Is Islamophobia the new ‘White Australia’?
As Parliamentary Leader of Family First NSW, I rise today to speak to you about “Islamophobia”. I believe it is of paramount importance to discuss with the Parliament how social and religious prejudices, particularly against Arabs and Muslims, have begun to shape our country into the new ‘White Australia’.
We have seen in Australia a history of antagonism towards Chinese, German, and Italian immigrants, and latterly with refugees from South East Asia and Africa. The problem lies not with new settlers, but with those who cannot cope with confronting customs, dress, and colour.
I would like to direct you to a statement by Alfred Deakin, the chief architect of the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901, whose goal was to restrict immigration into Australia from non-European countries. He said:
It is not the bad qualities, but the good qualities of these aliens races that make them so dangerous to us. It is their inexhaustible energy, their power of applying themselves to new tasks, their endurance and low standard of living that make them such competitors.
He was speaking about immigrants from areas around Asia.
It took more than 50 years before Australia began to shift towards significantly increasing immigration of non-Europeans. And it was not until 1973, when the Whitlam Government implemented a series of amendments, that the enforcement of racial aspects of the immigration law were amended to create a more open and multicultural Australia.
Australia’s new official policy on racial diversity is: “to build on our success as a culturally diverse, accepting and open society, united through a shared future.”
In fact, more than 15 per cent of the Australian population now speaks a language other than English at home. The most commonly spoken languages are Italian, Greek, Cantonese, and Arabic.
I give you this history because of recent negatively-driven media hype and obsession associated with Islam, Muslims, people with “different” customs and dress codes, which have choked our society into forming a new ‘White Australia’ policy and Islamophobia.
Islam and its place in Australian society has been the subject of much public debate, yet there is still a great deal of misunderstanding about Australia’s Muslim communities.
According to the ABS 2006 census, approximately 340,392 people, or 1.71 per cent, of the total Australian population, were Muslims. Over a third, or alternatively 35 per cent, are actually Australian born, and their families have been in Australia for many generations.
I am appalled to have found out, through personal interaction with Muslims, and research from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC), that Muslims in our country do not feel that they belong. They commonly feel isolated and fearful of their safety.
The HREOC report called Isma Listen: National consultations on eliminating prejudice against Arab and Muslim Australians, found that participants identifiable as Arab or Muslim by their dress; language; name or appearance, told of having been abused; threatened; spat on; assailed with eggs; bottles; cans and rocks; punched and even bitten.
The issue is made more serious as evidence surfaces of Arab and Muslim Australians being:
Run off the road, and pedestrians run down on footpaths and in car parks. People reported being fired from their jobs or refused employment or promotion because of their race or religion. Children have been bullied in school yards. Women have been stalked, abused and assaulted in shopping centres. Private homes, places of worship and schools were vandalised and burned. Profanities were used to torment these people, and Arab and Muslim Australians were told to ‘go back to your own country’, even though they are Australian born, and their families have been in Australia for many generations.
The Report also found that most incidents raised in the consultations were not reported to police or other government authorities or even services, due to fear of victimisation; lack of trust in authority; lack of knowledge about the law and complaints processes; the perceived difficulty in making a complaint, and the perception that outcomes were unsatisfactory.
Recently while a guest of the Australian Muslim Women’s Association, I was horrified to hear Australian women speaking of their experience in the streets with complete strangers, that were believed not to be random attacks. Most events failed to be reported because of similar reasons discussed earlier.
A recent study on racist attitudes conducted by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2003 found one in eight Australians interviewed admitted they were prejudiced, particularly towards Muslim Australians.
Ghali Hassan, a Global Research Contributing Editor, from Perth Australia, writes:
A report, entitled ‘Respect and Racism in Australia’, prepared in June 2004 by the Racism Monitor Group of University of Technology in Sydney (UTS) revealed that; the Australian Arab Muslim community “has been and continues to be unfairly targeted” specifically, and that racism is so frequent that “it has almost become accepted” and Muslims do not feel ‘entitled’ to make any complaints. Racism against Muslims is openly promoted, and continues to contribute to decrease in the process of integration. It is propagated by politicians as a tool to instil fear in the community and justify draconian policies.
The media plays a crucial role in inciting and legitimising these criminal acts. Ghali Hassan writes:
Anti-Muslim hatred is a best-seller in Australia. TV, radio, print and publishing houses are competing for the best available distortion of Islam and Muslims. In fact, one can become a celebrity overnight in Australia, by simply producing a distorted image of Arabs and Muslims. It is a widely promoted topic.
Hurand Seyit, director of the Forum on Australian-Islamic Relations publicly admits “there is underlying racism running deeply in the Australian psyche.”
Islamophobia is a serious threat to the Australian society. It is reminiscent to that of anti-Jews hatred in Europe in recent history.
I conclude by quoting the Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner for Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Dr William Jonas AM, who in 2003 said:
We need to confront the fears and uncertainties that have become a part of our everyday lives post-September 11 and guard against prejudice and intolerance, not just towards Arab and Muslim Australians, but also against other culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Increased hostility towards particular groups produces a dynamic of exclusions that encompasses a range of vulnerable groups – attacking the very principle of respect for diversity has an alarming ripple effect.
Protecting the core multicultural values of our society is a very good reason for action. We need to ensure that all Australians, Arabs and Muslims included, have the opportunity for equal participation in Australian society. To do this, we need to listen to, and acknowledge the kinds of prejudice, discrimination, and vilification experienced by Arab and Muslim Australians, post-September 11.
Let us pray that we too can emulate this attitude so as to prevent Islamophobia becoming the new ‘White Australia.’