Migrants ‘dehumanised and blamed’ in coalition’s plan
Australia’s multicultural communities are tired of being dehumanized as politicians are accused of using immigrants for their own purposes.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor on Tuesday unveiled a plan to kick out immigrants, close the door on some asylum seekers and scan the social media of visa applicants if they do not show sufficient faith in “Australian values”.
It is seen as an attempt to back down from Pauline Hanson’s conservative One Nation party, which has rallied a large swath of disillusioned former Liberal and National voters after the coalition’s worst-ever election defeat.
But the plan has been widely criticized by human rights groups, Labor and communities the coalition once tried to court.
The opposition had previously attempted to repair relations with the Sino-Australian community; Liberal senator Jane Hume has apologized after saying “Chinese spies” were volunteering for Labor in a clip that went viral on WeChat.
But Mr Taylor’s latest speech has further fueled the diaspora’s concerns.
“I feel like nothing has changed since the last election,” Eric Yan Ma, committee member of the Victorian chapter of the Australian Chinese Community Council, told AAP.
Racial Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman warned that the policy also emboldened Nazis and white supremacists and paved the way for hatred against different communities.
“When immigrants are singled out, dehumanized or blamed, it allows for racism against those people,” he told AAP.
“Often the only sign of whether someone is an immigrant is the color of their skin, their accent, or their name, so this speaks to a deep undercurrent of racism that is still very prevalent in this country.”
The commissioner said that despite Labor condemning Mr Taylor’s speech as a “desperate dog whistle”, the party had played a role in scapegoating immigrants.
Months after passing laws making it easier to deport immigrant detainees, the federal government in March barred thousands of Iranian visa holders from entering the country while their homeland was under attack from the United States and Israel.
Immigrants also struggle to feel that Labor sees them; Mr Ma was quoted as saying by SA Labor Party Prime Minister Peter Malinauskas: “Who will feed you, wash you and wipe your ass when you are 90?” He noted that he said: When asked how he could “win the day on immigration.”
“It is disheartening to see that one side of politics portrays us as a liability, while the other side sees only our benefits,” Mr. Ma said.
“How about seeing us as humans?”
The coalition lost support from the Indian diaspora in Australia in September when Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price hinted that Labor was bringing in more Indian immigrants to bolster its vote.
John Kennedy, president of the United Indian Associations, supported the proposal for a more stringent screening process, but urged the coalition to be compassionate and not exclude certain communities.
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