Happy Australia Day!

On day’s like today you reflect on the extraordinary achievement of what Australia has become.

We are a truly unique and special people, no matter where we have come from.

There is a substance to the character of our community, based on Australian values and culture that have been built up over generations. Volunteering, community service, respect for others, personal responsibility have taken pride of place.

English is and will always be our first and unifying language. However we also embrace the second languages of the many different backgrounds of Australians as community assets, especially in the pursuit of understanding and friendships with our international neighbours.

And we live in a pristine natural environment that enables us to enjoy the greatest lifestyle you could hope for.

In Australia we work to live, not the other way around. We value the time we share with our family and friends, especially on days like today. And as a community we have much to celebrate.

As citizens we can never take for granted our lifestyle, our environment and the friendly and open nature that Australians are famous for.

These privileges carry great responsibilities, especially for political leaders, to ensure they are protected, preserved and promoted.

Over the years I have had the opportunity to do many things - from serving our country in the Navy, working in business and representing my local community, as a member of Parliament.

Throughout this time I have become increasingly concerned at how political correctness has hijacked and marginalized multiculturalism in Australia, driving wedges into our community, rather than bringing Australians together.

Today I want to reclaim multiculturalism for mainstream Australians who believe that it should be a policy for inclusion, not exclusion.

No longer can we allow multiculturalism to justify the barriers placed between Australians of different backgrounds, faiths and beliefs. It must become a rallying point to live as an inclusive society, living a uniquely Australian way of life.

Multiculturalism must be a policy for integration not separation. It must be a policy that shows respect for our different cultural backgrounds, including indigenous Australians, but focuses on Australian values and an Australian way of life that we share as a first priority.

After all it was these same values and the opportunity for an Australian way of life that has attracted millions of new Australians to our shores for centuries.

The apologists for political correctness equate importation of nationalist and religious rivalries with the timeless values of centuries old cultures. It’s just nonsense.

Australians are fed up with seeing the problems of other nations played out on our own streets, our sporting venues, our beaches and even in our schools. Even this year’s Australian Open could not escape these rivalries. When they start rioting at the tennis, you know you’ve got a problem.

The politically correct and extreme agenda for multiculturalism in Australia poses a very serious threat to the openness and inclusive nature of our society.

Becoming an Australian citizen does not give you the right to a patch of land, where you simply recreate your old country in the new – separated from the rest of the community. It is the entitlement to embrace and participate in a new Australian way of life.

Under no circumstances can we give a green light to cultural segregation in our community.

I applaud the resilience and continued efforts of the Shire community to build bridges and foster greater understanding following the incidents that took place just over a year ago. With typical Australian spirit, the Shire community has reached out and moved on.

But we cannot ignore how this all happened in the first place. In all my years going to the Shire it was clear this had been brewing for years – and was left to fester.

All Australians need to see themselves as Australians. And all Australians need to accept each other as Australians. We cannot allow ourselves to invest our identity only in our differences.

By allowing communities within our society to overtly differentiate themselves in this way and fail to embrace a common Australia, we light the fuse to more conflicts in the future.

Australia is an inclusive society. Australia is a society that you become part of, that you participate in and that you contribute to.

The answer to these problems lays in what Prime Minister John Howard has been talking about for years. We need to get some basic priorities sorted out and put initiatives in place to promote tolerance and acceptance of our differences, but most importantly celebrate what we share as Australians first.

To this end I am announcing a series of measures today as part of my plan to take back multiculturalism for mainstream Australia – what I call ‘practical multiculturalism’.

To do this I announce that a Debnam Liberal/National’s Government in NSW will introduce:

• A new Australian Values and Civics Test for year 6 students based on the test recently introduced by the Australian Government for new citizens. We will review the curriculum to ensure it encompasses all the material covered in the new test, especially Australian history, with equal focus on colonial and indigenous history.

• Renaming the existing ‘English as a Second Language’ Program to ‘Teaching English as a first Language’ (TEFL) and the provision of an additional 200 new TEFL teachers to reverse Labor’s 12 years of language neglect.

• Free English Language courses at NSW Community Colleges to assist those who wish to develop their English language skills.

• A new free Civics and Citizenship course at NSW Community Colleges.

• A $6 million Youth Community Partnership Projects Program to provide financial assistance for schools and community organisations to arrange and undertake projects that involve young people from different cultural backgrounds, different schools and different areas working together on charitable and other community initiatives.

I believe this package will make a positive contribution to creating a more inclusive society. I believe, as Premier, you need take a practical leadership role on these issues wherever you can – not just talk about them.

Can I conclude by congratulating all of those who become Australian citizens on this day. I welcome you to your new life as an Australian and look forward to the contribution you will make to our great country.