Politics and the media: The immigration debate in Australia from the early 1900s to the present (part 2)

This is the second part of my previous post, with references listed at the end.

Part 2 of 2

The media: inciting racism?

It’s not just right-wing political parties that further intensify the ongoing immigration debate in Australia. In December 2005 the media played a key role in spreading the word about the Cronulla riots, in which white Australians clashed with Lebanese Muslims at Cronulla beach. ‘Then Prime Minister John Howard stated that he “did not accept that there is underlying racism in Australia”. Howard made this comment despite the prominence of images at the time of the riots that clearly depicted white Australians wearing T shirts saying “no Lebs”, chanting “Aussie Aussie Aussie”, and even people proclaiming “we grew here you flew here” and “go home”.’ (Due and Riggs 2008, p.211) In fact, most of the Lebanese Muslims subject to these taunts had not ‘flown’ to Australia, and their ‘home’ was here. Many Lebanese immigrants arrived in Australia between 1880 and the 1920s, and 1947 to 1975, with immigration continuing from 1976 until the present due to the civil war in Lebanon. Up to six generations of Australian-born Lebanese reside here. (Batrouney 2000) If ‘Australianness’ is determined by whether or not a person has been born here or the length of their family ties to Australia, I would be considered far less Australian than many Lebanese citizens. I am a first-generation British Australian with dual citizenship; however, as a white, English-speaking citizen I have never been subject to anyone telling me to ‘go home’.

Two years after the Cronulla riots, an investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority found that broadcasts by ‘shock jock’ Alan Jones on the day of the Cronulla riots were ‘likely to encourage violence or brutality and vilify people of Middle Eastern descent’. (Ricketson 2008) Jones’s 2GB colleague Brian Wilshire also had his say, telling listeners that ‘many of [the Lebanese] have parents who were first cousins, whose parents were first cousins, because of the culture — it’s not a religious thing, it doesn’t say this in the Koran — but it’s a cultural thing for some part of the world to have parents who are very closely related. The result of this is inbreeding, the result of which is uneducationable people, and very low IQ’. (Wilshire 2006)

One of Australia’s most outspoken media commentators on all issues relating to race and immigration is Andrew Bolt. In addition to having his say many times over on the Cronulla riots, Bolt uses his Herald Sun blog to vilify the Australian Muslim community (or pretty much anyone of middle-eastern descent), ‘ethnic gangs’ and Sudandese ‘immigrants’, as he refers to them (as opposed to ‘refugees’, which the majority of them are). Although he likes to poke fun at Pauline Hanson when he gets the chance (see Bolt March 2007), Bolt tends to use very similar language to her — ‘integrate’, ‘assimilate’ and ‘gang’ were all used in a single blog about the Sudanese community. (Bolt January 2007) It seems as though in Bolt’s opinion, any Sudanese people in Australia that are more comfortable associating with people from the same backgrounds as themselves can automatically be considered members of a ‘gang’. Because Bolt’s tirades are usually via his blog (although he sometimes appears on television as well), he is able to elicit similarly racist responses from his readers. Often he will say very little in his blog entry, instead opting for a simple link to a news article that is likely to draw hateful responses from his loyal online followers.

In December 2008 Gold Coast residents launched their own attack on the Muslim community, but instead of a riot it was a demonstration against a proposed new Islamic College at Carrara. Some 200 people were involved in the protest and, while violence wasn’t an issue, many of the methods used bore similarities to those employed during the Cronulla riots — people were ‘draped in Australian flags and shouting pro-Aussie slogans while Australian rock classics such as “Down Under” and “Great Southern Land” boomed across the parkland’. (Pierce 2008) It became clear that the protests were racially based when one of the opponents to the school was asked why they were not protesting against other religious schools such as those that are Christian-based. He responded that ‘Catholics aren’t a different culture. They are the same as us’. (Pierce 2008)

