Job insecurity and the technological revolution are driving rising anti-immigration rhetoric, Australia’s human rights watchdog has warned.
Australian Human Rights Commission president Hugh de Krester also warned politicians against stoking social division during an address to the National Press Club on Wednesday.
Mr de Krester was in Canberra to deliver the findings of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s inaugural human rights assessment.
Questioned about the rise of One Nation, Mr de Krester warned there could be a “sensible debate” about migration policy and immigration rates.
“But, too often this debate is demonising migrants and driving polarisation and racism and it is wrong,” he said.
Mr Krester said he welcomed debate about Australian values, connecting traditional Aboriginal ownership, European settlement, and the end of the White Australia policy with “human rights values”, including freedom and the rule of law.
“For those who are interested, have a look at Section 50 one of the Migration Act. The powers the Australian government currently has to refuse a visa to someone, to cancel someone’s visa, including someone who is a permanent visa holder, are extremely broad already,” he said.
“So, it’s difficult to see how you could legislate to increase those powers even further.”
Mr de Krester linked a surge in anti-immigration rhetoric in Australia to rising populism globally.
“The things that are fuelling that trend we absolutely have to look at,” he said.
“People feeling insecure about their jobs, people worried about their country’s changing because of technological change, people in rural and regional areas feeling left behind because jobs and access to health, housing, education, happen to be in the cities.
“These are human rights problems, and there’s human rights solutions to them.”
To strengthen social cohesion, inequality needed to be addressed, Mr de Krester said.
He also warned leaders to “choose their words carefully”.
“You can’t on the one hand say, ‘I’m worried about social division and social cohesion’ and on the other hand stoke it,” he said.
Grim warning
Mr de Krester used his speech to warn that the nation is falling behind on its international human rights obligations, as rising racism, an erosion of trust in democracy, and increasing inequality fuel the “fraying” of its social fabric.
“Australia has done a lot well on human rights. We live in one of the safest, most stable and prosperous countries on the planet,” Mr de Kretser said.
“But that safety, stability and prosperity are not shared equally. There are blind spots, and our success is fragile.
“It is being threatened by major challenges including polarisation, division, rising racism, climate change, inequality and rapid technological change.”
The watchdog had “serious concerns” about the pressure applied by state and federal governments on Australians’ democratic freedoms, Mr de Kretser said.
“Protest in Australia has been critical to so many advances that we often now take for granted … yet governments continue to introduce laws that unnecessarily restrict peaceful protest with vague, poorly crafted offences and excessive penalties and police powers,” he said.
“These laws are repeatedly being found by our courts to breach the implied freedom of political communication in our constitution.”
He also warned that Australia was lagging behind comparable democracies when it came to press freedom. This was compounded by a growing distrust of government institutions, in line with global trends.
“We must address the forces that undermine trust and we must ensure our governments and parliaments earn the trust of Australians and respond to their needs,” Mr de Kretser said.
He said another issue on the rise was racism – a “key aspect” of social cohesion.
“For First Peoples it rose with the failed Voice referendum,” he said.
“For Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Palestinian and Israeli communities in Australia, it surged after the October 7 attack and the war in Gaza.
“We must not allow racism to be normalised.”
He said the Bondi massacre in December, an alleged terror attack at a First Nation’s rally in January, and an alleged terror plot targeting Muslims in February were just some examples of the perils of racism left unchecked.
“When we fail to protect a minority group from harm, we fail as a nation,” Mr de Kretser said.
He urged the Albanese government to set up a taskforce to adopt the National Anti-Racism Framework.
Mr de Kretser also added the targeting of Indian migrants, as well as Muslims and those from Lebanon and Palestine, was fuelling “racism, hate and division” in Australia.
Later, Mr de Kretser argued a solution to Australia’s lagging progress on human rights was to adopt a national human rights act.
He said this was because the federal government had failed to implement Australia’s obligations under international law into its domestic laws.
“Our promises on the global stage are not properly backed up. Our human rights safety net has holes in it,” Mr de Kretser said.
“A human rights act would list all the rights of all Australians in the one place in Australian law and protect those rights.
“It would require governments and public servants to properly consider and act compatibly with those rights when they make decisions, deliver services or develop policies.
“It would foster a better understanding of rights and build a culture that prevents breaches of people’s rights.”
