Let's get something straight with Pauline Hanson and One Nation supporters. Australia has never been a "monoculture".

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Her right-wing dog whistle, made during her National Press Club appearance, may resonate with her base, but it rests on a flawed reading of our nation's history and an unrealistic vision of its future.

The closest Australia would ever have come to a monoculture was before British colonisation, when the continent was home to hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations. Even then, it was hardly culturally uniform. The First Nations people had hundreds of distinct languages, traditions and societies spread across the continent. With that in mind, diversity has always been part of Australia's past, and it should be part of our future.

Australia is one of the world's great multicultural success stories. We should be proud of that as a society. People from every corner of the globe have helped build our economy, enrich our arts, strengthen our communities and create a nation that is dynamic and resilient.

Rather than being threatened by it, Tasmania offers a compelling example of embracing multiculturalism.

Walk through Launceston's Harvest or Hobart's Salamanca Markets, and you'll find foods, languages........

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