Online at http://www.newcomersnetwork.com/mediareleases/060922.php
The Australian Citizenship English Language Test Debate: Can we forget about terrorism for a moment?
22 September 2006 - 1265 words
by Sue Ellson BBus AIMM MAHRI Founder of Newcomers Network
Points raised in this article include:
. As an Australian, I would fail a basic Australian History Test
. Bring on the English Language Test for New Australian Citizens
. Life and living skills need to be learnt to live in First World Australia
. It is much harder to be extreme if you understand mainstream
. Everyone needs someone to say 'welcome' when they arrive
Have you been subconsciously groomed to be fearful and scared of someone who is different to you? Just because someone speaks with an accent, it doesn't mean that they think with an accent. Every religious group has its own share of extremists. Clothes worn in Melbourne are different from those worn in Brisbane - and not just because of the weather!
I am a born and bred Australian. Every day, I choose to work with people who have chosen to live here because I am inspired by their passion and commitment to a fresh start. I believe that one of the greatest blessings of living in Australia is our opportunity to participate in a democratic society where we can speak our mind. After all, you are reading this because it wasn't censored.
If I feel strongly enough about a proposed change in policy or procedure for the collective benefit of Australian society, I can rally people power, the media, the internet, lobby groups, my local Member of Parliament etc to help me get my message heard.
Despite an Australian education, I must admit that I do not have an extensive knowledge of Australian history and culture. Sorry about that. In fact unless I studied hard, I would probably fail a basic Australian History test. I was shocked by the graphic portrayal of what 'white' Australians did to indigenous Australians in the recently released Australian movie 'Kanyini.' I don't remember ever covering this topic in my Social Studies class at primary school.
Thanks to living in Adelaide for the first 28 years of my life, I have a subtle 'British' accent - quite well regarded really - far better in social situations than one that comes from America or New Zealand. I still talk far too fast and I find it difficult not to include all of the sayings and slang I heard in my youth.
Now, I am 41. I can tell you that the world we are living in is changing at an exponential rate in the 21st century, not an incremental rate as it has done over the last 2000 years.
When British migrants were encouraged to move to Australia between 1945 and 1972, can you imagine them hiring a migration agent to complete the visa application process? International students in some universities now outnumber local students. All levels of government are moving their information, resources and services online so that residents can have up to 24/7 access.
At the local level, people with busy lives are taking refugees for driving lessons, shopping expeditions and medical appointments. They are passing on information about the closest shop, bus or swimming pool to the new neighbour next door. How many times have we trumpeted to the world our commitment to volunteerism - and showcased it at the Olympics in Sydney and the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. This is not the Australia that Greek immigrants arrived in shortly after World War II. How many of these people still recoil at the phrase 'new Australian?'
But where does this leave us in 2006? How do we as a society remain welcoming yet safe in the context of global unrest? For a start, with so much change occurring every single day, we need to ensure that everyone who lives here has the opportunity to actively participate in their community and one of the most obvious common denominators is the ability to read, write, speak and understand the English language.
Every effort must be made to ensure that this happens - and in some cases, this will mean that the quality of English classes and the associated external support network will need to be improved so that people can reach a suitable standard within an agreed time allotment.
One way to increase a new arrival's ability to participate in Australian life is for them to have the necessary life and living skills for our first world country. A South African person told me how safe she felt in buildings in Australia simply because she knows that there are requirements on fire systems, occupational health and safety and so on.
One of the reasons we enjoy a safe and secure lifestyle in Australia is because of regulations - so if they are in the general interests of all residents - why do we fear their implementation?
Children educated in technology savvy Australia use a plethora of equipment far beyond a desktop computer. Information booths, automatic teller machines, EFTPOS facilities, forms, regulations, health records, street signs, tickets, mobile phones, MP3 players, EVERYTHING in writing is in ENGLISH. And one of the best ways to learn English is as a child does - through living. If our lifestyle in Australia does not provide people with that opportunity, how can new arrivals learn English quickly?
Here is a quick anecdote, just one of many I have heard. An international friend of mine asked a school mum to repeat something she had said because she did not understand it the first time. The mother told her 'don't worry.' Wrong. The woman wanted to know what she had said and all that she had asked her to do was repeat a sentence and this school mother refused. Is this a part of Australian culture that we would like to warn newcomers about? Do we need to inform all newcomers that there is every chance they will be treated differently in schools, shops, workplaces, etc?
