One Nation has committed to scrapping the Office for Multicultural Affairs and abolishing the federal multicultural affairs ministerial portfolio, marking its sharpest attack yet on Australia’s official multicultural framework.
NSW One Nation Senator Sean Bell told Sky News’ Sunday Agenda that multiculturalism was a “government doctrine” that had failed to promote assimilation and should be dismantled.
Senator Bell said,
“What One Nation says is, ‘No, we believe that multiculturalism is not working’. We believe it should be scrapped.”
The federal multicultural affairs portfolio is currently held by Dr Anne Aly, who was sworn in as Minister for Multicultural Affairs on 13 May 2025. Home Affairs also lists Julian Hill as Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs.
Senator Bell, who represents NSW in the Senate and is listed by Parliament as One Nation’s Senate whip, said the party would follow what he described as the John Howard-era approach and remove the bureaucratic machinery around multiculturalism.
The proposal would go far beyond a symbolic title change.
The Office for Multicultural Affairs sits at the centre of the Commonwealth’s multicultural policy architecture. Home Affairs says Australia’s multicultural diversity is a “fundamental aspect” of national identity and that all people should be able to participate fully, contribute meaningfully and feel they belong.
The government’s current framework is built around connection, identity and belonging, and inclusion, including English-language programs, citizenship policy, culturally capable public services, grants, digital inclusion, and a sustainable language services sector.
One Nation argues that the same system has had the opposite effect.
Senator Bell recently criticised what he called “enclaves where English is rarely spoken”, arguing in the Senate that government-funded translated services had reinforced separation rather than integration. It has been reported that he accused the current approach of limiting opportunity, weakening social trust and allowing imported conflicts to survive across generations.
He has now doubled down, saying government services should be delivered in English and that taxpayer-funded translation support encourages long-term dependence.
“At no point have we said that people can’t be multilingual,” Senator Bell said.
“What we are saying is that government services should be delivered in English.”
The most immediate flashpoint is language support.
Home Affairs runs the Adult Migrant English Program, which provides free English tuition to eligible migrants and humanitarian entrants. The department says AMEP assists around 70,000 people each year and has taught migrants English for more than 75 years.
The government also provides the Translating and Interpreting Service, known as TIS National, which Home Affairs says is for people who do not speak English and for agencies and businesses that need to communicate with non-English-speaking clients.
TIS National says phone interpreting is available 24 hours a day for agencies and people with limited English proficiency, with immediate phone interpreting available in more than 150 languages.
Senator Bell’s comments suggest One Nation wants a hard reset: keep English learning, but remove government translation as a routine bridge to services.
Multicultural Affairs Minister Anne Aly has rejected that argument, saying that people cannot build opportunity and trust if they are locked out of services they cannot understand. She said language support helps people find work, access help, raise families and participate in Australian life.
Public health experts have also warned that translation services can be crucial during emergencies, with former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth saying translated communication was essential during COVID-19.
One Nation’s position comes after Pauline Hanson reignited a national debate by declaring multiculturalism had failed and calling for a “monocultural” Australia during a National Press Club address last month. Reuters reported that Hanson tied her argument to immigration, housing pressure, social cohesion and national identity.
The fight now moves from rhetoric to the machinery of government.
Labor argues multicultural services are about access, fairness and participation. One Nation argues they have become a taxpayer-funded system of separation that weakens a shared national identity.
For migrant communities, the debate is no longer abstract. It raises direct questions about whether future governments would fund interpreting at hospitals, aged-care services, Centrelink, settlement programs, emergency warnings and other public-facing services.
For One Nation, the policy draws a clear line: English as the language of government, citizenship as the core identity, and assimilation as the expectation.
For the Albanese government, it is a direct challenge to the entire multicultural model it has spent years strengthening.