Refugee Update
As the dirty dust of the election settles... (ABC
Election 2016: Where do the crossbenchers stand on the major issues? (ABC, 8 July 2016). Bob Katter of Katter's Australia Party wants immigration to be "virtually nil" except for selected persecuted religious minorities. This is obviously an anti-Muslim policy, but I think it's probably also an anti-Asian / South Asian one; while India, China, and the UK are the top three source countries for new migrants, white immigrants are effectively invisible.
Fact check: Why Peter Dutton's claims on the Coalition's record on refugees get mixed verdicts (ABC, 27 June 2016) (btw, we're going to lose Fact Check thanks to the Coalition's cuts to the ABC.) Before the election, the Immigration Minister explicitly linked refugees to terrorism. What a shame he's managed to scrape back in despite the huge swing against him in Dickson.
The resurgence of One Nation will have a frightening impact on Asian (and, I'm sure, South Asian) and Muslim Australians, and, I'm sure, asylum seekers and refugees. From The Drum (another victim of ABC cuts): Why simply calling Hanson racist doesn't help (7 July 2016) "As for the media: continue to treat Hanson as a circus freak if you wish, for our mock horror and cheap titillation (ooh you'll never guess what awful thing she said today!), but you are doing no service to anyone. She will not be ignored; she is, for now, significant. When her words are hateful and harmful, call them so. Point out her hypocrisies. Explain why she is wrong." I think this approach can be usefully used when talking to our fellow Australians - a dash of respect, so they'll listen, and a whole lot of facts. Perhaps we can start here: Majority of Australians say refugees who arrive by boat should be let in, poll finds (GA, 29 June 2016)
Election 2016: Where do the crossbenchers stand on the major issues? (ABC, 8 July 2016). Bob Katter of Katter's Australia Party wants immigration to be "virtually nil" except for selected persecuted religious minorities. This is obviously an anti-Muslim policy, but I think it's probably also an anti-Asian / South Asian one; while India, China, and the UK are the top three source countries for new migrants, white immigrants are effectively invisible.
Fact check: Why Peter Dutton's claims on the Coalition's record on refugees get mixed verdicts (ABC, 27 June 2016) (btw, we're going to lose Fact Check thanks to the Coalition's cuts to the ABC.) Before the election, the Immigration Minister explicitly linked refugees to terrorism. What a shame he's managed to scrape back in despite the huge swing against him in Dickson.
The resurgence of One Nation will have a frightening impact on Asian (and, I'm sure, South Asian) and Muslim Australians, and, I'm sure, asylum seekers and refugees. From The Drum (another victim of ABC cuts): Why simply calling Hanson racist doesn't help (7 July 2016) "As for the media: continue to treat Hanson as a circus freak if you wish, for our mock horror and cheap titillation (ooh you'll never guess what awful thing she said today!), but you are doing no service to anyone. She will not be ignored; she is, for now, significant. When her words are hateful and harmful, call them so. Point out her hypocrisies. Explain why she is wrong." I think this approach can be usefully used when talking to our fellow Australians - a dash of respect, so they'll listen, and a whole lot of facts. Perhaps we can start here: Majority of Australians say refugees who arrive by boat should be let in, poll finds (GA, 29 June 2016)