The member asked a very important question and it is one that a lot of Western Australians are grappling with. How do we embrace multiculturalism, which has made Australia, and Western Australia in particular, a thriving and cohesive place, while still making room for traditional Australian beliefs and values? Western Australia now has residents from more than 200 different countries who speak more than 170 different languages, making it a state with one of the world's broadest cultural compositions. We must acknowledge that without the hard work of migrants, often in jobs for which they are overqualified, and their contributions to the community, Western Australians would not be enjoying the unprecedented level of wealth and prosperity that they now are. Clearly, those migrants have earned their place in the community and they deserve our respect, and that includes respect for their values, beliefs and religions.

In recent years certain parts of the Australian media have highlighted and chided local governments for dropping nativity scenes as part of their Christmas decorations, and have also run stories about schools dropping nativity plays from their end-of-year concerts.

his year we have heard reports that some Western Australian councils are not supporting carols by candlelight celebrations. These sections of the media hold these incidents up as evidence that we are becoming too politically correct by embracing multiculturalism, and they claim that these groups do not want to offend non-Christians. I suspect that the suggestions to ban such observances, although well-intentioned, are misplaced zeal by persons attempting to be inclusive. It is my firm belief that these attempts do more harm than good. In our diverse community, blanket bans and one-size-fits-all decisions rarely work. When we make decisions, we need to acknowledge the complexity and strength of our diversity, from our indigenous community to our newest arrivals.

Clearly, Australia is predominantly a Christian society and there should be no fetter on celebrating Christmas traditions. Nevertheless, I do not think anyone would deny that we are seeing less of Christ in Christmas in Western Australia these days. I do not think it hurts any of us to remember the basic Christian message that non-Christians would also endorse; that is, compassion for the suffering of others, tolerance, respect and the pursuit of peace through justice. All these values enhance and enrich our community. As the new Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests, my focus is rightly on ensuring that new Western Australians are given opportunities to be equal members of the community, alongside multigenerational Australians. This is an essential goal if we are to have a harmonious society. I know that we have support from non-Christian groups. Ramdas Sankaran from the Western Australian Ethnic Communities Council says that he wants to see more, not fewer, religious and cultural celebrations.

My message to any schools, local governments and shopping centre owners that are confused about whether to display nativity scenes or support Christmas carols is that they should go ahead with them. They will have the support of the Western Australian community. They will have even greater support, however, if they choose, when the opportunity arises, to also celebrate the religious and cultural festivals of some of the state's other 100 or so religions.

We know we are in the silly season and we know it has truly arrived when these annual, but routine, beat-ups from the media about the impending demise of the nativity play and Christmas carols begin to surface. It looks as though we have to accept such sensationalism as part of the collateral damage of the silly season. It is a bit like food poisoning from a dodgy smorgasbord, bad taste Santa ties, shattered office photocopier glass and hangovers. I take this opportunity to wish every member, even the member for Nedlands, a happy Christmas.