What is an Australian
Following on from the backlash Debbie received in the comments section of her blog last week (Pensioners vs Refugee payments) - - http://www.aboutseniors.com.au/index.php/kayes_blog/ive_seen_the_future#debbie
Kaye's Blog this week is "What is an Australian"
Well Debbie certainly bit off more than she could chew when she blogged last week on the plight of refugees coming to Australia.
The good news for our website is that so many of subscribers are prepared to share their thoughts and opinions on how Australia should view visitors including legal and illegal immigrants.
As one of the proprietors of About Seniors website (David is the other) I welcome comments, feedback and ideas from each and every subscriber and visitor. This site was never intended to be a vehicle for narrow or sectional views. From our perspective it should host opinions from every age group and every persuasion.
So the following is just my opinion, which crystallised as I read the responses to Debbie’s suggestion that this land is large enough to absorb those who are fleeing from trouble or economic deprivation. If you think I am wrong then tell me!
I got to thinking about Australia, and who should be entitled to live here and that led to me wondering about what actually makes a person an Australian.
When I grew up, the current wave of immigration was, largely, people from the southern Mediterranean – Greeks and Italians and Lebanese seeking a better life than that they had known scratching out a subsistence living on a small farm holding in their home country. Many of the men, after arriving in Australia, worked on construction sites. My father, Jack, used to come home and talk about bloody “wogs” and “Eyeties” and even then it sounded a bit mean. These people had fled war and arrived here, only to be put in basic camps. Many worked on the Snowy Mountain Scheme. I guess Dad felt he had gone overseas and fought in the Second World War and he wasn’t quite prepared to share the hard won spoils with economic refugees from other countries when he, himself, was struggling to put food on the table. Fair enough. But over time Jack mellowed and even a discussion of the Japanese was allowed to enter the conversation. Now these immigrants have sons and daughters who form the backbone of our community – good people who are doctors and nurses and teachers. They are allowed to call themselves Australians. As are the Vietnamese who entered Australia in the wake of the Vietnam War – traumatized and desperate, but now more firmly established and prosperous and also proud to be considered Australian.
I have never struggled to feed myself or my family, so I don’t understand what it is like to resent someone else who seems to be helping themselves to “my” share. But I am aware, even though my Australian born ancestors go back two centuries, that I too, am an immigrant.
When the first white men landed in Australia the local inhabitants weren’t just treated poorly – they were shot, poisoned and hanged. This is what we did when we first arrived, regardless of how many centuries have elapsed since.
Nevertheless the original people – the indigenous people – have tried to deal with our arrival and put up with us even though we have taken just about everything that they hold dear.
Australia has a land space of 7.6 million square kilometres – much of it uninhabitable, to be sure.
There are 48 million displaced people in the world.
We currently allow approximately 12-13000 people to enter each year.
If we allowed one person per each 100 square kilometres this would mean there are 76,000 places – less the current 13,000…. 63,000 more people who could share our natural riches.
Even Australians who exist on the lowest of incomes have access to food, clean water and basic services.
Those in refugee camps around the world don’t have this luxury.
Australians have always prided themselves on the sense of mateship and a fair go for all.
Would it really make us less of a people if we learned to share?
I think not.
What do you think?
Is Kaye wrong on this point?
Visit the Link to view the comments made on her blog, and comment below in the meeting place - http://www.aboutseniors.com.au/index.php/kayes_blog/what_is_an_australian
The points that you make are quite valid except for one basc truth and as I see it the following is of great concern to me and many other Australians
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The fear of refugees stems from the 9/11 attack on America and the distinct possibility that Terrorists are on the boats ...........We do not know and we try to find out but they slip through the system as witness a spate of recent arrests ..........Suspects who were plotting to kill us
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This fear did not exist in the time that you mention when many many skilled technicians from Europe helped to build this great Country of ours and they have in many ways shown their loyalty and we trust them ...........I do not trust this new lot at all and if we do we will do so to our peril