During the election campaign, LP will be cross-posting selected items from the Centre for Policy Development’s discussion of policy issues, Thinking Points. Readers may also be interested in the CPD’s collection of policy ideas and priorities for the next term, More Than Luck.
Andrew Jabukowicz writes:
This federal election has been a roundabout of personalities, melodrama and policy parries. There is a real social world out here, where a majority of people live an everyday multiculturalism. For the forty per cent or more of Australians who come from non-Anglo backgrounds and the rest who experience its benefits, it’s worth reflecting on what the future might be like if there was a policy debate in which cultural diversity was valued and productive diversity advanced.
If we take the largest Commonwealth spending areas and the places where new ideas or recycled old ones have been most evident, cultural diversity hangs well below the radar. It may well be that both the ALP and the Coalition believe that most non-Anglo people are working class and rusted on to Labor; they therefore require no feeding for the ALP, and will be immune to any seduction by the Coalition. Indeed studies by Melbourne social scientists Bob Birrell and Katherine Betts indicate that in the darkest days of the Howard ascendancy, Labor had two core groups holding it up — inner-city trendies and working class non-Anglo immigrants.
This may have changed – with so many immigrants in the last decade, the immigrant constituency is more diverse, in part far wealthier, and more politically astute than in the past. The loss of Bennelong in 2007 was caused by the desertion of more conservative Asian voters who turned to Labor; Howard has been working hard in the region to try to lure them back to what the Liberals hope is their “natural” home.
The gains in Queensland were from upwardly aspirational skilled workers, some of whom were earlier immigrants or their children, but not a group excited by multiculturalism. Indeed most of the people who really like multiculturalism may have already made their move across to the Greens.
Given there is no single “ethnic” or immigrant constituency, what are the issues that affect immigrants and ethnic minorities more dramatically than other segments of contemporary Australia? In simple terms they are those that relate to age group (older people, youth), language and communication, occupation and employment, extended family relations and human rights (often in quite complex ways). For some groups there’s also an interest in competitive leverage on influencing Australia’s foreign policies (eg Muslims vs Jews over policy in the Middle East – and yes, they are religious groups but they act as ethnic lobbies).
Let’s recall that in 1989 the Office of Multicultural Affairs was in PM Hawke’s portfolio, and the ALP won an election asserting the value of the concept and the importance of productive diversity. Two decades on, and we have to search under rocks to find either major party saying anything of any interest.
Read Andrew Jabukowicz’s whole essay on policy-making and cultural diversity here.
It’s Jakubowicz. Thought I’d get in before Fran, ‘keeper of the net’.
I want to challenge your assumption that multiculturalism is intrinsically a good thing. Sure, while our population remains overwhelmingly Anglo-liberal in worldview, bringing in some foreigners makes us seem tolerant and provides for a more diverse selection of ethnic restaurants. My main problem with immigration is a difference in communication styles, in particular between the direct communication of the West and the passive aggression of the East.
We westerners tend to have a very direct conversation style. Consider your workplace. We Australians know that it is okay to criticize and give suggestions to your boss. Asians don’t know this. Malcolm Gladwell observed in “Outliers” that when pilots and co-pilots act like Koreans, plane crashes ensue, because they would not inform the pilot of his errors because of their ill-guided respect for arbitrary authority. Would you want your colleagues not to point out suggestions to you because of your relative positions? Do you really want to endure Asian passive-aggressiveness?
Further, we are liberal and know that we should be able to discuss all topics freely, even difficult topics. Imagine an Asian parliamentarian ending sex education in schools or censoring content they don’t like on TV.
A common understanding of the nuances of communication is vital for a prosperous economy and democracy. I love middle-eastern and Asian food as much as the next person, but do you really want to be a foreigner in your own country?
Having worked with many colleagues of Asian descent in hospitals, as nurses/doctors/allied health therapists, I have had no such ethno-specific difficulty in direct communication of the crucial facts needed for medical decision-making as you describe in your stereotype.
My husband works with many, indeed mostly, colleagues of Asian descent in IT circles. While there’s a distinct subset of his fellow workers who have quirky communication styles, he doesn’t feel that there is any particular ethnic correlation as to who is more likely to be a confident direct communicator.
[sarcasm] Oh yes, the horror, because there’s never been an Anglo-Australian parliamentarian who has actively campaigned for anything like that.[/sarcasm]
Tigtog: I know “Anglo-Australians” have campaigned for that too, but not many young people agree with it today. Thus, as old people die and today’s young people come into power, the society will become more liberal. Importing illiberal immigrants will hinder this process.
J, I think I might be quite a bit older than you, and in my experience people were much more socially liberal generally in the 70s and early 80s than most people are now, in terms of social justice, social freedoms, looking into new ways of living and generally not sticking their noses into other people’s business. There were some legacy prejudices about some social minorities, but they were being questioned in ways that mean those prejudices are far less socially acceptable today. Just take a good look at the movies of the period to see continued themes where young people question the wisdom of the elders and go their own way.
Today’s movies have lots of young people who are financially independent, but where are the movies today where they are examining, questioning and challenging the traditions of the elders except with regard to sexuality? In my experience, there is hardly any popular culture that questions other social norms, because almost none of these movies question the primacy of consumerist values. Don’t mistake a worldview of open slather on sexuality as indicating a genuinely open mind with respect to social justice.
Also, most immigrants from countries with illiberal governments etc who come to Australia come because they are the liberal/progressive who don’t fit in there, and who are often persecuted for not following the traditionally illiberal line. They are exactly the sort of people we need to have around us when we get complacent about how progressive we are because we aren’t prudes, because they actually notice when other more important freedoms are being eroded, because they’ve seen it all before.
J, can you come round to my place and explain to my partner that because she’s asian and younger than me she naturally defers to my judgement and doesn’t argue with me? Also, can I watch while you do it?
My experience of parties trying to recruit from “ethnics” is mixed, from bizarre and humorous to business as usual. We’ve seen international students being paid by both parties to campaign and taking advantage of the language gap to … deliver an alternative message, shall we say. Only funny if it’s not your workers doing it. I’ve spent a bit of time wandering round the streets confirming that all our translations are appropriate by accosting passers-by. I’ve seen racist morons trying to persuade members of ‘lesser’ races to vote for them (teeth-grindingly awful to be near). And I’ve seen groups from every party that just happen to be multicultural. It’s not something you can predict from a hundred metres away.