Australia’s multicultural affairs minister has given a wide-ranging on-the-record interview addressing rising populism, cost of living pressures, and what he says is the myth of the monoculture.
The Hon Julian Hill MP, Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs, has spoken directly to multicultural communities across Australia in a video interview produced by Il Globo TV and Rete Italia, covering the political fault lines that are reshaping the national conversation about immigration, identity and belonging.
On the rise of One Nation and grievance politics, Minister Hill was unambiguous. “You can’t out-One Nation One Nation,” he said, pointing to what he described as the party’s thirty-year voting record against wages, penalty rates and paid parental leave as evidence that “they’re no friend of working Australians.” He added that One Nation names real pressures in the community but offers no solutions.
On the broader culture war framing around multiculturalism, he pushed back directly. “This myth of the monoculture is a thing that never existed in Australian history,” he said. “The question is whether that diversity will continue to be a source of national strength.”
The minister drew a clear line between integration and assimilation. “We do expect people when they come to Australia to integrate, but we also value the fact that you don’t need to leave your ancestral culture at the door.”
On social cohesion, Minister Hill rejected the premise that diversity is the source of division. “Polarisation and extremism don’t stem from diversity. They stem from social distance and misinformation.”
The interview also covered cost of living as the government’s central answer to polarisation, citing tax cuts, Medicare and bulk billing, cheaper medicines and the fuel tax cut. It addressed translating and interpreting services in hospitals and courts, skilled migration and overseas qualifications recognition in aged care and construction, the Royal Commission on antisemitism, the Islamophobia response, Illicit tobacco enforcement and Australia’s relationship with India.
The full interview is available via Il Globo TV, here and Rete Italia. Credis to II Globo TV, Rete Italia and Neos Kosmos for producing the interview.
