Arabic version: تراجع نتائج الاستطلاع يثير مخاوف بشأن التماسك الاجتماعي
According to ABC News, the 2026 Lowy Institute Poll recorded Australia’s largest-ever decline in support for cultural diversity, prompting concern among multicultural community figures about racism and social cohesion.
Twenty per cent of respondents said cultural diversity was “mostly negative” for Australia, while 6 per cent said it was “entirely negative”. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has called for a “monoculture”, saying in a June National Press Club address that Australia could not be a multicultural society. ABC News reported that Redbridge Group polling found more Australians preferred her stance on immigration than that of either major party.
Adut Atem, an NDIS business owner who arrived in Canberra in 2002 as a 17-year-old Sudanese refugee, said she feared anti-immigration sentiment was emboldening hostility. She described a recent road-rage incident in Canberra’s inner north, when a driver poured coffee on her windscreen and yelled racist abuse. Ms Atem, who did not report the encounter, said Canberra had generally been welcoming but questioned how people could feel safe when confronted by aggressive racial attacks.
Arif Haque, chair of the Canberra Multicultural Community Forum, said political statements could have immediate consequences beyond the press gallery. The forum represents more than 100 ethnic community organisations in the ACT. Mr Haque said he had recently experienced a racist encounter at a Canberra shopping centre for the first time in 30 years, and warned that anti-immigration and “monoculture” rhetoric was making multicultural communities feel like scapegoats for housing and economic challenges.
Sam Wong, patron of the ACT Chinese Australian Association, said the debate reminded him of the White Australia policy and argued for stronger diverse representation in politics. Migration agent and human rights advocate Marion Le said fearmongering could keep out qualified people Australia needed. She said Canberra had embraced multiculturalism and could remain “a beacon to the rest of Australia”.
