Australia is a nation of diversity. This diversity covers all aspects of life, from sexuality, to political preference, to disability and to ethnical and national background. Australia has always had a diverse demography, and it inevitably always will.
Australia is not a Western Judaeo-Christian nation-state; it is not a theocratic white country. Indeed, the majority of its citizens are of the Christian European demographic, but this does not make our democratic system or civil society the bastion for this demographic.
Australia is a nation-state based on the ideals that are universal to humanity, and no culture or religion can have a monopoly on them. Our society is based on the ideals of egalitarianism and liberty, of sacrifice and altruism. Our political system is based in the ideals of secularism and the separation of church and state, free speech and human rights. These ideals are the only way of maintaining a just and fair civil society. This is all fact – social, historical and legal fact.
Moreover, multiculturalism is not a policy. It is an undeniable practical fact. Australia is a country in the Asia-pacific, with an Aboriginal peoples and a European majority. Yet the Asia-pacific region is home to the majority of humans on this earth. What do we think should happen? Do we really think that migrants living in poverty and from overcrowding homes would not flock to this nation? Were we thinking that refugees do not see Australia as a safe, tolerant and prosperous place? Is Australia going to be morally degraded by Asians? Were we thinking that we would dodge the issue of immigration and asylum altogether? Do we think that there is a global Islamic conspiracy to take over our homeland? Is Australia going to become the Islamic Asian Republic of Australia by 2050?
No? Then why do we persistent in our narrow nationalist mind frame of fear? Why does Australia still base our government and political policies in unrealistic terms? Why do we not see reality? If you truly see tolerance and acceptance of multiculturalism a bad thing, I ask you to prove it with qualitative and or quantitative data. Make some evidence-based evaluations before you start to sprout bigotry on your local radio or propagate distorted information about Australia’s legal basis for asylum seekers in your newspaper. I ask you, I ask Australia, why is a multicultural society a bad thing?
The conservative commentators and right-wing politicians are fearful. Why are they fearful? Indeed everyone has a mandate to voice their views in a democracy about the future of this nation, but surely fear and the distortion and spin of fact has no place in our contemporary democratic society?
Now, I don’t mind if the Coalition and conservative commentators live with wool over their eyes and sprout archaic nationalism and claim a clash of civilisations in this nation of threatened and helpless White-Western-European-Christian purebloods; but the fact is that this is an untenable view.
What I personally fear is that politicisation and spin of immigration and culture and nationalism is a symptom of the utter degradation of our democratic system. When the few zealots can manipulate the views of a population, we, as a civil society, must realise that something is wrong.
Australia is in two wars and many other military and humanitarian operations. Therefore we have moral and legal obligations for why we must give refuge to asylum seekers, whether or not they come by boat or plane. This is fact. Moreover, what is also fact is that “boat people” has become the buzzword of the fear and smear campaign of modern Australian politics. It is a diversion from the basis of immigration policy and a populist rally for support for right-wing politicians. Tactical policymaking is being based on polling results and nothing of any sort of substance or quality is being formulated. Our politicians are not doing the duties mandated of them.
When our mainstream elected representatives decide that negative and stereotypical images of immigrants and refugees are accurate, we must realise that something is wrong. When populist nationalism and bigotry become part of the normal political business, our democratic and diverse civil society becomes much the lesser. We cannot force people into moulds. Human rights are not a political issue. We must accept our diversity, transcend our differences, realise our similarity and try to live the best we fortunately can in our democratic, free and prosperous Commonwealth.
I ask you all, why is a multicultural endorsed Australia bad?
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