Penny Wongs 2014 speech opposing the proposed amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 provides insight into civic participation among those racially vilified through analysis of the act, and its effects on free speech. The proposed amendments would remove the words “offend” and “insult” from section 18c of the act, a proposal which Wong views as favouring the “rights of the bigots” (2014). The amendments proposed come as a response to views held by many that racial vilification laws impinge on the individual rights to free speech. The accuracy of Wongs denial of this effect can be assessed through analysis of this act, and its affect on civic participation among minority groups in Australia can be understood.
Wong’s utilisation of
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Mansouri & Kirpitchenko report migrant youth as having “an aversion to formal structured engagement” (2015), rather gravitating towards active engagement in informal or family structures. This aversion may result from Australia’s “history of racism” (Poynting & Mason, 2008) equating to those not of caucasian descent being classed as “other” (Poynting & Mason, 2008; See also Bird & McDonnell 1997) and leading those under this classification being subjected to xenophobic backlash (Poynting & Mason 2008) in the form of citizenship being shaped as obedience to the law (Macduff 2014). This is demonstrated through the citizenship pledge, where applicants physically submit to the legal requirements of the pledge, enforcing the governments authority (Macduff 2014). Obedience is further asserted by government policy, with former Prime Minister John Howard stating “if they don’t want to live by Australian values and understand them, well then they can basically clear off” (Poynting & Mason, 2008). Well intended, the former Prime Minister responded to 9/11 with a “call for greater state intervention in Muslim cultural and religious matters” (Poynting & Mason 2008) as a means to protect Australia. However, this representation of a people as a “monolithic cultural identity” (Bird & McDonnell 1997) creates problems through separating caucasian Australia from the “other”, creating what Poynting & Perry call a “permission to hate” (Poynting & Mason 2008) and limiting opportunities to participate as citizens of the country they now belong to. “Law is an instrument through which a communities values and rights may be given effect” (Wong, 2014) and the effects of the proposed amendments on civic participation among migrant communities may be that formal participation reaches even lower numbers. Wong’s fears for the “victims of bullying” (2014) resonate
The 2014 Walkley Award winning documentary, "Cronulla Riots: the day that shocked the nation" reveals to us a whole new side of Aussie culture. No more she’ll be right, no more fair go and sadly no more fair dinkum. The doco proved to all of us (or is it just me?) that the Australian identity isn’t really what we believe it to be. After viewing this documentary
Title VII under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted on July 2nd, 1964 as a mitigation strategy to prohibit any form of discrimination on grounds of a person’s religion, sex, color, race or their national origin. The law was originally meant to solve the problem of discrimination witnessed during voter registration. It was also expected to solve discrimination present at workplaces and schools where there was widespread racial discrimination. However, the law has become an even more relevant tool and has seen to it that hiring and firing processes by many companies are adherent to it.
...ndigenous recognition and the removal of racist remarks has been an on-going theme for a vast majority of time. The necessity of Constitutional reform to close the gap on cultural divide as well as support the on-going concept of reconciliation is essential in ensuring Australia continues to improve and nurture its relationship with Indigenous peoples. The process of amendment through referendum has proven to be problematic in the past, with the success rate exceptionally low. Though with key factors such as bi-partisan support, widespread public knowledge and correct management, the alteration to remove racial discrimination and provide recognition for Indigenous persons within the Constitution is highly achievable. If proposed and eventually passed, this will provide assistance in eliminating many of the cultural gaps Indigenous persons face throughout society.
Throughout the world, in history and in present day, injustice has affected all of us. Whether it is racial, sexist, discriminatory, being left disadvantaged or worse, injustice surrounds us. Australia is a country that has been plagued by injustice since the day our British ancestors first set foot on Australian soil and claimed the land as theirs. We’ve killed off many of the Indigenous Aboriginal people, and also took Aboriginal children away from their families; this is known as the stolen generation. On the day Australia became a federation in 1901, the first Prime Minister of Australia, Edmund Barton, created the White Australia Policy. This only let people of white skin colour migrate to the country. Even though Australia was the first country to let women vote, women didn’t stand in Parliament until 1943 as many of us didn’t support female candidates, this was 40 years after they passed the law in Australian Parliament for women to stand in elections. After the events of World War Two, we have made an effort to make a stop to these issues here in Australia.
As a part of my English communications study I have chosen to explore the various social and political issues regarding asylum seekers in Australia. Firstly I would like to clarify the term asylum seekers, or as they are more commonly referred to: ‘boat people’.
In Adelman’s Canadian Borders and Immigration Post 9/11 and Hugo’s Australia Immigration Policy: The Significance of the Events of September 11, both authors explore the effects of 9/11 on the Canadian immigration and refugee policy and on the Australian asylum seeker policy respectively. To arrive at their findings, both authors use media coverage, public opinion, and examination of post 9/11 impacts on the policies of both states. Additionally, Adelman uses new legislations that Canada adopted after the attacks while Hugo uses the justification of the Australian government for their change in policy. Attempting to reason states’ actual purpose for introducing controversial immigration policies is problematic. Adelman and Hugo’s method of analysis and hurried conclusions show that the dilemma that arises in explaining immigration trends, including policies.
