| We are Australian |
 |
 |
| Tuesday, 04 November 2008 00:00 |
|
Nicole Reardon These figures lead us to question the extent to which the multicultural hat fits this fair land of ours. Unpack the issues...The term 'multiculturalism' refers to an applied ideology of cultural and racial diversity within the demographics of a geographical area. It originated as a philosophy to promote cultural pluralism in order to build a better and more egalitarian society. But, like any philosophy, its context can change, generally in accordance with political and social changes occurring at the time. We have certainly seen this occur in Australia. Multiculturalism has been an active national policy since 1973 after the White Australia Policy, which restricted non-white immigration, was dismantled. Originally, multiculturalism was identified to mean the need for acceptance of the many members of the Australian community who came from different cultures and still had ties to that culture. However, it came to signify the rights of migrants to convey their cultural identity. New governments have brought new immigration policies and, consequently, different views on multiculturalism. The introduction of the Liberal Howard government in 1996 was a major turning point in the Australia’s multiculturalism policy. The government had a highly politicised hard-line approach to ‘queue jumping’ asylum seekers. This point in time also heralded the rise of Pauline Hanson, who stated in her maiden speech that “a truly multicultural country can never be strong or united”. In 2007, Howard sacked then Immigration Minister, Amanda Vanstone, and renamed the department. Originally known as the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, it was renamed Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The Howard Government dropped Multicultural Affairs from its Immigration portfolio and instead indicated his preference for ‘integration’. Meanwhile, in 2005, a string of racially motivated conflicts occurred in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla, now commonly known as the Cronulla Riots. More recently, we’ve witnessed tension and debate over the prospective building of an Islamic school in Camden, NSW. These recent events demonstrate ill-ease with the increasingly multi-racial and multi-faith Australia. While physical and violent racially motivated acts are often written off as the actions of the minority, the results of the Challenging Racism: the Anti-Racism Research Project indicate that, while not resorting to physical actions, many Australians harbour racial and religious intolerance. Acts of terrorism by extremists from cultural and religious groups have also added fuel to the fire. The devastation caused by 9/11 and, closer to home, the Bali bombings have triggered social panic, causing people to distrust and demonstrate hatred towards different cultural groups, many members of whom may have equally suffered from these events. Clearly ‘multiculturalism’ is an ideology that is forever changing. If it simply refers to a society made up of people from different cultures, ethnicities and religions, then Australia can be defined as a being multicultural. However, if ‘multiculturalism’ is defined as the harmonious co-existence of multicultural and multifaith groups, Australia in recent years would be found lacking. The many changes in government policy, along with acts of violence and terrorism, have sometimes promoted expressions of fear and distrust towards people of different cultures and religions. But, during the 12 years since Hanson's maiden speech, Australia’s position on multiculturalism has again changed. Of all the minority cultural groups in Australia, our Indigenous peoples – criticised in Hanson’s speech – have perhaps most suffered from racism and racist policies. However, earlier this year Australia's first peoples were honoured by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who apologised for the suffering and loss the Stolen Generations have endured at the hands of the Australian government. This radical change in the stance of the government has not yet swayed the general population to be more accepting of people who share different cultural identities. This is undoubtedly due in part to both history and fear. Many Australians – certainly those who hold positions of power in government – grew up in the era where the White Australia Policy existed. It is very hard to remove the fear and distrust of people from other cultures when this was originally promoted by the government. But the apology is the first step to putting aside fear and distrust and embracing the clear reality that Australia is multicultural. We would do well to follow the example of Australia’s Indigenous people in their gracious acceptance of the national apology and their willingness to move forward to bring practical changes to our country. Perhaps it is also time to strive for the multiculturalism as it was first imagined for Australia — focusing on understanding, and not merely tolerance, of the many different people who make up the Australian community. Unpack the issues...
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email This
Trackback(0)
Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
Australia is widely considered a multicultural country. Indeed, the 
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comment form
