rosstheboss
Retrobike Rider
About bloody time!!!
- Thread starter rosstheboss
- Start date
A simple question with a complex answer.
When you see all those tourist ads Australia looks free, open and inviting. Unfortunately too many Australians harbour racist and xenophobic attitudes, it really a national disgrace and shame. This hatred and ignorance is not just aimed at our Indigenous brothers and sisters, but also to many new immigrants settling here (unless it seems they are Caucasian). I live in a city that relies on tourism to survive, and have seen locals verbally abuse Asian tourists and students for simply being Asian and over here!
The last few federal elections both major parties have run fear campaigns about being ‘over run’ by refugees, when in reality we get bugger all. This seems to be made more news worthy when there are difficult economic times e.g. stories about Aboriginals and new arrivals getting all this government money and hand outs while everyone else has to work for what they have.
The reality is there would be more British back packers entering Australia through Sydney International Airport and illegal overstaying their visas than we get in refugees arriving by boat. Imagine the international outcry if these back packers were rounded up at gun point and put into the same concentration camps we put Afghan refugees in (yes we do have the camps). Australia has a policy of mandatory detention for all refugees and asylum seekers who arrive by boat on its shores.
Hope that doesn’t seem too much of a negative rant, I feel things are slowly changing and Australia is still the best country in the world to live in.
cyfa2809":zsz9vccx said:
When you see all those tourist ads Australia looks free, open and inviting. Unfortunately too many Australians harbour racist and xenophobic attitudes, it really a national disgrace and shame. This hatred and ignorance is not just aimed at our Indigenous brothers and sisters, but also to many new immigrants settling here (unless it seems they are Caucasian). I live in a city that relies on tourism to survive, and have seen locals verbally abuse Asian tourists and students for simply being Asian and over here!
The last few federal elections both major parties have run fear campaigns about being ‘over run’ by refugees, when in reality we get bugger all. This seems to be made more news worthy when there are difficult economic times e.g. stories about Aboriginals and new arrivals getting all this government money and hand outs while everyone else has to work for what they have.
The reality is there would be more British back packers entering Australia through Sydney International Airport and illegal overstaying their visas than we get in refugees arriving by boat. Imagine the international outcry if these back packers were rounded up at gun point and put into the same concentration camps we put Afghan refugees in (yes we do have the camps). Australia has a policy of mandatory detention for all refugees and asylum seekers who arrive by boat on its shores.
Hope that doesn’t seem too much of a negative rant, I feel things are slowly changing and Australia is still the best country in the world to live in.
A
Anonymous
are you saying that it's unbelievable that an aborigine man has won a seat in the house of representatives? Dude, that's kind of racist. But seeing the title of this thread, I know that's not what you're saying and you know I'm just kidding. 
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rosstheboss
Retrobike Rider
What I find unbelievable is the fact that, as LQQK said, it's taken so long for an aboriginal person to make it to parliament!!! I've spent a lot of time in Oz and 95% of the time it was fine, I had a blast. The other 5% of the time I witnessed first hand the openly racist views of a few. I've been shouted down for being English (banter? not after a while...) and have been walking down a road with a black friend who was shouted at being called a "f*cking maggot" amongst other even more deplorable names.
If you scratch the surface of Australian history, it isn't all barbies on the beach and boomerangs, the fact is the way Australians (not forgetting Colonial Brits too ) have treated the Aborigines is pretty disgusting and certainly on a par with South Africa, have a look for things like the lost generation on google and you'll see what I mean... Australia seems to have got away with it a lot lighter than South Africa in the world's eyes though.
As I said before I had a blast in Oz, and the vast majority of people I met were amazing, loving, warm and certainly not racist.
I was also amazed at this story though.
Peace and love peeps
If you scratch the surface of Australian history, it isn't all barbies on the beach and boomerangs, the fact is the way Australians (not forgetting Colonial Brits too ) have treated the Aborigines is pretty disgusting and certainly on a par with South Africa, have a look for things like the lost generation on google and you'll see what I mean... Australia seems to have got away with it a lot lighter than South Africa in the world's eyes though.
As I said before I had a blast in Oz, and the vast majority of people I met were amazing, loving, warm and certainly not racist.
I was also amazed at this story though.
Peace and love peeps
ozpete
Retro Guru
There are a million opinions about Australia's problems with "immigrants", as well as our inability to properly address cohabitating with our original custodians of the land that were here long before colonisation, because, lets face it, anyone white here is an immigrant, along with so many other races. Notwithstanding, it's all about acceptance, which is a two way street which many have still failed to grasp the middle ground with.
We have had representatives in the upper house of parliament that have been indigenous, some great, some not so, but that pales in the face that the 'people have spoken', and now we have a bona fide elected member that so happens to be Aboriginal. Does this signal the path to acceptance that many races make our nation? And a persons ability is not governed by their colour or accent? Either way, as rosstheboss indicated, even though there are 5% of dickheads that live here that don't just get it, this still leaves 95% of us to enjoy each other, for better or worse, to make this, the Lucky Country.
And thus endeth the rant
Thanks,
Pete
We have had representatives in the upper house of parliament that have been indigenous, some great, some not so, but that pales in the face that the 'people have spoken', and now we have a bona fide elected member that so happens to be Aboriginal. Does this signal the path to acceptance that many races make our nation? And a persons ability is not governed by their colour or accent? Either way, as rosstheboss indicated, even though there are 5% of dickheads that live here that don't just get it, this still leaves 95% of us to enjoy each other, for better or worse, to make this, the Lucky Country.
And thus endeth the rant
Thanks,
Pete
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