Social cohesion probe told that multiculturalism is key to fighting hate
Multiculturalism bodies are playing an important role in the fight against social division as threats are increasingly racial, religious and gender-based.
A senior bureaucrat has launched an impassioned defence of multiculturalism and its ability to combat rising division and extremism.
Multicultural NSW’s acting director Malcolm Haddon told a royal commission probing social cohesion his goal was to “deprive extremists of what they want”.
Multicultural principles and democratic freedoms in the state are a key focus for a suite of community grants, initiatives and partnerships.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Dr Haddon said modern Australian extremism was diametrically opposed to those values.
“If the threat is to us as a society, then we collectively need to stand united against that threat … if we succumb to fear, if we succumb to hate, if we succumb to division, that is not a resilient society,” he said.
“Extremists hate Australia. Whether you’re a neo-Nazi white nationalist or an ISIS sympathiser or whatever it might be, you hate Australia.”
Dr Haddon is one of several witnesses giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion on Thursday.
He earlier told commissioner Virginia Bell the extremism landscape had evolved considerably in his 15 years in the field.
“It’s becoming more and more complicated (and) the threats from hate and extremism more broadly are proliferating,” he said.
“Extremists are seeking to incite divisions between communities on racial and religious lines, but more recently we’re seeing increasingly that those threats are seeking to incite divisions along the lines of gender.”
He testified COVID-19 had presented a major cohesion risk for his department as well as health bodies, accelerating modern divisions.
Mr Haddon also reported hearing about “nihilistic” radicalism through counter-extremist violence programs.
Earlier in the week, Stephen Barracosa from NSW’s Youth Justice Specialist Support Unit spoke on the rise of that mixed ideology.
“Nihilistic violent extremism has become a bit of a catchcry for misanthropic, violent, gore, objectionable spaces online, where meshed ideas are mixing together in quite incoherent ways,” he said.
It was near-on inevitable young Australians would cross paths with harmful and offensive materials, the commission was told.
“Unfortunately, it feels we’re living in a rather complex, divisive, provocative, and emotive socio‑political climate, which must be incredibly difficult for younger, increasingly vulnerable cohorts to navigate,” Dr Barracosa said.