Only a couple of days after publishing the report about the Gold Coast protests, News Limited fuelled the fires further by printing an article with the title ‘Brisbane Islamic college bans Australian national anthem’ — something that was sure to incite outrage amongst countless Australians. Despite what was indicated in the alarming headline, the school had not banned the national anthem at all. It was true that the college did have a policy of not playing the anthem on Fridays, but this applied to all other songs as well, due to the fact that Friday is considered to be a Muslim holy day. It just happened that school assemblies had been moved from Monday to Friday, meaning that the anthem was no longer played during that time. Due to the pressure placed on the school as a direct result of the media coverage, the following day the title of the online news article was changed to ‘Brisbane Islamic college reviews national anthem ban’, and it was reported that the principal was reviewing the school’s policy on the matter. (O’Loan 2008)

Conclusion

Often the whole immigration debate can be difficult to comprehend. In fact, sometimes it is unclear why debate needs to occur on the subject at all. The Australia we know today was settled by foreigners who clearly did not assimilate with the cultural traditions and practices of the current inhabitants of the land. Instead, they introduced an entirely new way of life and, in the process, exploited and destroyed much of the original population. My parents migrated here as teenagers with their parents and families but, simply because they are white Europeans, they go unnoticed by the Andrew Bolts, Brian Wilshires, Pauline Hansons of Australia, as well as the rest of the right-wing media commentators and politicians. It is only those groups hailing from different cultural backgrounds to those of white Europeans that these prominent and highly influential people seem to have a problem with. Politicians and media commentators are regularly delaring to the public that Australia is home to a diverse and multicultural society — but it is often the same politicians or media commentators who are the first to voice their opinions when any of those other cultures become an apparent threat to our own.

References

Ang I 2003, ‘From white Australia to fortress Australia: The anxious nation in the new century’, in L Jaysuriya, D Walker and J Gothard (eds), Legacies of white Australia: Race, culture and nation, Perth.

Batrouney, Dr T 2000, Lebanese in Australia, Australian Lebanese Historical Society of Victoria, viewed 5 January 2009, <http://alhsv.org.au/resources_lebaneseinaus.html>.

Bolt, A 2007, ‘Hanson smart? Is the Pope a Muslim?’, Herald sun, 30 March 2007, viewed 31 December 2008, <http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/hanson_smart_is_the_pope_a_muslim/P40>.

Bolt, A 2007, ‘Our Sudanese question’, Herald sun, 31 January 2007, viewed 31 December 2008, <http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/our_sudanese_question>.

Due, C and Riggs, DW 2008, ‘We grew here you flew here’: claims to ‘home in the Cronulla riots, Monash University, viewed 30 December 2008, <http://colloquy.monash.edu.au/issue016/due-riggs.pdf>.

Hanson, P 1996, House of Representatives, Debates, vol.HR208, 10 September 1996.

Manne, R 2003, ‘The road to Tampa’, in L Jaysuriya, D Walker and J Gothard (eds), Legacies of white Australia: Race, culture and nation, Perth.

Markus, A 1979, Fear and hatred: Purifying Australia and California, 1850–1901, Hale & Iremonger, Sydney.

O’Loan, J 2008, ‘Brisbane Islamic college reviews national anthem ban’, Courier-mail, 5 December 2008, viewed 5 December 2008, <http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24753104-952,00.html>.

Pierce, J2008, ‘Protestors rally against Islamic school’, Courier-mail, 2 December 2008, viewed 3 December 2008,  <http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,24738950-5003402,00.html>.

Ricketson, M 2008, ‘Bureaucrats try to “censor” Alan Jones’, The age, 6 December 2008, viewed 30 December 2008, <http://www.theage.com.au/national/bureaucrats-try-to-censor--alan-jones-name-in-report-20081205-6slh.html>.

Robb, A 2006, Australia to introduce citizenship, media release Ref 114/06, Department of Immigration and Citizenship, 11 December 2006, viewed 20 December 2008, <http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/media/pressrel/VFQL6/upload_binary/vfql62.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22media/pressrel/vfql6)%22>.

Souter, G 1976, Lion and kangaroo — Australia 1901–1919… the rise of a nation, Fonatana, Sydney.

Tavan, G 2005, The long, slow death of white Australia, Scribe Publications, Melbourne.

Wilshire, B 2006, ‘Brian Wilshire: uneducationable’, Media Watch transcripts, viewed 30 December 2008, <http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s1574242.htm>.

