’s the truly amazing story of how we know our stand for unity is already having an impact: As news of the Greens “walk out” spread, the phones in my office began to ring off the hook. The first callers were mainly men who supported Pauline Hanson, angry at what we had done. Then, it started to change... Muslims across the country started calling and thanking us. Some had received a text message, others an email or social media post, from their friends and networks, urging them to call.
As the night wore on the calls were in their hundreds and showed no signs of letting up so I sat down with my team to help answer the phones. I spoke to one man who told me he had just returned from evening prayers at his mosque where the imam urged the many in attendance to go home and call the Greens and thank us for our stance. We brought in more people from my colleague’s offices to jump on the phones.
The words of thanks overwhelmed the hateful calls. Every one of us was moved by the touching response.
As I continued to listen to the voices of Muslim Australians, sometimes speaking to multiple people in one family on the one call, I heard why it was so important to them that we did what we did.
One call in particular resonated with me. A mother told me she was worried about the effect words like those we heard from Senator Hanson will have on her children the following day in the schoolyard and on the bus. I told her I understood, because when I was a kid that was what happened to me. Will you stand with us now?
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