Australia’s race discrimination commissioner says we are “flirting with danger” in the debate over Chinese influence in our democracy, warning that antagonism towards state-sponsored interference could spill over “into a general suspicion of Chinese-Australians”.



In an intensification of a public warning delivered earlier this year, Tim Soutphommasane will use the opportunity of a community forum on Tuesday to spell out his concerns with the Chinese influence debate, and he will also blast the recent “panic” from politicians over African youth crime in Melbourne.

With his term as commissioner due to finish in August, Soutphommasane will also use Tuesday’s outing to also push back against recent public commentary from members of the government that his position at the Australian Human Rights Commission should be abolished.

Coalition pressures Labor to urgently pass spy laws to avert 'general chaos' at byelections Read more

In May, the Queensland Liberal senator Ian Macdonald declared racism in Australia was “isolated” and he questioned whether a separate race commissioner was needed, or whether the position should be rebadged.

Soutphommasane will smack down that notion. “At a time when extremist nationalism is on the march, we should be ramping up our efforts to fight racism – not retreating from them.

“The last thing we should be doing is giving any kind of tacit endorsement to the idea that, on racial matters, social division is generated by the naming of racism.

“There is no moral equivalence here. Division is caused not by our response to racism; the real division is caused by racism itself.”

He says the position of race discrimination commissioner can only be abolished or rebadged with a change to the underpinning legislation. “If there is such another attempt, fair-minded Australians, and ethnic and Indigenous communities, must be ready to stand up – to stand up as they did in 2013 and 2014, to stand up as they did again in 2016 and 2017.

“Those who desire amending the Racial Discrimination Act must know this: the multicultural mainstream of Australian society will not accept any weakening of our laws, or our public stance, against racial discrimination.”

On the China debate, the commissioner will say the challenges posed by foreign interference are a serious issue, and “it is vital there is proportionate action taken to eliminate foreign influence aimed at disrupting and undermining our democratic institutions”.

But he says members of the Australian Chinese community has expressed apprehension to him about the current debate.

“There are signs we are flirting with danger,” Soutphommasane will say. “Just consider how some national security hawks here now suggest that expressing concerns about anti-Chinese racism amounts to aiding the propaganda agenda of the Chinese Communist party.

“We are now at the point where some are conditioning us to accept that anti-Chinese sentiment may just be collateral damage we must accept in a new cold war.

“Given there are 1.2 million Australians who have Chinese ancestry, the scale of such potential damage would be significant.”

On African crime – with the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton declaring, earlier in the year that Victorians are “scared to go out to restaurants” because of “African gang violence” – Soutphommasane will argue “the seeds of distrust and disharmony have been sown”.

In a rebuke to Dutton and others, the commissioner will say “the fear and anxiety that has been whipped up has led to members of African-Australian communities being unjustly stereotyped as being prone to criminality”, a development that has created “hurt and anger” in the Australian African community.

Julie Bishop defends record on China after former ambassador's call for her to be sacked Read more

Soutphommasane enters the final stretch of his term as race discrimination commissioner having campaigned alongside community groups successfully against the Abbott and Turnbull government’s proposed changes to the Racial Discrimination Act.

The commissioner will characterise the repeated efforts to overhaul the protections against hate speech as “assaults on racial equality and tolerance” and he predicts critics of the legislation will double down for a fresh attempt.

“These assaults may have been defeated but we must not assume they are the last. There will continue to be the usual noise from the regular quarters about abolishing section 18C of the act.

“There is renewed energy among those who wish to make it easier to discriminate against others, or to make it harder to fight back against racism. And the next attack might come from a new direction.”

He will pay tribute to the various community groups that have spoken out on racial issues during his tenure. “Over the past five years, we have spoken out together.

“Together we have spoken out against far-right nationalist extremism. Together we have spoken out against racism, whether casual or institutional. Together we have spoken out to defend the Racial Discrimination Act – and together, we succeeded. Twice.

“As I’ve said, there may be a need to do this again. If there is, I know we can be confident about winning again. This is the most powerful lesson of these past five years for me.

“Fighting racism is not easy. But when we do it together, in solidarity, we can succeed. We can prevail.”