Newsflash: The mythical 'monoculture' has never existed

Australia's multicultural success story stands in stark contrast to the nostalgic myth of a monocultural past that never truly existed, writes Craig Hill.

EVERY NOW AND THEN, someone argues that Australia should abandon multiculturalism and return to some imagined monocultural past. Senator Pauline Hanson has built much of her political career around that idea.

I simply don't believe it would work and my own life experiences over the past 40 years have convinced me that multiculturalism is one of Australia's greatest strengths.

The first problem is that the monocultural Australia some people talk about never really existed. Long before European settlement, going back 60,000 years, hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations lived across this continent, each with its own languages, customs and traditions.

Later, migrants came from Britain, Ireland, China, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and every corner of the globe. Modern Australia has been shaped by wave after wave of migration for 250 years.

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There are no successful modern nations built on the idea of complete cultural isolation. The closest example would be North Korea and few people would seriously suggest Australia should follow that path. The world's most prosperous countries are those that trade, innovate, welcome talent and engage with the wider world. I've also seen the benefits of multiculturalism first-hand.

My wife was a senior manager with Iran's National Oil Company before coming to Australia. Despite many misconceptions people hold about Iran, women do occupy senior professional positions there. She didn't receive opportunities because of special treatment; she earned them through ability and hard work.

Her extended family tells similar stories. One of her cousins and her partner both hold master's degrees in Information Technology. They secured jobs in Australia through competitive recruitment processes because they possessed valuable skills.

Another cousin was a well-known entertainer and sound technician in Iran. Today, he continues performing at both Iranian and Australian community functions. His wife works in aged care while also operating an Iranian catering business. They have developed specialist skills that enrich the Australian community while building successful careers.

Through my wife's family and many friends in Brisbane's Iranian community, I've met doctors, teachers, mechanics, builders, engineers, business owners and skilled tradespeople. They compete for jobs in exactly the same way everyone else does. They work, pay taxes, raise families and contribute to their local communities. I don't know anyone among them who simply sits back, relying on welfare. Their success comes from education, determination and hard work.

This directly contradicts the claim that migrants are taking jobs from Australians. Jobs aren't awarded because someone was born overseas. In the overwhelming majority of cases, they're awarded because an employer believes that the applicant is the best person for the role. That's how a competitive labour market works.

I've also seen this from another perspective through my teaching career. For many years, I taught English as a Second Language and business courses to international students. Many arrived speaking English as their second or third language. They worked incredibly hard to improve their communication skills while completing demanding qualifications.

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Many have since progressed into supervisory and management positions because they demonstrated the knowledge, experience and leadership employers were seeking. Again, that's not someone taking another person's opportunity. That's merit being rewarded.

My experiences working with Indigenous communities taught me equally important lessons. I spent years teaching TAFE qualifications in Indigenous communities and holding management positions in remote areas. Those years gave me enormous respect for Indigenous cultures, histories and knowledge systems. I learnt far more than I taught.

Like any large government-funded system, I also observed examples where public money was not always used as effectively as it should have been. During my work, I submitted audit reports to the Federal Government identifying governance concerns.

In my experience, poor administration was not something that could simply be blamed on Indigenous people. Most of the mismanagement of money was coming from government departments, including Centrelink. Blaming entire communities instead ignores the complexity of these issues.

Perhaps the greatest gift multicultural Australia has given me is perspective. Growing up in rural Australia during the 1960s and 1970s, my world was relatively narrow. Today, after almost three decades working with people from dozens of different cultures, I see the world very differently.

I've shared meals I never imagined eating as a child. I've celebrated festivals I didn't know existed. I've listened to music from around the world, learnt about different religious traditions and discovered entirely new ways of thinking about family, community and success.

Every culture sees the world through its own unique lens. Rather than threatening Australia, those different perspectives have enriched my own life beyond anything my Anglo-Saxon upbringing alone could have provided.

Australia is the proof multiculturalism works

Australia's history, economy and global achievements show that multiculturalism is not a weakness but one of the nation's greatest strengths.

Australia today is a far more vibrant country than the one I remember growing up in. Our restaurants, businesses, universities, hospitals, sporting clubs and workplaces all benefit from people bringing different experiences, ideas and talents together.

Over the past four decades, Australia has developed one of the world's highest standards of living and one of its strongest, most resilient economies. That success hasn't occurred despite multiculturalism. It has occurred alongside it. So why would we want to throw that away?

Why would we abandon a system that has produced economic growth, innovation and one of the most successful multicultural democracies on Earth in pursuit of a mythical monoculture that has never really existed? If anything, Australia's future depends on continuing to attract talented people from around the world while maintaining the democratic values, fairness and equality that unite us all.

I've lived long enough to know that diversity doesn't weaken Australia. It makes us stronger.

If you'd like to explore the evidence in more detail, I've produced a podcast episode that fact-checks ten of Pauline Hanson's claims about multiculturalism, immigration and Australian society. You can watch it below.

Craig Hill is a Brisbane-based author, journalist and business consultant. He is the author of the Doctor Who and Star Trek episode companions. He was the Legalise Cannabis Party candidate for the Queensland seat of Bonner at the 2025 Federal Election. You can follow Craig on X/Twitter @CraigHill01.