Don’t let division tear apart nation’s social compact
I have seen this cycle before. Each generation of Australians must decide whether multiculturalism will remain a living compact or become an empty slogan.
When I first entered parliament in the 1970s, the word multiculturalism was still contentious. Many saw it as a challenge to the idea of a single Australian identity.
The policy that evolved, under both Liberal and Labor governments, was never about fragmenting the nation. It was about strengthening it through inclusion, shared responsibility, and respect for the institutions that hold us together.
As minister for immigration and multicultural affairs under John Howard, I came to see multiculturalism not as a statement of diversity but as a compact of citizenship, an understanding that newcomers share the rights of Australians and also the obligations: respect for law, parliamentary democracy, equality between men and women, freedom of religion and speech, and the peaceful resolution of differences.
Those principles served us well. They allowed Australia to absorb large numbers of migrants and refugees without the social fractures that have troubled other nations. But compacts endure only when both sides keep faith. Governments must set clear expectations and defend the rule of law; communities must ensure that cultural expression never slips into exclusion or antagonism.
In recent years, that balance has begun to fray. The tone of public debate has hardened. Social media has amplified division and rewarded outrage.
Identity has become a weapon rather than a bridge. And at times, governments have responded with hesitation, reluctant to restate the basic truths that multiculturalism is built upon.
Amid these tensions, there are some who wish to politicise the debate by suggesting Australians have a fear of becoming strangers in their own country. We, as a nation, must resist this flawed sentiment.
Australia’s multiculturalism did not arrive in the post-war decades; it dates back to colonisation, to a time when Indigenous Australians encountered waves of settlers, convicts, migrants and refugees who each added to the nation’s complex story. We have always been, in truth, a nation of others.
It is this diversity, not homogeneity, that has given us our strength, kept us young, and made us prosperous. Our openness to the world has been the source of our renewal.
Today, more than half of Australians (51.5 per cent) are migrants themselves or children of migrants. That is an extraordinary statistic and a truly remarkable achievement. Nowhere else on earth can claim a multicultural nation of such scale and cohesion. Our success is not accidental; it is the product of deliberate policy, grounded in fairness, equality and shared purpose.
It is not enough to say that diversity is our strength. Diversity becomes strength only when it is anchored in shared values. Those values are not abstract. They are the product of generations who believed that freedom, fairness, and civic duty define what it means to be Australian.
During my time as minister, I saw multiculturalism tested by moments of international tension: the Kosovo crisis, conflicts in the Middle East, debates over asylum seekers. Each time, the key was communication and confidence. We worked directly with community leaders, listened to concerns, and made clear that loyalty to Australia was never in conflict with pride in one’s heritage.
That approach still holds. Governments today must speak to all Australians with candour, affirming that our strength lies in unity under one rule of law. The temptation to politicise culture, to seek short-term advantage from division, is corrosive.
Multiculturalism also requires institutional support. That means investing in English-language learning, citizenship education, and programs that bring communities together in practical ways in schools, local councils, and workplaces. It is in these ordinary settings, not on social media or at rallies, that cohesion is built.
To my former colleagues on the Labor side, I would say: remember that tolerance without expectation is fragility. Multicultural policy must be grounded in civic responsibility, not in symbolism alone.
And to my friends in the Coalition, I would say this: never forget that multiculturalism is not a Labor invention. It is rooted in the Liberal tradition of individual freedom and opportunity. From Holt’s dismantling of the White Australia policy to Mackellar’s principles of non-discrimination, inclusion has always been part of our story. When we retreat into fear or suspicion, we betray that inheritance.
Multiculturalism does not mean we all agree, or that differences disappear. It means that disagreement happens within the bounds of respect and a shared commitment to Australia’s democratic institutions. It is a living compact, renewed by every generation that chooses to call this country home.
As our society becomes more complex and our global connections deepen, we must protect that compact more fiercely than ever. It is what allows us to be a nation of many stories but one future. Our success has never been measured by how many cultures we can count, but by how well we live those values together.
Philip Ruddock is Australia’s longest-serving former federal minister for immigration and multicultural affairs.
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