The newcomer might be able to speak three languages and have multiple qualifications but because they have a thick accent when speaking English and the local person cannot understand it immediately, they can be treated as 'stupid.' Shame, shame, shame. What about how they will crave a meaningful friendship in their new country but they will be forced to endure conversations about sport and the weather to ensure that they have more than one meeting with a new acquaintance?
As far as I am concerned, bring on the English Language Assessment for new Australian Citizens. How many of us need a deadline or a test to make us do something? Would you want a driver on the road that didn't know the road rules? Then why would you expect a newcomer to be an active participant in Australian life if they cannot communicate and learn the everyday life skills they need to make the most of their new life in their new location? It is much harder to be extreme if you understand mainstream. For a start, you will have access to the same resources so many of us take for granted.
And if you are the person reading this because you DO have English skills, perhaps you could share a bit of your time with someone who needs to improve their skills. You might learn something new, perhaps just a few words in their language - like 'Hello, how are you today?' At the very least, you might be able to teach them something about Australia's fixation with sport and join them at a game. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi. Everyone needs someone to say 'welcome' when they arrive - and if this format doesn't suit you, show them what 'Australia' means to you. After all, it is your destination of choice too.
--
Sue Ellson BBus AIMM MAHRI is the Melbourne based Founder of Newcomers Network, Australia's first independent online guide for people moving to and within Australia that started in 1999. Newcomers Network has been hosting Welcome to Melbourne and Welcome to Sydney events for up to 70 guests every month since January 2005 and provides around 1000 pages of website content free of charge to over 50,000 website visitors per month.
sueellson@newcomersnetwork.com or sueellson@yahoo.com.au
+ 61 (0)3 9812 7288 or +61 3 (0)402 243 271
You can submit your views on the proposed changes to Australian Citizenship online via http://www.citizenship.gov.au/news/discussion_paper.htm before 17/11/06.
The Questions to comment on are available in the Citizenship Discussion Paper and include:
Question 1
Should Australia introduce a formal citizenship test?
Question 2
How important is knowledge of Australia for Australian citizenship?
Question 3
What level of English is required to participate as an Australian citizen?
Question 4
How important is a commitment to Australia's way of life and values for prospective Australian citizens?
Question 5
What form should a commitment to Australian values take?
Question 6
What level of knowledge and understanding of the Australian way of life and English language skills should
people have to be approved for permanent residence in Australia?
Question 7
Should they be required to demonstrate this knowledge?
Question 8
If so, how could they demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of Australia and their English
language skills?
Question 9
Should the same be required of people to be approved for long term temporary residence in Australia, such
as for business or study?
Question 10
How important is a commitment to Australia's way of life and values for permanent residents and long term
temporary residents?
Question 11
What form should a commitment to Australian values take?
Question 12
What things do you think are important for prospective citizens to have an understanding of before taking
up Australian citizenship?
Question 13
Should prospective Australian citizens be formally tested for their level of English? If so, would it be
necessary to test oral, written, reading, and listening skills?
Question 14
Should the requirement be expanded beyond needing a knowledge of the responsibilities and privileges of
Australian citizenship and an understanding of the nature of the application? Should it instead encompass
a broader knowledge of Australia?
Question 15
If knowledge of Australia is considered important for Australian citizenship, what elements do you think are
necessary? For example, should people choosing to become Australians know something about our history; our culture and traditions; our common values; national symbols; our laws; and our Australian system of democracy? What other things do you think are important?
Question 16
If a formal citizenship test were to be introduced, should certain groups (for example, older people or long term residents) be exempt?
Friday, September 22, 2006
Career paths to harmony - Klaas Woldring, New Matilda
I agree, there does need to be a much stronger physical presence of migrants from many backgrounds in the senior roles within our communities. Sue Ellson, Newcomers Network
http://www.newmatilda.com/policytoolkit/policydetail.asp?PolicyID=507
Career paths to harmony By: Klaas Woldring
22 September 2006
Kim Beazley’s recent comments have suddenly focussed attention on what the ALP may want to offer on immigration and multiculturalism policy. Beazley suggested that immigrants, even tourists, should sign up to a whole range of glorified Australian values in writing if they are to make the grade. Several Labor MPs have publicly disassociated themselves with this appeal to the Hansonism which was so successfully hijacked by the Howard Government. The appeal to xenophobia from both sides of politics makes it clear that the time has come for a new generation of multicultural policies, to prevent further regression to assimilation and notions of cultural hierarchy and inequality.
