Australian foreign minister rejects monoculture call - Taipei Times

DIVISIVE POSITION:

The far-right One Nation party, which is gaining popularity, wants Canberra to re-evaluate ties with international organizations and cut aid

Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong in a speech yesterday defended multiculturalism as “the only Australia that has ever existed,” pushing back against the ascendant far-right One Nation party.Malaysian-born Wong warned against “external and internal forces” seeking to divide the country in her address to the Lowy Institute in Sydney, highlighting the success of refugees in business and sport.Half of Australians were born overseas or have a parent who was, census data showed.

Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong speaks at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, yesterday.

“Multicultural Australia is the only Australia that has ever existed,” Wong said.The “melancholic fantasy of a monoculture” would cause damage to Australia’s international security and trade by cutting off connection to the world, she added.