University student Anhaar Kareem has criticised Harmony Day as a superficial celebration that masks the ongoing reality of racism in Australia, warning that paying lip service to multiculturalism can be counterproductive.
Harmony Day's Origins Questioned
Kareem recounts how her father explained that Harmony Day was introduced by the Howard government in 1999 to "hide the longstanding systemic racial discrimination many people have faced in Australia." The day coincides with the United Nations' International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, originally commemorating the 1960 shooting of anti-apartheid protesters in South Africa.
"Having a day to celebrate supposed 'harmony' diminishes the ongoing truth of racism in this country, and instead reinforces a comfortable and easy myth: that Australia is a global example of a tolerant and accepting multicultural society," Kareem writes.
Rise of Anti-Immigration Sentiment
Kareem references Pauline Hanson's recent National Press Club address, where Hanson argued for a "monocultural" Australia. Following the speech, the Lowy Institute's annual poll showed a 17 percentage point drop in Australians who say cultural diversity has been good for the country, from 90% in 2024 to 73%.
Kareem notes that Hanson's rhetoric, which targets both immigrants and Indigenous Australians, is increasingly accepted. At the start of her address, Hanson refused to share an acknowledgment of country.
Conditional Empathy for Immigrants
The writer argues that multicultural narratives often make empathy conditional on what immigrants contribute economically. "Much of the rhetoric encouraging us to have empathy for immigrants is conditional on what they bring to Australia. They are good for the labour force. They bring nice food. They have good ethics and discipline," Kareem writes.
She warns that affirming immigrants can "assimilate" or highlighting their achievements makes support for racial minorities conditional on their perceived value to a capitalist structure.
Systemic Issues Remain
Kareem points to ongoing systemic issues faced by Indigenous people, people of colour, and immigrants in health, education, and employment, as well as disproportionate targeting by police and media. "They often experience racist micro-aggressions and must suffer the brunt of racially charged political rhetoric, which scapegoats and sidelines them," she says.
While she appreciates multicultural sentiment in a time when acknowledging people of colour as equal is contested, Kareem remains sceptical: "Simplistic celebration of Australia as a multicultural country hides what this nation truly is: a colonial project which continues to struggle with enrooted issues of racism."
Anhaar Kareem is a second-year law and media student at the University of New South Wales, based in Sydney on Wangal land.