Advertisement
Starting from 2000 and reinforced after the 2004 federal election, the Howard Government adopted a new direction in immigration policy: seeking out and encouraging skilled workers and professionals to migrate to Australia shores. There is little doubt that, with the severe skill shortages in the current labour market, this policy makes sense. It also makes sense given that the quality of Australian executive management, as the Karpin Inquiry into Management (1995) clearly demonstrated, leaves a lot to be desired. But what actually happens to the skilled immigrants themselves over time? If we look back to the Hawke years - the ‘clever country’ years - in the late 1980s, skilled immigrants often had difficulty finding appropriate jobs. Their unemployment rate was generally higher than average and they had to settle for jobs that were less suitable than expected. A high percentage returned to their country of origin. This was especially the case for engineers. The prejudices of prospective employers and their preference for locally educated workers were found to be major reasons for their departure (Hawthorne, 1994; Murphy, 1994; Smith, 1994).
From 1948 to 1980 Australian mass immigration was based on attracting unskilled and semi-skilled labour. Research in the early 1990s (Iredale, 1992; Woldring, 1996) indicated that non-English-speaking migrants (NESB1) were severely under-represented in managerial, executive and professional positions – comparable to the number of women in the workforce. This was particularly the case in the upper echelons of the public service, corporate boards in the private sector, the police, the judiciary, universities, parliaments, prisons and the professional sector. These elite groups were dominated by a near closed-shop of White Anglo-Australian Males (WAAM) and their old boy networks. Looking at the cohort of the second generation of non-English speaking migrants (NESB2) in the mid-1990s, the situation had only marginally improved. Better education has not significantly benefited them (Woldring, 1996). More recent assessments don’t seem to be available. Australian management received a scathing report card in the Barraclough study commissioned by the Karpin Inquiry into Management (1995), yet the remuneration of many of the modestly competent WAAM executives, or imported Americans, has gone through the roof in recent years.
In the meantime the deregulation of industrial relations has not helped ethnic immigrants either. Teicher et al (2002) found that, after the Workplace Relations Act of 1996, ‘the transition in the Australian industrial relation system from a centralized system of conciliation and arbitration to a deregulated industrial relations system of enterprise bargaining has compounded the disadvantage suffered by these workers’. This combination of trends does very little to favour multiculturalism and ethnic harmony but instead propagates class conflict and risks destroying what egalitarianism is left.
Thanks to Bill Leak
The encouragement of larger numbers of skilled and professional immigrants brings with it the need to accept that, after an initial period of settling-in and familiarisation, these people will seek access to elite positions in society. If these positions are made unavailable or very difficult to achieve on account of an ‘ethnic ceiling’, they may well leave again. Even if they do choose to stay in Australia and concede to work in jobs which they are overqualified for, their valuable contribution to society is likely to be diminished. Australia may waste the real skills of these people if their careers are thwarted and their contributions and ambitions frustrated.
This has happened before. In the past job offers were only likely when foreign skills were not in competition with local talent. This may be ‘human nature’ but Australia can hardly afford a repeat of this type of hidden discrimination.
Have the WAAM attitudes changed now? Has the establishment composition changed? Hardly. The skills of professional immigrants are still under-recognised and submitted to substantial questioning despite extensive official checks on their formal qualifications.
The role played by migrants in the political sphere is limited indeed apart from being used and abused for branch stacking purposes by major parties. As aspiring political activists they are often simply not accepted. This situation is in itself a major barrier in the renewal of a political system that even many Anglo Celtic Australians regard as ossified. The problem is that discrimination against skilled ethnic migrants is usually very subtle and hard to demonstrate. Of course, one can point to some highly successful ethnic migrants but these are mostly self-made entrepreneurs in the private sector. Like Anglo-Celtic women who have given up trying to break the glass ceiling and started their own businesses, many individual ethnic immigrants have made the most of their own talents and some have done very well. There is also a long tradition, particularly in the Italian, Greek, Lebanese and Vietnamese communities, of families who have banded together to form successful family businesses.
Australia’s latest search for highly qualified individual immigrants, from anywhere, is likely to be as opportunistic as it was in the late 1980s. It is focused on quickly filling gaps in the workforce of technical and professional skills which take considerable time to develop locally. Naturally, these newer migrants bring their own social, political, and lifestyle values that impact on the wider society. They also have views on political arrangements, not just as voters, but also as members of parties and advocates of change. Once integrated as part of the Australian community, they are not prepared to be treated as second class citizens or apprentice citizens who must learn the Anglo Celtic ways and behave accordingly.