Politics and the media: The immigration debate in Australia from the early 1900s to the present (part 1)

Following is part one of two of a brief paper written in 2009 discussing the Australian media's role in the immigration debate. A full list of references cited will be given with part two.

Part 1 of 2

Introduction

Up until November 2007 when John Howard’s reign as prime minister and Liberal–National Coalition leader finally ended, it seemed to many Australians (myself included) that we were seeing a resurgence of the old White Australia Policy, and the treatment of migrants often mimicked that which occurred over a century ago. Howard’s Liberal government had attempted to have the English test reinstated (this time written as opposed to oral), and also intended to ‘quiz’ potential citizens on what it means to be ‘Australian’; sporting achievements, mateship and history (presumably white) were proposed as topics. The test was cited in a media release by the Department of Immigration (2006, p.1 of 4) as ‘Helping migrants to integrate and maximise the opportunities available to them in Australia’. While the White Australia Policy was ‘legally’ stamped out by Whitlam in the 1970s (Ang 2003, p.62), this paper will explore how the ideologies that were present when it was implemented in 1901 are very much alive in the political and media sphere of contemporary Australia which, in turn, serves to further intensify an ongoing debate.

White Australia Policy — dead or alive?

The White Australia Policy had been introduced in 1901 after two Acts were implemented — the Pacific Islands Labourers Act 1901 and the Immigration Restriction Act 1901. The first was intended to prevent the introduction of Pacific Islander workers (and ensured the deportation of those already here), while the second restricted the type of people who could enter the country. This Act not only prohibited so-called ‘undesirables’, such as those who were insane, diseased or criminal, but also excluded anyone who could not pass a dictation test in the examiner’s chosen European language (that is, not necessarily English). After taking various measures to decrease, or at least hide, the country’s existing Indigenous population, it was now thought that minimising the numbers of people from non-European countries entering Australia would be in the nation’s best interest. The ultimate goal of the government at that time was to have ‘one people without the admixture of other races’. (Markus 1979, p.xii) The purpose of the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 was clear and simple, according to Australia’s first Attorney General: ‘In fact and in effect our colourless laws are administered so as to draw a deep colour line between caucasions and all other races’. (Souter 1976, p.88)

Every now and then someone in politics or the media rears their head and attempts to reinstate the ideologies of the White Australia Policy for their own personal agenda, even though it was dismantled several decades ago. The most prominent of these people was Pauline Hanson in the mid to late 1990s, who strongly believed that ‘[Asians] have their own culture and religion and do not assimilate’. (Tavan 2005, p.223) However, Hanson never once called into question (or even addressed) the fact that white Europeans had made every attempt not to assimilate with the original inhabitants of the land. She even claimed in 1996 that ‘if I can invite whom I want into my home, then I should have the right to have a say in who comes into my country’. (Hanson 1996, p.unknown)

Coincidentally or otherwise, in 2001 the one-hundredth anniversary of the implementation of the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 was ‘celebrated’ with the introduction by the Howard government of the Border Protection Act 2001 — its aim described as to ‘keep Australia free of asylum seekers’. (Manne 2003, p.163) While the origins of this particular Act can be found in the early 1990s with the Labor federal government, it was John Howard’s Liberal party that ensured it became legislation. That same year (one month before the Act was officially instated) the Tampa scandal unfolded, when the Norwegian cargo vessel rescued 433 Afghans who were bound for Australia and, fearing for their health, attempted to unload them safely on Christmas Island. However, not wanting ‘queue jumpers’ to be allowed on Australian soil (or even in their waters), naval frigate HMAS Manoora transferred the refugees to their own vessel and detained them. (Manne 2003, p.164) Also in 2001 was the ‘children overboard’ affair, where Iraqi asylum seekers threw their children into the Indian Ocean as a strategic move to gain entry into Australia, of which John Howard commented, ‘I don’t want people like that in Australia’. (Tavan 2005, p.222) 

Big things: Australian icons

Yesterday, in order to give my friend Shilo the ultimate kitsch Australian experience before she heads home to New York in a month, a few of us headed to the one and only Big Pineapple in Nambour. In addition to posing in front of said pineapple and admiring the pineapple plantation, we also partook in the Pineapple Special sundae (a crapload of ice cream atop a hollowed-out pineapple half). Delicious.

