Since you ask, yes. The United Nations recently said so, so its not just me that thinks so. The UN was deploring the Australian government's suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act, explicitly so that it could discriminate against aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/27/2668915.htm
But Indian students are still protected by the Racial Discrimination Act. Though it would be wise to avoid visiting the Northern Territory, to avoid the danger of being mistaken for an aboriginal.
Plus the place is teeming with crocodiles.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas
http://blogs.abc.net.au/offair/2009/09/words-of-wisdom-for-john-brumby.html
Words of wisdom for John Brumby
Victorian Premier John Brumby better get used to explaining how much Australians respect and admire India in the coming week. Because he's arriving in a country which at the moment is behaving like a sulky teenager over the issue of its citizens getting attacked in Australia.
For the record - the attacks are deplorable. I mean that sincerely. However, I will state again that compared to the other problems this country faces it is a relatively trivial issue.
At the heart of it though is not so much the issue, but more the principle. Indians are very proud of their country as they see themselves as a superpower. To them, Australia is just a johnny-come-lately place full of cast-offs from England and, worse still in their eyes, Ireland. I mean that's a country so uncivilised they don't even play cricket. So it's a great insult that these lesser beings - namely us - would have the hide to attack the flower of their youth.
So my humble advice to John Brumby is to think of his time here as someone would to a teenager who won't come out of their bedroom. Let them know how special they are, how much we love them, and how much more potential they have than we had at the same age.
Forget about contrasting issues such as child slavery, illiteracy, poverty and poor infrastructure with the student bashings. Let the Indian media have their say - accept it and apologise.
Because the attacks in the Indian media on Australia are starting to bite. I have interviewed many young prospective students and education agents here in India. The students are nervous to come to Australia. And these are intelligent and rational people who aren't easily swayed by the more rabid sections of the Indian media. Correspondingly, education agents say the situation is beginning to bite. Some are reporting a downturn in numbers of students wanting to come to Australia of up to 40 per cent. That's a large section of an industry worth approximately $15 billion annually to Australia.
So this sulking teenager has to be handled carefully. This kid actually has parents who can really inflict damage on the Australian economy, simply by saying young Priyanka or Sunil will go to Auckland or Birmingham to study, and not Melbourne or Sydney.
Sentimentality isn't driving the decision. Unlike many countries whose citizens strive to get to countries such as Australia, most of those leaving India do not see their departure as an 'escape'. Only the middle class and upwards get the opportunity to leave. The poor barely get the chance to leave their village, let alone the country. They're not choosing us for anything other than economic reasons. As an Indian journalist friend of mine says 'and most of them see Australia as a place to get skills, make some money and then return to India, so you can have your servants and your driver and boss - things people can't have and don't do in the West'.
So Mr Brumby, enjoy your time in India. Accept the hospitality, marvel at its history, and endure the questioning. Because to put it bluntly, the Indian student issue is a small one for a country of 1.2 billion people with massive problems. But for now it's important to them, and as the teenager would say to us "you just don't get it". But we have to at least pretend we do - it's worth too much money for us not to.
Posted by abc blog on Sep 21, 2009 in Michael Edwards | Permalink