The contribution of migrants beyond the immediate functional job context is often valuable and should be optimised, not ignored or merely tolerated. Australia must give them a voice at high levels of decision-making in mainstream public and private organisations, parliaments and educational institutions. Only then will multiculturalism progress to the next stage where it will mean more than food diversity, multicultural festivals and the SBS, however valuable these aspects are. However, if voter attitude surrounding the Tampa incident and the appalling, hypocritical legislation to prevent the boat people from reaching mainland Australia as refugees are any indication, one could well conclude that multiculturalism is no more than skin deep for a majority of Australians. The essentially ethnic conflict between Anglo Celtic and Lebanese communities at Cronulla in 2005 provided yet another failed test of multicultural values.
In the context of recent ethnic strife between the Anglo Celtic and Muslim and Lebanese communities in an environment where police, government institutions and the judiciary are heavily Anglo Celtic, the preservation of ethnic harmony in Australia is central. Band-aids won’t work. The key question that must be asked is how many ethnic representatives are actually in mainstream executive positions in Australia? Are they a substantial, visible segment of the ruling class? At present there are far too few high profile ethnic role models and therefore no adequate links for integration with mainstream society. While it may be correct that Australia has no ethnic ghettos, the absence of such role models is a distinct drawback. The mainstream leadership of this country must become visibly multicultural.
The time to fast-track ethnic minority individuals to the highest decision-making levels of mainstream society seems long overdue. That is what an alternative ALP Government should have as its policy. There are many ideas that come to mind: the very first would be to examine to what extent the much-glorified Australian values are actually practised in the society. There is great opportunity to boost multicultural values by improving ethnic representation at the very top. Why for instance are there no reserved seats in the Parliament for indigenous people? Why is there such limited cultural diversity in the Parliaments? Why is there no provision for enhancing and constitutionally protecting the multicultural character of our society? Stepan Kerkyasharian, the NSW Ethnic Affairs Chairman had this to say in 1998:
‘Multiculturalism is central to national identity – it is not and cannot be a fringe issue at the heart of any discussion of national identity and our national future – the 1998 Constitutional Convention affirmed the centrality of multiculturalism to our sense of national self – they recommended that our most important document – the Constitution – be amended to include recognition of Australia’s cultural diversity in the preamble’.
About the author
Dr. Klaas Woldring is a former Associate Professor in Management of Southern Cross University. He immigrated from the Netherlands in 1964, and was naturalised in 1969.
http://www.newmatilda.com/policytoolkit/policydetail.asp?PolicyID=507
Career paths to harmony By: Klaas Woldring
22 September 2006
Kim Beazley’s recent comments have suddenly focussed attention on what the ALP may want to offer on immigration and multiculturalism policy. Beazley suggested that immigrants, even tourists, should sign up to a whole range of glorified Australian values in writing if they are to make the grade. Several Labor MPs have publicly disassociated themselves with this appeal to the Hansonism which was so successfully hijacked by the Howard Government. The appeal to xenophobia from both sides of politics makes it clear that the time has come for a new generation of multicultural policies, to prevent further regression to assimilation and notions of cultural hierarchy and inequality.
Advertisement
Starting from 2000 and reinforced after the 2004 federal election, the Howard Government adopted a new direction in immigration policy: seeking out and encouraging skilled workers and professionals to migrate to Australia shores. There is little doubt that, with the severe skill shortages in the current labour market, this policy makes sense. It also makes sense given that the quality of Australian executive management, as the Karpin Inquiry into Management (1995) clearly demonstrated, leaves a lot to be desired. But what actually happens to the skilled immigrants themselves over time? If we look back to the Hawke years - the ‘clever country’ years - in the late 1980s, skilled immigrants often had difficulty finding appropriate jobs. Their unemployment rate was generally higher than average and they had to settle for jobs that were less suitable than expected. A high percentage returned to their country of origin. This was especially the case for engineers. The prejudices of prospective employers and their preference for locally educated workers were found to be major reasons for their departure (Hawthorne, 1994; Murphy, 1994; Smith, 1994).
From 1948 to 1980 Australian mass immigration was based on attracting unskilled and semi-skilled labour. Research in the early 1990s (Iredale, 1992; Woldring, 1996) indicated that non-English-speaking migrants (NESB1) were severely under-represented in managerial, executive and professional positions – comparable to the number of women in the workforce. This was particularly the case in the upper echelons of the public service, corporate boards in the private sector, the police, the judiciary, universities, parliaments, prisons and the professional sector. These elite groups were dominated by a near closed-shop of White Anglo-Australian Males (WAAM) and their old boy networks. Looking at the cohort of the second generation of non-English speaking migrants (NESB2) in the mid-1990s, the situation had only marginally improved. Better education has not significantly benefited them (Woldring, 1996). More recent assessments don’t seem to be available. Australian management received a scathing report card in the Barraclough study commissioned by the Karpin Inquiry into Management (1995), yet the remuneration of many of the modestly competent WAAM executives, or imported Americans, has gone through the roof in recent years.
