Education Minister Jason Clare has accused the “right wing parties” of pushing a “vanilla” political agenda, in response to One Nation calls for a “monoculture”.
It comes as the Labor government continues its attack on the Coalition and One Nation over the future of multiculturalism and migration.
Mr Clare told Sky News Sunday Agenda that the Nationals, Liberals and One Nation wanted to be “vanilla”.
“We’ve got three right-wing parties at the moment: the Libs, the Nats, and One Nation. They’re like the Neapolitan ice cream of Australian politics,” he said.
“The problem is, they all want to be vanilla. That’s the problem here, we are a multicultural country. It actually makes us a better country.”
When questioned whether he was suggesting the parties wanted a “white” Australia, Mr Clare said: “I don’t know. You’ve got to ask Barnaby (Joyce)”.
Pressed again about what he meant by vanilla, Mr Clare said: “Pretty much vanilla across the board. When it comes to policies, they’re all the same, right?”
He was specifically asked if he meant that the conservative parties wanted to reinstate a “white Australia”, he said “No”.
Mr Clare said he was referring to similarities in policy positions, including industrial relations, wages, migration and opposition to measures such as free TAFE.
“No, no, no. I’m not talking about that. Think about what they want to do in terms of making it easier to sack people, lowering wages,” Mr Clare said.
“Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce will talk to you about migration, but they they’re against free TAFE, right?
“If we want to get more tradies to build more things, then things like investing in TAFE is important as well. They’re against that too.”
Mr Clare defended Australia’s multicultural identity, arguing the nation was made up of people from “all around the world” with different religions, backgrounds and cultures.
“We’re a multicultural country, whether you like it or not, made up of people from all around the world, different religions, different backgrounds, different cultures,” he said.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce told Sunday Agenda that “of course” One Nation did not want only white Anglo-Saxons in Australia.
“Of course not… I believe in an Australian culture, that you and I live between those guardrails,” he said.
“Whether you’re of Vietnamese heritage or Chinese heritage or African heritage, that is not the issue.
“That if you reside in Australia, there has to be stringent guardrails, because the liberties and the freedoms of other people are determined by your interaction with them.
“And if you wish to live outside those guardrails, then of course you have effect to other people who are living within it. And we can go through things.”
It comes after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated multiculturalism at an event in Melbourne.
Addressing a crowd at Marvel Stadium, Mr Modi said Indian Australians had enriched the nation while embracing Australia as their home.
“We Indians are like that… when sugar is added to milk, it makes the milk much sweeter. The milk is bought from Australia, however the tea is made the Indian way,” he said.
Mr Albanese also praised Australia’s cultural diversity, telling the crowd that about one million Australians could trace their roots to India.
“Australians of all backgrounds have been enriched by you bringing your culture here and adding it to our multicultural character,” he said.
The comments came amid an ongoing political debate over multiculturalism sparked by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s call for Australia to become “monocultural”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected that proposal, saying Australia had never been a monocultural nation.
“Indeed, under pre-1770 and then 1788, there were many First Nations in this country. And since then, I think our diversity as a nation is a strength,” he said.
“It’s who we are, so it’s really a nonsense argument to go back to something that was actually never there.”
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has argued Australia should instead unite “under the one culture”.
“It’s about being united to (be) strong, under the one culture, and everyone should be treated the same under one law,” she said.
The debate intensified after Socceroos star Awer Mabil, who was born in a Kenyan refugee camp, criticised Ms Hanson’s remarks.
“It’s just all bulls***… If anyone is trying to divide that, then they’re probably not Australian themselves in a sense, respectfully,” Mabil told reporters.
“When somebody tries to divide people based on certain things, because you don’t pick where you’re born, the colour of your skin.”
Ms Hanson had previously used the Australian Socceroos as a reference for her idea of monoculturalism – with diverse people but united by a single culture.