Images: Kylie Challenor and Shilo Byrd

I’ve always been a fan of the ‘big’ tourist attractions. My grandparents live in Coffs Harbour, home of the Big Banana. We’d go to visit Nanna and Grandad almost every year in the summer holidays, and every year we’d just have to visit the Big Banana. Mum has countless pictures of me and my little sister — always wearing matching clothes but in different colours — standing in front of it, each year looking a few centimetres bigger than the year before. On the way to Coffs Harbour we’d pass more of the ‘big’ attractions. There was the ‘little’ Big Pineapple at the Caltex in Gympie, and then we’d detour to the real thing in Nambour. Once, we even stopped at the Big Shell in Tewantin. Then we’d pass the Big Prawn in Ballina before reaching Coffs. And if that wasn’t enough, one year Nanna took us on a trip to see the Big Cow in Wauchope. (See Clark 2004 for a comprehensive run-down of Australia’s ‘big’ attractions.)

So you can my excitement (coupled with mortification) when on a road trip to Sydney more than half a decade ago I discovered one of these monuments that I hadn’t seen before. Just north of Newcastle, I passed The Rock (formerly known as Leyland Brothers World) — a big fibreglass-looking faded brown thing fashioned on the ‘original’ Uluru. (Total Travel n.d.) A few kilometres up the road, I wished I’d gone inside and bought a tea towel and one of those souvenir spoons for Mum (she used to collect them), but I’d unfortunately let the opportunity pass in a blur out the window. My excuse for not stopping is that it was raining. Pouring, in fact. And I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one continuing my journey down the highway instead of pulling into the very vacant (and very pot holed) car park.

Even though I only saw the outside of this bizarre monument, it didn’t take me long to conjure up a very clear picture of what I would have seen inside had I dared to walk through The Rock’s cavernous entrance. Upon pushing through the creaky turnstyles, I would have been confronted with racks of the usual souvenirs that we’ve come to expect to see in such tourist establishments — clip-on koalas wearing akubra hats, The Rock fridge magnets, mass-produced didgeridoos, shell sculptures with googly eyes, novelty oversized pencils, and those tiny plastic TVs with a viewfinder in the back showing pictures of the ‘real’ Rock with the click of a button. And everything would have the kind of cheap price stickers that leave a sticky residue that never really goes away no matter how much you pick at it.

Upon trawling my way through the shop to the back, I’d find an overpriced restaurant (translation: bain marie with an instant coffee maker and a soft-serve machine). There, they would serve ‘authentic’ Aussie food — you know, dagwood dogs, burgers, potato wedges with sour cream and bacon, Devonshire teas, and ice-cream sundaes with little Australian flags sticking out of them. I’d order myself an ice-cream sundae (for around $8.50, I expect), and then instantly regret it when I realised just how much caramel topping had been poured over the top. And maybe, just maybe, there would be a farmyard out the back for the kiddies, in amongst a couple of filthy barbecues.

According to Wilmoth (1997), Leyland Brothers World had closed in 1992 after Mike and Mal went broke — the receivers had come and changed the locks and it was sold for $800 000. (Harvie 1992, p.33) Thankfully, the entrepreneur who bought it had the good sense to keep the attraction going as The Rock roadhouse, and I hope to return one day and buy some fridge magnets. Until then, I’ll need to be content myself with my fantasy of what might be inside. 

References

Clark, David 2004, Big things: Australia’s amazing roadside attractions, Penguin, Camberwell.

  

Harvie, Jeni 1992, ‘$800 000 Leyland sale’, Australian financial feview, 8 December 1992, p.33.

Total Travel n.d., Rock Roadhouse, viewed 29 November 2008, <http://www.totaltravel.com.au/travel/nsw/northcoastnsw/portstephens/shops/foodliquor/rock-roadhouse>.

Wilmoth, Peter 1997, ‘How the Leyland Brothers lost their way’, Sunday Age, 27 July 2007, page unknown.