In the meantime the deregulation of industrial relations has not helped ethnic immigrants either. Teicher et al (2002) found that, after the Workplace Relations Act of 1996, ‘the transition in the Australian industrial relation system from a centralized system of conciliation and arbitration to a deregulated industrial relations system of enterprise bargaining has compounded the disadvantage suffered by these workers’. This combination of trends does very little to favour multiculturalism and ethnic harmony but instead propagates class conflict and risks destroying what egalitarianism is left.
Thanks to Bill Leak
The encouragement of larger numbers of skilled and professional immigrants brings with it the need to accept that, after an initial period of settling-in and familiarisation, these people will seek access to elite positions in society. If these positions are made unavailable or very difficult to achieve on account of an ‘ethnic ceiling’, they may well leave again. Even if they do choose to stay in Australia and concede to work in jobs which they are overqualified for, their valuable contribution to society is likely to be diminished. Australia may waste the real skills of these people if their careers are thwarted and their contributions and ambitions frustrated.
This has happened before. In the past job offers were only likely when foreign skills were not in competition with local talent. This may be ‘human nature’ but Australia can hardly afford a repeat of this type of hidden discrimination.
Have the WAAM attitudes changed now? Has the establishment composition changed? Hardly. The skills of professional immigrants are still under-recognised and submitted to substantial questioning despite extensive official checks on their formal qualifications.
The role played by migrants in the political sphere is limited indeed apart from being used and abused for branch stacking purposes by major parties. As aspiring political activists they are often simply not accepted. This situation is in itself a major barrier in the renewal of a political system that even many Anglo Celtic Australians regard as ossified. The problem is that discrimination against skilled ethnic migrants is usually very subtle and hard to demonstrate. Of course, one can point to some highly successful ethnic migrants but these are mostly self-made entrepreneurs in the private sector. Like Anglo-Celtic women who have given up trying to break the glass ceiling and started their own businesses, many individual ethnic immigrants have made the most of their own talents and some have done very well. There is also a long tradition, particularly in the Italian, Greek, Lebanese and Vietnamese communities, of families who have banded together to form successful family businesses.
Australia’s latest search for highly qualified individual immigrants, from anywhere, is likely to be as opportunistic as it was in the late 1980s. It is focused on quickly filling gaps in the workforce of technical and professional skills which take considerable time to develop locally. Naturally, these newer migrants bring their own social, political, and lifestyle values that impact on the wider society. They also have views on political arrangements, not just as voters, but also as members of parties and advocates of change. Once integrated as part of the Australian community, they are not prepared to be treated as second class citizens or apprentice citizens who must learn the Anglo Celtic ways and behave accordingly.
The contribution of migrants beyond the immediate functional job context is often valuable and should be optimised, not ignored or merely tolerated. Australia must give them a voice at high levels of decision-making in mainstream public and private organisations, parliaments and educational institutions. Only then will multiculturalism progress to the next stage where it will mean more than food diversity, multicultural festivals and the SBS, however valuable these aspects are. However, if voter attitude surrounding the Tampa incident and the appalling, hypocritical legislation to prevent the boat people from reaching mainland Australia as refugees are any indication, one could well conclude that multiculturalism is no more than skin deep for a majority of Australians. The essentially ethnic conflict between Anglo Celtic and Lebanese communities at Cronulla in 2005 provided yet another failed test of multicultural values.
In the context of recent ethnic strife between the Anglo Celtic and Muslim and Lebanese communities in an environment where police, government institutions and the judiciary are heavily Anglo Celtic, the preservation of ethnic harmony in Australia is central. Band-aids won’t work. The key question that must be asked is how many ethnic representatives are actually in mainstream executive positions in Australia? Are they a substantial, visible segment of the ruling class? At present there are far too few high profile ethnic role models and therefore no adequate links for integration with mainstream society. While it may be correct that Australia has no ethnic ghettos, the absence of such role models is a distinct drawback. The mainstream leadership of this country must become visibly multicultural.
