'Cult of forgetfulness': these rallies make a call we must resist

On 21 January 2026 this opinion piece was published in The Canberra Times.

Australia should be a safe harbour for people who have been targeted for their beliefs elsewhere. Yet racism and religious intolerance are a feature of Australian life. The shocking mass murder at Bondi targeted Jewish people. It was preceded by other appalling anti-Semitic and violent incidents, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney.

On social media, organisers of anti-immigration rallies planned in Canberra and elsewhere for Australia Day have made the spurious claim that immigration is the problem at the heart of Bondi, rather than racial or religious hatred. That is a preposterous attempt to weaponise the tragedy and ignores the heroism shown by Ahmed al Ahmed, among others. The reality is that marching against immigration does nothing for social cohesion, and indeed, the expressed intent of the organisers is exclusionary - to replace multiculturalism with monoculturalism.

For those Australians who have gone through their citizenship ceremonies on January 26, the day represents the very opposite of such exclusion. Their Australian citizenship is a cause for celebration, representing the full membership of and participation in the civil and political life of Australia. Indeed, it is important to note that at citizenship ceremonies, people make a significant commitment to Australia in a way that those of us who are born Australian are not called upon to do.

The obvious irony is that those involved in the rallies are themselves migrants or the descendants of migrants. The Indigenous peoples of this country are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

We cannot ignore the injustice that underpins the date. For many, January 26 is not a celebration, but a day of mourning or deep reflection. It marks the start of very painful and unfinished business.

In January 1788, the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Cove and the Union Jack was raised. The British colonisation of Australia had begun, with the resultant dispossession of First Nations people on the basis of the legal fiction of terra nullius - the idea that this was land belonging to no one.

Only with the famous Mabo case, did the Australian state acknowledge the reality. Australia had been inhabited, including in places where few Europeans could survive. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had, and maintain to this day, their own systems of law governing relationships with their land. Native title survived colonisation and was therefore recognised by the Australian state.

Citizenship in Australia is about a civic and political commitment, not race, cultural background or religion. These are not surrendered on entry to Australia and, of course, that would be impossible. In the ACT, rights not to be discriminated against because of race, the freedom to practise and demonstrate one's religion and rights of minorities to enjoy their culture, declare and practise their religion and use their own language are protected by the Human Rights Act, among other laws.

Significantly, the Human Rights Act protects the distinct cultural rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, in particular to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage and distinctive spiritual practices, observances, beliefs and teachings; their languages and knowledge; their kinship ties; and to have their material and economic relationships with the land, waters and other resources with which they are connected under their own laws and customs recognised and valued.

These laws express a commitment to the rights of everyone, in all their diversity - those who were here first and those who have come later. They reflect international human rights commitments that Australia has made through treaties and other documents. These commitments reflect the values held by most Australians.

While some may attempt to use our current societal struggles to justify rolling back these rights, we must look at the facts. Some may be attracted to these rallies believing that cutting immigration is a silver bullet for issues such as the housing crisis. This is not the case. Problems such as the housing crisis are the product of long-standing policy neglect and wrong turns, well documented in the very readable book by Kevin Bell, Housing: the Great Australian Right, along with other well researched books and articles by other authors.

January 26 should not be a day for erasing historical and political realities. The proposed rallies seek loudly to enact what anthropologist WEH Stanner called "a cult of forgetfulness practised on a national scale". That call should be resisted.

• Dr Penelope Mathew is President and Human Rights Commissioner, ACT Human Rights Commission