Certainly Australia's history seems to be held against it. Australia's indigenous population went down from an estimated minimum of 315,000 to just 93,000; in part due to the effects of diseases such as smallpox for which they had no natural immunity to, but also due to the Australian Frontier Wars, which killed an estimated 20,000 indigenous people (compared to around 2000 European deaths). Indigenous Tasmanians suffered the worst, wiped out so effectively that some historians consider it an act of genocide. Indeed, it wasn't until a 1967 referendum that Indigenous Australians were counted in the national census.
Sadly, this wasn't the extent of early Australian racism. During the gold rushes opf the mid-1800s Asian prospectors were often resented for their work ethic and their habit of working together, as opposed to the European custom of working alone or in small groups. This resentment eventually got so bad in the goldfields of Burrangong that on 30 June 1861 a group of around 3000 Europeans drove the Chinese off the goldfields, destroying their camps. This followed a series of anti-Chinese attacks on other goldfield scattered around the country.
Possibly though the pinnacle of Australian racism was the Immigration Restriction act of 1901. This was one of the first pieces of legislation passed by the first Australian Government after Federation in 1901; designed to keep "undesirables" (Indians and Eastern Asians) out, it gave immigration officers the power to ask potential immigrants to complete a dictation test in any European language they chose (later expanded to any language). This test backfired rather badly in 1934 when Czech-born Jewish Communist Egon Kisch passed the test in a number of European languages before coming unstuck when the immgration officer asked him to write down the Lord's Prayer in Scottish Gaelic; a task the immigration officer wasn't able to do himself.
SO THAT was then; what about now? After World War II the Australian Government embarked on a scheme to help populate Australia after fears that the relatively low pre-WWII population would make possible invasion easier. By 1955 the one millionth post-war immigrant arrived in Australia; while in 1949 work began on the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a project that involved workers from over 30 different countries, a fact commemorated in the town of Cooma with the Avenue of Flags. Indeed, the story of the Snowy Mountains Scheme is one of remarkable tolerance given that many involved were fighting each other during WWII.
Later years saw further positive changes, with Aboriginals finally given the vote in 1962 before a 1967 referendum to include Indigenous Australians in the census and allow the Federal Government to make laws for Indigenous people was endorsed by over 90% of voters. The 1970s also saw mass Asian immigration after the Whitlam Government scrapped the White Australia policy.
In more recent times Australia has had the unfortunate spectacle (if that's the word) of the 2005 Cronulla riots, where people of Middle Eastern appearance were attacked by an angry mob that had initially gathered peacefully. A few years earlier right-wing politician Pauline Hanson's maiden speech to Parliament (see page 47) warned of the dangers of multiculturalism; while the current attacks on Indians don't seem to suggest that much has changed in 200 years.
But still...
In this article published by the Sydney Morning Herald, Gerard Henderson suggests there are two ways of testing racism in a country: ethnic crime and intermarriage. Colloquial evidence would suggest low levels of the first and higher levels of the second; indeed, I can only think of one case of parental disapproval due to a partner's race - which says everything about the person involved.
SO WHAT is it then? Are Australians, by nature, racist?
Let's not kid ourselves: there is racism in Australia, just as there is racism everywhere else in the world. Perhaps Australia's location away from pretty much everyone doesn't help: how many Australians actually experience other cultures compared to, say, Europeans; while how much does the rest of the world know about Australian culture outside of Neighbours and Home and Away? Having worked with international tourist both in Australia and abroad, I can personally vouch that Australians aren't the only ones with the "it's not like this back home" mentality.
But perhaps though the final word should go to a man who makes no secret of his love for Australia. In his book Downunder author Bill Bryson retells the story of a post-war immigrant who went to the police station after arriving to register his presence. The officer stepped out from behind the desk, but instead of striking the new immigrant, put out his hand and welcomed him to the country.
Doesn't sound very racist to me.
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