When racism is so entrenched in Australia, could paying lip service to multiculturalism do more harm than good? | Anhaar Kareem

Much of the rhetoric encouraging us to have empathy for immigrants is conditional on what they bring to Australia, writes university student Anhaar Kareem

Like many people, I unfortunately watched Pauline Hanson’s National Press Club address https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jun/17/pauline-hanson-national-press-club-address-speech-australia-ntwnfb">last week.

When I told my mum I planned to watch it, she replied in frustration: “Why are they giving her a platform?”

Hanson recited her usual talking points about Australia needing to be “monocultural”, using marginalised Australians as scapegoats for broader social problems.

These issues cannot and should not be blamed on minorities; they stem from the entrenched inequalities of a capitalist, colonialist country that in particular subjugates Indigenous people, migrants and other historically disadvantaged communities.