The rights and freedoms achieved in Australia in the 20th and 21st century can be described as discriminating, dehumanising and unfair against the Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australians have achieved rights and freedoms in their country since the invasion of the English Monarch in 1788 through the exploration and development of laws, referendums and processes. Firstly, this essay will discuss the effects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the Indigenous Australians through dehumanising and discriminating against them. Secondly, this essay will discuss how Indigenous Australians gained citizenship and voting
There is a reference to our multiculturalism in the lines ‘All cultures together as one. Yet, individual until the game is won’. These lines acknowledge the fact that even though Australia is an increasingly Multicultural society, all Australians, regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, share the same values, principles and national identity.
‘Approximately 1 in 5 people and 7 in 10 teens are victim to racism.’ This is truly alarming and worrying for Australia. Racism has been in Australia from the very first settlement in 1788. Britain claimed Australia as ‘terra nullius’ (empty land) even though they knew that aboriginals existed. The indigenous people of our land were treated more like flora and fauna than citizens of Australia and only were counted in
Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.
The history of Australia has been altered through multiculturalism. As Carter explains, “Histories of different ethnic groups – the Chinese, Germans, Scandinavians and so forth – have appeared with increasing regularity in recent decades” (348). Australia no longer has the same relationship to a British heritage (Carter 347). More information uncovers the interracial mixing of Indigenous and Asian, European and non-European, etc. Multiculturalism, furthermore, is allowing Australia to break away from its racist and isolationist history (Carter 348). While this is positive, multiculturalism may be a form of ‘nationalist triumphalism. Ien Ang
Banting noted that some Canadians fear multiculturalism will bring, “…challenges to historic cultures, anxieties about Islam, and fears about insecurity,” (797). As people migrate from one cultural or religious backgrounds, maintaining the identity of the host country becomes difficult. Young children born interact with the immigrants and they could easily emulate foreign cultures thereby putting the historic cultural identity of Canadians at risk of erosion. Winter Elke warned that multiculturalism is changing to give too much preference to the immigrants thereby risking it to become a minority affair (638). Therefore, the relationship between national the majority of Canadians and immigrants need rethinking. Erosion of other cultures as immigrants introduce new ways or adapt to the cultures of the host county (Canada). Furthermore, education of the immigrants could face challenges if they experience difficulty settling in Canada. Given that immigrants later work in Canada, the human resource sector faces a new challenge of managing a diversified workforce, which can create headache for Canadian employers. Banting indicated that there is, “a strong sense that multiculturalism policies have “failed” a reaction that is strongest perhaps in the Netherlands, but is felt in many other countries as well,” (797). Such assertions only fuel resentment towards
The mention of the abolition of multiculturalism for a “new” post-multiculturalist approach becomes difficult to understand. It claims, “to avoid the ‘excesses’ of multiculturalism” (47), however where does this notable governmental and social switch take place? How is the term coined, and how is it understood in theory versus in practice? How is it different from its predecessor? Even the classification of history struggles to define what is considered to be modern, let alone post-modern, and yet the term suggests a positive approach to alleviating difficult assimilation projects similar to those faced elsewhere (47). This notion may developed on the grounds of “someone else’s problems” ¬– in regards to its Canadian context – as a means to label, or justify, miscellaneous aspects of multiculturalism. However, with the government-wide commitment to policies and programs, in conjunction with social understanding, it naturally becomes subject to a wide array of differing opinions. As both immigration and citizenship policies change, its public reception often shifts as well. Especially since the channels referred to within the ‘multiculturalism...
According to the materials to which I have been exposed in this course, in my informed judgement, the views of these Millennials are very inaccurate. The society on which we live in today still produces discrimination towards minority groups. These groups include but are not limited to: African-Americans and women. Evidence of discrimination are exemplified via an article by authors Joe Feagin, Adriane Fugh-Berman, and Roxanna Harlow (McIntyre, 2015). These articles examine the discrimination that minority groups face in our society and offers an explanation (social factors) to how this millennial obtained misinformed views.
The 1978 implementation of Australia's multiculturalism policy was founded on the principles social cohesion. This calls for individuals to assimilate and share the same values dictated by the Australian Constitution. This has been critical in assimilating migrants to educate them with the country’s values and norms and protect minority groups from discrimination (Department of Social Services, 2015). Whilst the Australian Government’s multicultural program has been coined as the best in the world, many analyst argue that it does not really reflect diverse ethnicities as a majority of migrants have been from Anglo-Celtic. In fact, Sir James Gobbo AC, Chairman, Australian Multicultural Foundation, Australia (2014), claims its difficult to exist assess whoever the program is successful because it is in its infancy and has not had to deal with complex issues such as extreme religious diversity and cultural difference.