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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Opposition Leader Angus Taylor was asked more than five times about whether he backed a multicultural vision of Australia on Tuesday.<\/p>\n It was not until the sixth attempt that he gave a semblance of a direct answer \u2013 saying Australians could come from any country or religion so long as they shared values.<\/p>\n But he didn\u2019t use the M-word.<\/p>\n The word took on fresh taboo status after Pauline Hanson\u2019s speech at the National Press Club last week<\/a>, in which the ascendant One Nation leader said Australia \u201ccannot be a multicultural society\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a multiracial society, but we must be monocultural,\u201d was Hanson\u2019s cry.<\/p>\n Hanson laid out a dichotomy that is now shaping the political conversation about cultural diversity in Australia. In doing so, she\u2019s planted another minefield for Taylor to dance around.<\/p>\n The One Nation leader made similar remarks again on Tuesday, citing Japan as an example of a monoculture and questioning why Australia couldn\u2019t be the same.<\/p>\n When Anthony Albanese was asked about her comments later in the morning, he got to the point. \u201cModern Australia is not a monoculture and it never has been,\u201d the prime minister said.<\/p>\n Albanese ran through a quick history that started with the First Fleet and ended with the Socceroos, a group noted for their diverse make-up which includes players from refugee and migrant backgrounds.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cWe won\u2019t move forward if we get stuck in these cultural debates that are all aimed at dividing people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n When Taylor was asked two hours later, it was not so straightforward.<\/p>\n Instead, he made reference to the Coalition\u2019s immigration policy on Australian values. As is often the case in press conferences, this only invited more questions.<\/p>\n Asked by a third reporter whether he thought Australia should be a monoculture, Taylor replied: \u201cYou explain to me what you mean by this, you see there\u2019s all these vague words running around.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I tell you what, the one thing I want all of us to share is those core Australian values.\u201d<\/p>\n Then the fourth: \u201cWith respect, sir, you\u2019ve now dodged four questions in a row about whether multiculturalism is a policy aim that you would stand by. Is it or is it not?\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor replied: \u201cI\u2019ve answered that question four times.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, the fifth reporter: \u201cI\u2019m also interested in whether you do support multiculturalism? It seems like a pretty straightforward question.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor: \u201cDo you want to define it for me?\u201d<\/p>\n Reporter: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t, I just wonder if it\u2019s a problem for you that you can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n At last Taylor gave it a crack.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can have people from all over the world, right? That is not a problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, you got me going here. Let me have a go. We can have people from all over the world, of all races and religions in this country, but they must share those core values. I don\u2019t know how much simpler it can be than that.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the reasons why I know this is so clear and so widely felt and shared across Australia is when you go to a citizenship ceremony, that\u2019s what we talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps it was a desire to stay on message, or habit of sticking to talking points, that explains why Taylor was most comfortable repeating the same lines he often trots about Australian values \u2013 instead of responding with a yes or no.<\/p>\n Or perhaps he was sandwiched in a cultural debate with no favourable way out. Labor was on one side, defending Australia\u2019s multicultural tradition. Hanson was on the other, demanding a monoculture.<\/p>\n Where to go for Taylor? Mounting a defence of multiculturalism is not part of his strategy for wooing back cultural conservatives who are fleeing the Coalition for One Nation. But simply aping Hanson and her slogans is not an option either.<\/p>\n The opposition leader was right to say these words can be used in a way that is vague and loosely defined. They take on different meanings, and evoke different emotions, in different people.<\/p>\n Hanson, who threw this grenade into political debate, emphasises she wants people to speak English. But beyond that, she doesn\u2019t explain precisely what she means when she envisions Australia as a monoculture.<\/p>\n Related Article Both Hanson and Taylor talk about uniting Australia under the same civic values and laws \u2013 a goal few would argue against. But values and laws are not the same as culture. If it\u2019s not an issue of race for Hanson, then where does she want to draw the line \u2013 on language, identity, tradition, food, dress, music or religious practice?<\/p>\n And even if a \u201cmonoculture\u201d was simply pointing to a set of values, to what extent does this appreciate that Australia\u2019s diverse social fabric informed those values in the first place?<\/p>\n Even new One Nation MP David Farley conceded the debate involved a \u201cplay on words\u201d when interviewed on the ABC\u2019s Afternoon Briefing program late Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n Without further explanation, these words \u2013 monoculture and multiculturalism \u2013 are instead becoming tribal signifiers in today\u2019s fractured political environment.<\/p>\n One speaks to a worldview where assimilation with a dominant culture \u2013 presumably, but not explicitly, that of white Australia \u2013 is prioritised over any difference. The other celebrates diversity on top of a shared set of fundamental values.<\/p>\n Hanson\u2019s simple slogan communicates where she stands. Labor also knows its position \u2013 that why senior ministers leapt to mock the opposition leader over his response in question time. Taylor tiptoed.<\/p>\n Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Opposition](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c2f27937e237f6e1b5bc1bd7df27780766289cfa.jpeg\")
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra.Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n![\"Senator](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/87df8f40b167484d1fe6b4c247c3cdf7f9da931e.jpeg\")
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Natassia Chrysanthos<\/a> is Federal Political Correspondent. She has previously reported on immigration, health, social issues and the NDIS from Parliament House in Canberra.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":755901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-755900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}