{"id":35719,"date":"2026-06-22T00:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T00:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/35719\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T00:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T00:10:14","slug":"pauline-hansons-monoculture-comments-prompt-calls-for-unity-over-division-in-katanning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/35719\/","title":{"rendered":"Pauline Hanson’s monoculture comments prompt calls for unity over division in Katanning"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Imam Alep Mydie heard One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s call to establish a monocultural Australia, he was more confused than concerned.<\/p>\n

“Even in the place I call home, which is Katanning, I have been here for the past 56 years, multiculturalism has existed before I arrived here,” he said.<\/p>\n

During her address to the National Press Gallery last week, Senator Hanson said the policy of multiculturalism<\/a> in Australia was “utterly flawed”.<\/p>\n

She said while the country was multiracial, it must be monocultural.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pauline Hanson says multiculturalism is a “failed policy” in Australia. (ABC News: Adam Kennedy)<\/p>\n

Mr Mydie lives in the farming town of Katanning, 300 kilometres south of Perth, with a population of about 4,000 people.<\/p>\n

Its residents hail from more than 40 nationalities; Mr Mydie moved there with his family from Christmas Island.<\/p>\n

He said he would welcome a discussion with the One Nation leader.<\/p>\n

“I would like to sit with Ms Hanson and talk to anybody who has the view of that ideology,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Am I not Australian? Yes, I am.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Flags fly along one of Katanning’s main streets, representing the diversity of the community. (ABC Asia: Sophie Johnson)<\/p>\n

Mr Mydie said multiculturalism led to the sharing of knowledge.<\/p>\n

“When we arrived here 56 years ago, who was assisting us?” he asked.<\/p>\n

“We learned from the Italians, the Greeks, from people from Europe that were living in Katanning, that were here before us.”<\/p>\n

\"Close-up<\/p>\n

Alep Mydie says Katanning is a regional community founded on multicultural principles. (ABC News: Briana Fiore)<\/p>\n

Proud community<\/p>\n

A line of flags in the main street of Katanning pays respect to the diverse cultures that occupy the area, celebrated at events like the annual Harmony Festival.<\/p>\n

Shire president Kristy D’Aprile said the town had worked hard to build a strong community with different faiths, cultures and beliefs.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kristy D’Aprile says \u00a0Katanning is a strong and harmonious community. (ABC News: Anthony Pancia)<\/p>\n

“Katanning certainly is very proud of who we are and how our many different cultures work together to form a solid community,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Katanning has a very long history of being a welcoming place for new Australians.”<\/p>\n

The abattoir has been a major lure, attracting workers from Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands, as well as Afghanistan, Myanmar, and China.<\/p>\n

Ms D’Aprile said multiculturalism had strengthened the town’s economy.<\/p>\n

“We have a workforce that has been built around many different cultures filling critical roles within our community,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We are multicultural at our core, and we need that to continue for our sustainability.”No such thing as a monoculture<\/p>\n

Federal Multicultural Affairs Minister Anne Aly said Senator Hanson’s comments denigrated difference.<\/p>\n

“Difference is actually something that is good; it’s good economically, it’s good socially, it’s good for the nation,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Diversity and difference are not new to Australia; it is ancient. Even our First Nations people had different cultural practices, spoke different languages.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Anne Aly says multiculturalism is beneficial for Australia. (ABC News: Simon Beardsell)<\/p>\n

Dr Aly said there was no such thing as a monoculture.<\/p>\n

“Even within family units, there are different practices of culture,” she said.<\/p>\n

One Nation WA leader Rod Caddies said Senator Hanson’s monoculture concept was a message of unity, not division.<\/p>\n

“If you accept Australia as your home, you accept Australia has a culture and you contribute to that culture,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We have a culture that is set on shared beliefs, values and behaviours. For countries to be stable, there has to be a single, overarching culture.”<\/p>\n

Mr Caddies said the counterargument that Australia’s workforce relied on diversity had missed the underlying point.<\/p>\n

“Cultural differences do not play a part in our workforce,” he said.<\/p>\n

“[Multicultural workers] are Australian; they are a part of the workforce as Australians, not as a different culture.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Imam Alep Mydie heard One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s call to establish a monocultural Australia, he was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,148,30656,30189,25033,1926],"class_list":["post-35719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-federal-politics","tag-katanning","tag-monoculture","tag-multiculturalism","tag-pauline-hanson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}