The time to fast-track ethnic minority individuals to the highest decision-making levels of mainstream society seems long overdue. That is what an alternative ALP Government should have as its policy. There are many ideas that come to mind: the very first would be to examine to what extent the much-glorified Australian values are actually practised in the society. There is great opportunity to boost multicultural values by improving ethnic representation at the very top. Why for instance are there no reserved seats in the Parliament for indigenous people? Why is there such limited cultural diversity in the Parliaments? Why is there no provision for enhancing and constitutionally protecting the multicultural character of our society? Stepan Kerkyasharian, the NSW Ethnic Affairs Chairman had this to say in 1998:
‘Multiculturalism is central to national identity – it is not and cannot be a fringe issue at the heart of any discussion of national identity and our national future – the 1998 Constitutional Convention affirmed the centrality of multiculturalism to our sense of national self – they recommended that our most important document – the Constitution – be amended to include recognition of Australia’s cultural diversity in the preamble’.
About the author
Dr. Klaas Woldring is a former Associate Professor in Management of Southern Cross University. He immigrated from the Netherlands in 1964, and was naturalised in 1969.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Letter from Australia: Silver lining in cloud of Cronulla - KC Boey, New Straits Times Malaysia
This sounds like good news for the future - let's wait and see what the The Reporting Diversity project report says later this year! Sue Ellson, Founder, Newcomers Network http://www.newcomersnetwork.com
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Sunday/Columns/20060903091233/Article/index_html
Letter from Australia: Silver lining in cloud of Cronulla
03 Sep 2006
K.C. Boey
IF it were the case that behind every cloud is a silver lining, participants at the community forum in Melbourne would have left gratified for the lessons of Cronulla.
The more circumspect might conclude that the riotous behaviour on the surf beach south of Sydney last December was no aberration.
For all the protestations at the time of Prime Minister John Howard and New South Wales premier Morris Iemma to the contrary, Cronulla is symptomatic of a deeper malaise, the circumspect would argue.
It would be worrying enough if Cronulla were indicative of alcohol-fuelled and drug-induced misbehaviour taken to extremes. Or mere competition for leisure use of public space.
It would be devastating that after more than a century, the ghosts of racism of a white Australia had been resurrected in clashes between mobs of white and Middle Eastern youth.
It would be an indictment of the liberal democratic tradition — which Australians lay claim to championing — that sections of the media, a cornerstone of the institution, should stand accused of being party to inciting the impressionable to violence.
Which of the conditions comes closest to the truth? And what can Australians learn from the experience?
It is a massive undertaking for a one-day seminar of local government, community and non-government participants to come to a conclusion.
The organisers were realistic. A panacea for the social ills of community was far from the agenda.
The aim was to explore the events of Cronulla and see what local government could do to prevent such events from happening in the first place, Dalal Smiley, Darebin co-ordinator of multicultural affairs, tells the New Sunday Times.
China-born mayor Stanley Chiang posed the questions: Was Cronulla a law and order issue; was racism a main or a contributing factor; was it a one-off incident; could it happen elsewhere in Australia; why did it happen; what lessons should be learnt; to what extent was it a local issue?
The seminar title captured the issues and the objective: "Place, Power and Privilege: The Challenge for Local Government".
The seminar brought together academic theorists, the police, and the person caught in the crossfire of Cronulla — councillor Kevin Schreiber and mayor of Sutherland Shire, the semi-rural suburb Cronulla is in.
Anthropologist Ghassan Hage provided the theoretical backdrop against which participants grappled with the emotions of conflict, strategies for resolution, and the role of State Government, local government, and non-governmental organisations.
"The seminar provided an in-depth examination of the dynamics that led to Cronulla, and the relationships between the various players which contributed to it," says Smiley.
"It was terrific," says Christina Del Frate, multicultural liaison officer of a city suburb in Melbourne. "We definitely can learn from what happened (in Cronulla) and formulate strategies to prevent it from happening."
Off the Gladstone coast, 600km north of Brisbane, is the Great Barrier Reef. Like Del Frate’s City of Port Phillip, Gladstone would not be considered vulnerable to the racism that some quarters suggest underpinned the Cronulla violence.
Of the 25,000 people in Gladstone, only 10 per cent were born overseas. That’s below the national average of one in four Australians born overseas.
But Gladstone is one of those areas facing a severe shortage of skilled labour and is looking overseas for its workers. As a result, the council is arming itself for a change in its demographics.
For Associate Professor Lynette Sheridan Burns, sections of the media have much to answer for. "If they didn’t start the fire, they certainly poured accelerant on it," said the head of the School of Communication Arts in the University of Western Sydney.
Seminar participants might be encouraged that Canberra might be doing something about the deficiencies of the media in an increasingly plural Australia. Burns is on a national taskforce looking into the training of journalists in a now diverse Australia.
