Tony Abbott has backed Pauline Hanson’s calls for Australia to have a uniform culture despite Coalition leaders rejecting the One Nation leader’s demands for a “monoculture”.
Ms Hanson sparked controversy last week when she used her first-ever National Press Club address to declare Australia “must be monocultural”.
“We cannot be a multicultural society. We are a multiracial society, but we must be monocultural. Australians must live under the one cultural umbrella,” she said in her speech.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attacked the comments, declaring Australia “is not a monoculture and it never has been”, while Liberal leader Angus Taylor and Nationals leader Matt Canavan have also rejected Ms Hanson’s position.
However, when asked about the Senator’s call for there to be “one culture and one culture only”, Mr Abbott backed the One Nation leader’s position.
“Australia has a Celtic culture, we have a foundational Judeo-Christian ethos. That should never change,” the former Liberal prime minister told Sky News host Peta Credlin.
“Migrants choose Australia precisely because they like what they see and if we change ourselves to suit the migrants, we’re actually letting them down as well as ourselves.”
The former prime minister went on to claim parts of Australia’s political and media class appeared to be embarrassed by Australian culture.
“Look at the ABC, for instance. The ABC is in favour of every culture except ours,” he said.
“I don’t know whether it’s a kind of guilt complex, I don’t know whether it’s kind of politeness on steroids, I don’t know whether it’s cultural Marxism or the influence of, I suppose, ethnic activism, but one way or another, it’s got to change.”
The intervention puts Mr Abbott – who was recently appointed as president of the Federal Liberal Party – at odds with the current leaders of both the federal Liberal and National parties.
In a press conference last week, Liberal leader Angus Taylor hit out at Ms Hanson’s comments, while nonetheless arguing Australia’s immigration system should have a stronger focus on values.
“I judge people on their character and their conduct. That’s how the Liberal and Nationals approach things,” Mr Taylor said.
“If she wants to judge people based on the colour of their skin or their race, One Nation needs to explain that, but our position on this is clear.”
Ms Hanson has since attempted to clarify her position, telling Seven’s Sunrise on Tuesday morning she was not expecting people to abandon their heritage.
“It’s about being united under the one culture and everyone should be treated the same under one law. I’m not saying forget where you came from or your cultural background by no means,” she said.
“When we go to the Olympics, we represent our nation. It’s all under the one flag and it’s the Australian flag. Japan has a monoculture, so what’s wrong with Australia having a monoculture?”
The One Nation leader went on to say Australia needed to place more emphasis on assimilation.
“We must look at being Australians instead of all these different little individual groups who live in their own cultures, their own laws and beliefs,” she said.
“People have come here to be Australian.”
Despite the clarification, Mr Taylor repeatedly refused to back the calls for a “monoculture”, telling a journalist they would need to explain what they meant by the term, before declaring he wanted Australians to share “core Australian values”.
“The culture I want to see in this country is people in this country who believe in and support Australian values,” he said.
“We’ve been very clear on this: a commitment to our parliamentary democracy, a commitment to the rule of law, a commitment to our basic freedoms, a commitment to equal respect and dignity of all Australians.
“That’s what we believe in, that’s what we want to see and that is what we’ve announced for our immigration policy. It must be central to our immigration policy and it must be central to how we think about what is not negotiable for all Australians.”
Mr Canavan also criticised Ms Hanson’s calls for a “monoculture”.
“I don’t like the word monoculture. I’d never heard of it before, really, until last week,” he told Sky News host Andrew Bolt.
The Nationals leader noted Ms Hanson had used Japan as an example of what she meant by a monoculture.
“I don’t want Australia to become like Japan… if that’s what she means by the word monoculture.
“I want Australia to be like Australia. We’re not like Japan. They have very strict enforcement of a single culture in Japan. It’s a great country, I love going there, and good luck to the Japanese, but that’s not who we are.”
Mr Canavan said Australia did have a form of multiculturalism, although he suggested the term had been hijacked to mean something it was not intended to mean and added it should not override the nation’s “common culture”.
“What we should have is a common culture, a common culture that unites us all,” he said.
“We do come from different cultural backgrounds, and Pauline herself said that today, so we have a form of multiculturalism.
“So I’ve got no problem people celebrating their diverse cultural activities and practices. It’s a wonderful part of our culture, our country.
“Now, I also agree that that word’s been hijacked, unfortunately, by the left, and weaponised to mean something it never was intended (to mean).
“There is no doubt that the concept of multiculturalism has been abused by activists on the left to seek to erase our common culture.
“That’s what we need to retake and defend. That’s what I support. I don’t want to see our country divided. There are… more things, in my view, that unite us as Australians than divide us.”