I have been around long enough to see Italians, Greeks, Czechs, Hungarians, Croatians, Serbians, Austrians, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Sri Lankans and assorted other immigrants and refugees arrive in Australia. They were referred to as wops, dagoes, wogs, and whatever other pejorative the cretinous right could think up. These people from foreign lands made this country. Afghan camel-drivers helped open up the inland, many refugees from a devastated Europe built the Snowy Mountains scheme, and people like them will continue to do so. You know what happens to them and their kids? They become us. Australians. I am the grandchild of immigrants who happened to come from the UK. My wife is the daughter of a refugee who came here from a devastated Europe after the war. The moron Dutton stated that many of those charged with terrorism offences are second generation locals born of Lebanese Muslim forebears. Isn’t it funny how it is only since the dogwhistle started during the Howard years, that these people decided to become alleged terrorists. That is the coincidence which should be investigated, but it will never happen under this completely reprehensible government, who will sacrifice anything, including the wellbeing of society, simply to try to get re-elected by appealing to the knuckle-draggers in our society. Dutton and his ilk are beneath contempt.
One funny story on a similar topic illustrated how irrational is the dogwhistle fear encouraged by the government. There is a country town in which the taxi service is either owned by, or employs a few Sikhs. A person I know stated that “they are taking over!” I replied “what, as taxi drivers?” No reply was forthcoming. You get the same sort of thing with the really thick or right wing nut jobs shouting that we have to stop Sharia law from coming in to Australia. This would entail changing parts of the constitution, and almost the entire Commonwealth criminal justice system as well as the State criminal justice systems. How gullible do you have to be, to think that is likely to occur?
I agree completely. When I was a kid, my father worked on the drains in SE SA. Nearly every worker was a refugee from war ravaged Europe. My father used to invite half a dozen or so of these men to our place each weekend. There was methid in his madness, because they had cars & we didn’t, so he didn’t have to walk up to 10 miles to get to work Monday morning & walk the return journey on Friday afternoon.
The men were all displaced persons who had been unable to find their families, so our place was like being home again.
All the men went on to lead productive lives in their new homeland.
Jane,
Recently watched the movie ‘Ladies in Black’ and it reminded me so much of my childhood. All of my grandparents were from the UK, but my parents had, as friends, migrants from the UK, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Croatia, Austria and sundry other places. Anyone who says Australia is not a richer place because of that is a halfwit.