The Reporting Diversity project, funded by the Federal Government’s Living in Harmony programme, was started before Cronulla. Its report is still in draft form, but the recommendations promise to be enlightening.
The subject did not come up in Darebin and participants at the seminar were not to know.
So how should local government and community deal with complex issues at a local level?
Plenary speakers, workshop presenters and participants had some idea. For many, as the Chinese novelist — or comic book — will say, wait for the next chapter.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Sunday/Columns/20060903091233/Article/index_html
Letter from Australia: Silver lining in cloud of Cronulla
03 Sep 2006
K.C. Boey
IF it were the case that behind every cloud is a silver lining, participants at the community forum in Melbourne would have left gratified for the lessons of Cronulla.
The more circumspect might conclude that the riotous behaviour on the surf beach south of Sydney last December was no aberration.
For all the protestations at the time of Prime Minister John Howard and New South Wales premier Morris Iemma to the contrary, Cronulla is symptomatic of a deeper malaise, the circumspect would argue.
It would be worrying enough if Cronulla were indicative of alcohol-fuelled and drug-induced misbehaviour taken to extremes. Or mere competition for leisure use of public space.
It would be devastating that after more than a century, the ghosts of racism of a white Australia had been resurrected in clashes between mobs of white and Middle Eastern youth.
It would be an indictment of the liberal democratic tradition — which Australians lay claim to championing — that sections of the media, a cornerstone of the institution, should stand accused of being party to inciting the impressionable to violence.
Which of the conditions comes closest to the truth? And what can Australians learn from the experience?
It is a massive undertaking for a one-day seminar of local government, community and non-government participants to come to a conclusion.
The organisers were realistic. A panacea for the social ills of community was far from the agenda.
The aim was to explore the events of Cronulla and see what local government could do to prevent such events from happening in the first place, Dalal Smiley, Darebin co-ordinator of multicultural affairs, tells the New Sunday Times.
China-born mayor Stanley Chiang posed the questions: Was Cronulla a law and order issue; was racism a main or a contributing factor; was it a one-off incident; could it happen elsewhere in Australia; why did it happen; what lessons should be learnt; to what extent was it a local issue?
The seminar title captured the issues and the objective: "Place, Power and Privilege: The Challenge for Local Government".
The seminar brought together academic theorists, the police, and the person caught in the crossfire of Cronulla — councillor Kevin Schreiber and mayor of Sutherland Shire, the semi-rural suburb Cronulla is in.
Anthropologist Ghassan Hage provided the theoretical backdrop against which participants grappled with the emotions of conflict, strategies for resolution, and the role of State Government, local government, and non-governmental organisations.
"The seminar provided an in-depth examination of the dynamics that led to Cronulla, and the relationships between the various players which contributed to it," says Smiley.
"It was terrific," says Christina Del Frate, multicultural liaison officer of a city suburb in Melbourne. "We definitely can learn from what happened (in Cronulla) and formulate strategies to prevent it from happening."
Off the Gladstone coast, 600km north of Brisbane, is the Great Barrier Reef. Like Del Frate’s City of Port Phillip, Gladstone would not be considered vulnerable to the racism that some quarters suggest underpinned the Cronulla violence.
Of the 25,000 people in Gladstone, only 10 per cent were born overseas. That’s below the national average of one in four Australians born overseas.
But Gladstone is one of those areas facing a severe shortage of skilled labour and is looking overseas for its workers. As a result, the council is arming itself for a change in its demographics.
For Associate Professor Lynette Sheridan Burns, sections of the media have much to answer for. "If they didn’t start the fire, they certainly poured accelerant on it," said the head of the School of Communication Arts in the University of Western Sydney.
Seminar participants might be encouraged that Canberra might be doing something about the deficiencies of the media in an increasingly plural Australia. Burns is on a national taskforce looking into the training of journalists in a now diverse Australia.
The Reporting Diversity project, funded by the Federal Government’s Living in Harmony programme, was started before Cronulla. Its report is still in draft form, but the recommendations promise to be enlightening.
The subject did not come up in Darebin and participants at the seminar were not to know.
So how should local government and community deal with complex issues at a local level?
Plenary speakers, workshop presenters and participants had some idea. For many, as the Chinese novelist — or comic book — will say, wait for the next chapter.
