Anthony Albanese has recently claimed that Australia is a multicultural country, whereas Pauline Hanson has recently claimed that Australia is a monocultural country. So, what are we as a country, multicultural or monocultural or perhaps duo-cultural?
To answer that question, we need to understand what the word ‘culture’ means. Dictionaries show a variety of cultures such as popular culture, youth culture, cancel culture, corporate culture, ancient culture, a person a culture, as well as bacterial culture. Ruling out bacterial culture, which is not relevant here, culture appears to mean a set of shared beliefs that bind a group of people, shaping their lifestyle and worldview.
Based on that definition it does not mean people of common skin pigment, nationality, language, country of birth, biological sex, work ethic or religion. People of different religion can obviously share many common values and beliefs, while not sharing others. Culture is also distinct from ethnicity, which is sharing ancestral roots, language, traditions, and religion.
Some would say that Australia has a “western culture” is based on Greek philosophy, Roman law and Judeo-Christian values, and that has shaped our social interaction and legal system. Other countries have adopted different laws to deal with matters amongst their people of different cultures. For example, African Civil Law applied in rural South Africa in the 20th century to Africans of various tribes. It was customary amongst the Xhosa people for a bridegroom to pay to his bride’s father several cattle, the number and quality depending on how close the family was to royalty, and whether the bride was a virgin. If the wife left her husband and returned to her parents, the cattle needed to be returned in some circumstances. Disputes in this regard were heard in the Magistrates Courts. So here we have two cultures living in the same region, having different civil laws enforced by the courts.
As far as I’m aware, we don’t have different civil or criminal laws for people of different ethnicity or culture. We do have a situation where different religions, clubs, and other groups have rules that need to be adhered to by their members, and those not adhering to them can have their memberships terminated. Allowing different groups, religions or other, to have rules for membership, does not amount to a country being multi-cultural. Those rules however may not conflict with our civil and criminal laws, which take precedence over religious and club rules. If, for example, a group’s rules permitted cannibalism, slavery or paedophilia, doing so would be a criminal offence in Australia.
It is also worthwhile considering corporate cultures as an example. The management of Australia’s largest companies and the largest and most valuable companies around the world would take about their company’s culture and the importance of a culture. These companies employ many thousands of people of different ethnicities, of different cultural backgrounds, living in different countries around the world, but the company has one culture, which all its employees, management included, must adhere to. The culture imbedded in a company determines how the company’s people interact with each other, how the company treats its employees and how the company’s representatives deal with its suppliers and customers. It also affects company decisions. For example, should the company pursue some lucrative business opportunity despite knowing that it could harm the environment or a lot of people.
So, Albanese is wrong. Australia is a multiethnic country but not a multicultural one. It may be unclear as to what our (Australia’s) culture is and there may be a broad range of opinions as to what it is, but what is clear is that Australia is not multi-cultural.
The next question to consider is, whether Pauline Hanson is correct in saying that Australia has a monoculture? It is not multicultural, but could it be duo-cultural? Are the First Nations people recognised under law as a separate cultural group? It would appear so. Victoria and South Australia have each established a “Voice to Parliament” that is exclusively for First Nations people, and I understand some legislation (although I don’t know what) applies only to First Nations people, but I am not aware of the First Nations people having a different civil and criminal justice system to other Australians.
So, I agree with Pauline Hanson, Australia is monocultural. It is not multicultural or duo cultural. That said, we need clarity as to who we are as a nation, what common beliefs, values and objectives unite us. With that clarity, we can make better decisions.
Written by Mark M.J. Morris (June 2026)