Australian Election

So the guys down under had their election over the weekend. What the election result has shown is that the issue of ‘boat people’ manifests in the former Pauline Hanson (a self confessed racist Party Leader) strong holds of Queensland and Western Sydney. Australia has to mature past racially motivated slogans such as “stop the yellow vermin” (which led them to Vietnam and the deaths of over 300 conscripted Australian’s - 45 years on, why?) and “stop the boats” or “I will reduce the number of boats to 3 a year”. What they have is pandering to, and the emboldment of the racists among them - leading to incidents like Bondi Beach and racially motivated attacks elsewhere including in Melbourne. They must mature as a nation and as a people - and they must educate such that the vilification of immigrants, including those seeking asylum from circumstances they can not comprehend as being a factor of life - and the Independents must now embrace this education by government. Their international reputation is also damaged - as confirmed by Asia and Africa rejecting Howard as ICC President. I honestly saw very little difference in the parties in this election, both agreeing On Racism and Homophobia as a way to run the country. I did feel very disgusted when, at Tony Abbot’s speech last night, “Stop the boats” got the biggest cheer from his supporters. What a pity.

JOE2010, while I can appreciate that you probably have an unbiased view of whats going on in aus (you arent australian right?), its people who write things like you did above that really annoy me. While australia does have some racial problems like any western nation dealing with their immigration issues, Australia for the most part would have to be right at the top among them having a lot less problems. I think naming just about any other country in europe and you will find there is 10 times more racism. Australia is made up of many ethnicities and cultures and functions extremely well, what you have written implies that the country is full of racists and xenophobes, this however could not be farther from the truth.

transferpricingCFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > JOE2010, while I can appreciate that you probably > have an unbiased view of whats going on in aus > (you arent australian right?), its people who > write things like you did above that really annoy > me. > > While australia does have some racial problems > like any western nation dealing with their > immigration issues, Australia for the most part > would have to be right at the top among them > having a lot less problems. I think naming just > about any other country in europe and you will > find there is 10 times more racism. > > Australia is made up of many ethnicities and > cultures and functions extremely well, what you > have written implies that the country is full of > racists and xenophobes, this however could not be > farther from the truth. How do YOU know? Are you australian?

Joe2010, A couple of points. Firstly, the attacks in Melbourne were unfairly portrayed as racial attacks. There were a number of incidents involving Indian students, however two of the most high profile incidents included a case of the victim trying to defraud an insurance claim by setting his car on fire (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8494866.stm), and a case where Ranjodh Singh was murdered by people of Indian descent (http://news.oneindia.in/2010/01/29/thirdarrest-made-in-murder-of-ranjodhsingh.html). Now I am not denying that there are racist factions in Australia, much the same as everywhere else, (http://www.news.com.au/national/ten-australians-killed-in-india-families-claim/story-e6frfkvr-1225820446163) however to paint us as a racist country because we are working to reduce illegal immigration is both wrong and unfair. Of all asylum applications presented, 98% are granted, compared to the global average of approximately 2%. There was a tragic incident earlier this year where an Indian student was killed, however he was walking through a park, in a dangerous part of town late at night. This attack may have been racially motivated, and hopefully the perpetrators will be punished appropriately. As for the Cronulla beach riots a few years back, they were largely instigated by an attack on two volunteer lifesavers by 8 men. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Cronulla_riots). We have some of the highest levels of both immigration and multiculturalism in the world, and for the most part, this results in a diverse and peaceful society. It’s not perfect, but there are very few places in the world where you can have this level of integration with so little violence. You are however correct that neither party inspired much leadership or originality, it was difficult to separate much of their policy, and the end result is that we will likely have a hung parliament. To say that the major parties ran on Racism and Homophobia is simply incorrect, most of the campaign was centered around economic issues and the current government’s issues.

^well said

^ I concur

^ I’ma have to agree.

pauline hanson FTW, jk… mark latham sure did his part advocatin informal ballots - which i was intending before he ven mentinoed it on 60 mintues. who gives a stuff which party wins. not as if a former lawyer or harvard graduate can compare to NZ’s F A B U L O U S John Key, global head of FX at ML. so whichever party leader to win minority, you can be assured those *ssk1ssing, no-better-than-sh1t-on the street political silver tongued turncoats will NOT make Australia better for you.

z3159712 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > pauline hanson FTW, jk… > > mark latham sure did his part advocatin informal > ballots - which i was intending before he ven > mentinoed it on 60 mintues. > > who gives a stuff which party wins. not as if a > former lawyer or harvard graduate can compare to > NZ’s F A B U L O U S John Key, global head of FX > at ML. > > so whichever party leader to win minority, you can > be assured those *ssk1ssing, > no-better-than-sh1t-on the street political silver > tongued turncoats will NOT make Australia better > for you. Thinking of the average Australian?

transferpricingCFA Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > JOE2010, while I can appreciate that you probably > have an unbiased view of whats going on in aus > (you arent australian right?), its people who > write things like you did above that really annoy > me. > > While australia does have some racial problems > like any western nation dealing with their > immigration issues, Australia for the most part > would have to be right at the top among them > having a lot less problems. I think naming just > about any other country in europe and you will > find there is 10 times more racism. > > Australia is made up of many ethnicities and > cultures and functions extremely well, what you > have written implies that the country is full of > racists and xenophobes, this however could not be > farther from the truth. If you understood my post I mentioned both Labor and Coalition lurking to the extreme right on immigration, asylum seekers and climate change. Yes, encouraging xenophobia through phrases like “Turn the boats”, “Cut immigration” and “Small Australia”.