Renounce terror, Costello tells Muslims - AAP, The Age
Peter Costello and John Howard are regularly quoted on the topic of integration into Australian life - here is the latest edition of their comments. Sue Ellson, Founder, Newcomers Network
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Renounce-terror-Costello-tells-Muslims/2006/09/03/1157221993531.html
Renounce terror, Costello tells Muslims
September 3, 2006 - 11:24AM
Treasurer Peter Costello has stepped up the government's bid to persuade a Muslim minority to endorse Australian values, learn English and renounce terrorism.
Mr Costello also backed comments by Prime Minister John Howard this week that a small section of Australia's Islamic community stubbornly refuse to integrate.
"I think the prime minister has a point that migrants who come to Australia are expected to speak English and endorse basic Australian values, and it's going to be a problem for future generations if they don't," Mr Costello told the Nine Network.
"We have very, very successfully integrated people from all over the world in this country because we have had the attitude that when you come to Australia, whatever arguments you might have had in the old country we start again, and we start again with a common set of values and a common language."
Mr Howard caused outrage in Australia's Islamic community this week when he said Muslims needed to properly integrate by speaking English and showing respect to women.
His remarks have not been opposed by Labor, although the opposition has called on the government to provide better facilities to teach migrants English.
But Mr Costello went further than Mr Howard, warning that Australian Muslim leaders needed to stand up and denounce terrorism in all forms around the world.
"This is where we really need the Islamic leadership of this country to stand up and contend unequivocally that terrorism, no matter who it is perpetrated by ... is never justified, under the cover of religion," he said.
Islamic leaders, he said, should also "make it clear to would-be converts that when you join this religion, you do not join a radical political ideology."
Australian Muslim leaders had to make it clear that terrorism had nothing to do with real Islam, he said.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer also said all migrants should speak English, in order to be able to integrate into Australian life.
"If you come to Australia as a migrant and you can't speak English then the fact is in those circumstances you're going to be enormously disadvantaged," Mr Downer said.
"You have seen under the cover of a radical form of Islam, terrorism being perpetrated," Mr Costello said.
However, Ali Roude, chairman of the Islamic Council of NSW, said the government needed to drop the unhelpful rhetoric and stop targeting Muslims.
"It's difficult to promote harmony and social calm when our politicians and leaders are constantly targeting the Muslim community," Mr Roude told AAP.
"The conduct and behaviour and the viciousness of the language that they have used can only lead to bigotry and hatred, this is not in the best interests of our nation."
© 2006 AAP
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Renounce-terror-Costello-tells-Muslims/2006/09/03/1157221993531.html
Renounce terror, Costello tells Muslims
September 3, 2006 - 11:24AM
Treasurer Peter Costello has stepped up the government's bid to persuade a Muslim minority to endorse Australian values, learn English and renounce terrorism.
Mr Costello also backed comments by Prime Minister John Howard this week that a small section of Australia's Islamic community stubbornly refuse to integrate.
"I think the prime minister has a point that migrants who come to Australia are expected to speak English and endorse basic Australian values, and it's going to be a problem for future generations if they don't," Mr Costello told the Nine Network.
"We have very, very successfully integrated people from all over the world in this country because we have had the attitude that when you come to Australia, whatever arguments you might have had in the old country we start again, and we start again with a common set of values and a common language."
Mr Howard caused outrage in Australia's Islamic community this week when he said Muslims needed to properly integrate by speaking English and showing respect to women.
His remarks have not been opposed by Labor, although the opposition has called on the government to provide better facilities to teach migrants English.
But Mr Costello went further than Mr Howard, warning that Australian Muslim leaders needed to stand up and denounce terrorism in all forms around the world.
"This is where we really need the Islamic leadership of this country to stand up and contend unequivocally that terrorism, no matter who it is perpetrated by ... is never justified, under the cover of religion," he said.
Islamic leaders, he said, should also "make it clear to would-be converts that when you join this religion, you do not join a radical political ideology."
Australian Muslim leaders had to make it clear that terrorism had nothing to do with real Islam, he said.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer also said all migrants should speak English, in order to be able to integrate into Australian life.
"If you come to Australia as a migrant and you can't speak English then the fact is in those circumstances you're going to be enormously disadvantaged," Mr Downer said.
"You have seen under the cover of a radical form of Islam, terrorism being perpetrated," Mr Costello said.
However, Ali Roude, chairman of the Islamic Council of NSW, said the government needed to drop the unhelpful rhetoric and stop targeting Muslims.
"It's difficult to promote harmony and social calm when our politicians and leaders are constantly targeting the Muslim community," Mr Roude told AAP.
"The conduct and behaviour and the viciousness of the language that they have used can only lead to bigotry and hatred, this is not in the best interests of our nation."
© 2006 AAP
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