Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion or Conformity, Bias, and Exclusion? Problems of Australian DEI Practices

For years, CPAC Australia has been a highly successful international conference bringing together conservatives from all around the world. Speakers have come from places including Canada, the United States, Ukraine, and, of course, Australia to encourage fellow conservatives and bring light to problems that need addressing. Many speakers over the last few conferences have focused on religion, education, nuclear energy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies that need to be changed.

DEI in particular has caused several issues spanning many aspects of Australian life. It touches education, professional careers, and government policies, among others. In education, DEI practices allow children to be taught that there are “72 different genders, really?” former US Representative for Georgia Vernon Jones rhetorically questioned. He further explains that “they want you to believe a man can get pregnant” despite science proving otherwise. He goes on to say, “You can’t force your values down my throat and my family’s throat,” but that is exactly what happens thanks to DEI practices implemented in schools against our most vulnerable population.

Professor James Allan continues this line of disdain, adding that ”the problem with the diversity thing is that conservatives don’t want that.” Like most reasonable Australians, he believes someone should be hired based on merit, not “statistical equivalency.” Matt Whitaker, former acting Attorney General of the United States, points out that it’s a “tyranny of the minority” forcing conservatives to conform to the will of the few that benefits even fewer. This tyranny also brought the host of the Slightly Offensive Podcast, Elijah Shaffer, to question:

“Why is it that racism is bad unless the target of racism is a white person? Why is it that sexism is bad unless the target is a man? Why is it that religious discrimination, Islamophobia are horrible, but it’s okay to speak out against Christianity? And, of course, why is it okay to basically have free speech unless that free speech, of course, is offensive?”

DEI policies forced upon the general public of Australia also opened the door for “The Voice to Parliament” referendum. The Voice to Parliament would have been a group of 24 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people chosen to offer advice to the Australian government on laws and policies that directly affect Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. Had it passed, it would have allowed for the “positive discrimination” of these people and changes to the Australian Constitution mentioning them by name.

Former Australian Prime Minister Hon. Tony Abbott said regarding the referendum that “just because there may have been institutional discrimination in the past is no reason to institutionalize discrimination in the present and future.” Dr. Maurice Newman adds that “clearly, The Voice is a proposal from the heart and not from the head.” If it were from the head, it would not allow such discrimination to be written into the foundational document of Australia.

Hon. Dr. Gary Johns, former Special Minister of State and Assistant Minister for Industrial Relations, called The Voice a “ridiculous notion of race-based voice,” not a promising move for the Australian people. Speaking about the referendum at CPAC Australia in 2023, he pointed out that “changing the Constitution does not change behavior.” It won’t get children to “attend school” and “stop the grog or the abuse or the awful habits that cause early death.” Only a behavior change will make those things happen. In his eyes and the eyes of most Australians, “This referendum proposal is no gracious gift.” It is “an abandonment of leadership.”

The former Representative continued, saying that “government monies as a permanent way of life are poison,” which has been proven time and time again. He reminds us that government “merely covers the indignity of woeful ignorance,” which a certain amount of the population seems content to have. Hon. Dr. Gary Johns wrapped up his stirring speech with a call to action for Australian leaders: “Leaders, put your egos aside and think, ‘What did it take to raise my child?’ and you know the answer to that: mentoring, discipline, and love. This referendum disdains all three.”

The “woke capitalism” that DEI policies and The Voice to Parliament stem from seek to “enforce a worldview that demoralizes and divides us,” says Hon. Bridget McKenzie. Is that division between “us” and “them” not exactly what The Voice was aiming to write into the Australian Constitution? Thankfully, the referendum vote did not gain enough support to enact The Voice to Parliament, but that lack of support helped show that “trust in government is [...] reaching an all-time low,” as Sen. Alex Antic stated. With so many Australians in opposition to “positive discrimination” and DEI practices, it is important to keep the words of Michelle Pearse, Australian Christian Lobby, in mind: “Our fight is not in vain.” Keep fighting for conservative education, merit-based hiring practices, and government awareness of what the Australian people want.