Broader perspective will boost racism watchdog

After years of umbrage-taking under Tim Soutphommasane and Gillian Triggs, whose ideas, in both cases, were often at odds with those of mainstream Australians, new race discrimination commissioner Chin-Leong Tan promises to bring a breath of fresh air to the role. It is still early days, but in his first major interview yesterday, Mr Tan told Chris Merritt it was wrong to describe Australia as a racist country: “If it was, I wouldn’t be here, mate.’’ He recognises Australia is a successful multicultural society.

Mr Tan is well qualified to make that judgment. He has a Chinese background and was born in Malaysia. As an arts/law graduate of the Australian National University, his experience in commercial and property law should give him a broad perspective on Australian life and workplaces.

Mr Tan, significantly, sees his new role as that of a public servant rather than a crusader in the media, although he concedes there is a place for the latter role “from time to time’’. He wants to be an advocate against race discrimination and to ensure there is a complaints process in place for people to follow if they see the need. Wisely, however, he does not consider it his job to encourage complaints, including by way of the contentious section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.

That section, which the Morrison government should abolish as part of Attorney-General Christian Porter’s overhaul, was used unfairly against a small group of former Queensland University of Technology students and this newspaper’s cartoonist, the late Bill Leak. Parliament’s joint committee on human rights found last year, not unreasonably, that Dr Soutphommasane’s remarks about a cartoon in The Australian by Leak, highlighting the lack of responsibility of some indigenous fathers towards their children, “could have been perceived by some as solicitation”. If so, Dr Soutphommasane overstepped what many would regard as the proper boundaries of his role.

Although Mr Tan’s title, for now, will be race discrimination commissioner, the government would do well to act on a suggestion by Australian Human Rights Commission president Rosalind Croucher to rename and redefine the position to enhance community relations. Mr Tan is on the right track in envisaging that much could be done to help new Australians grasp economic and social opportunities that would help them settle more quickly and make a contribution to their adopted homeland. Such initiatives would transform the role of race discrimination commissioner into something more constructive, to the benefit of newly arrived migrants and the wider community. This is especially important when too many newcomers lack the English skills necessary to assimilate well.

After too long as a catalyst for division, the Human Rights Commission is being slowly but surely steered by the Coalition in a more sensible direction. In doing so, it should deliver better value for taxpayers by promoting a more cohesive society.