The contemporary, hostile political climate towards ‘Others’ in Australian politics is underpinned by a history of systematic and institutional racism. This hostility towards non-Anglo ethnicities, in particular Muslims, Arabs and Asians – whether immigrants, emigrants, asylum seekers, or refugees –remains xenophobic, and finds its expression in State Islamophobia and sensationalised fears of minority out-groups (ENDNOTE). An examination of Australian public policies from 1901 to present date indicate the lacklustre efforts of the Australian government and public to celebrate cultural diversity; rather, ‘modern racism’ directed at ‘Others’ is perpetuated by arguments of realist political discourse; the proliferation of harsher asylum-seeker
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Despite the euphemism ‘multiculturalism’ connotes, xenophobia was still prevalent in Australian politics. The shift from ‘White Australia’ to ‘Multicultural Australia’ occurred during the 1960s-2000’s. Positive progression of political and civil attitudes towards minority out-groups – from race-based exclusion to State espoused multiculturalism – gradually transpired. The Aliens Act Repeal Act of (1987) repealed the Aliens Act 1947. However, this progression appears to have only occurred as immigrant communities demanded social equality; that Australia maintain a plurality of cultures, and the cry for equal distribution of resources between dominant (or elite) ethnicity groups and minority ethnicities(endnote). Australian multiculturalism was extracted from the State, and did not occur as an expression of Australia’s tolerant, welcoming, or cosmopolitan political atmosphere (endnote). Pluralism was not indicative of an absence of prejudice; in fact, pluralism served to highlight Australia’s xenophobic tendencies by the public’s expectation for conformity by ‘Others’. The heavy influx of Asian and Muslims, from the destabilised regions of Africa, Asia and the Middle East in 1960 to present, has proven more difficult for Australian society to absorb than the integration of more ‘similar’ immigrants
Despite the euphemism ‘multiculturalism’ connotes, xenophobia was still prevalent in Australian politics. The shift from ‘White Australia’ to ‘Multicultural Australia’ occurred during the 1960s-2000’s. Positive progression of political and civil attitudes towards minority out-groups – from race-based exclusion to State espoused multiculturalism – gradually transpired. The Aliens Act Repeal Act of (1987) repealed the Aliens Act 1947. However, this progression appears to have only occurred as immigrant communities demanded social equality; that Australia maintain a plurality of cultures, and the cry for equal distribution of resources between dominant (or elite) ethnicity groups and minority ethnicities(endnote). Australian multiculturalism was extracted from the State, and did not occur as an expression of Australia’s tolerant, welcoming, or cosmopolitan political atmosphere (endnote). Pluralism was not indicative of an absence of prejudice; in fact, pluralism served to highlight Australia’s xenophobic tendencies by the public’s expectation for conformity by ‘Others’. The heavy influx of Asian and Muslims, from the destabilised regions of Africa, Asia and the Middle East in 1960 to present, has proven more difficult for Australian society to absorb than the integration of more ‘similar’ immigrants