This week on FBi Radio (94.5 FM) we got into some serious stuff. It was a week when Parliament has been sitting and throwing mud at each other in debates that my first year students at University of Western Sydney undertake with much better dignity!
This week’s stories…
We started by looking at the Australia's attitudes to refugees: it felt like we were going to return to the Howard Government era of fear and hate towards some of the world's most vulnerable people. A brief look at the lives of those who risk their lives shows that we need a more humanitarian approach: click here for a discussion by Australia's Human Rights Commission!
There is no doubt that race plays an issue here, but as I have written for the Centre for Policy Development, I do not think we should take a simple approach by saying Australia is a racist country.
What is needed is leadership - and while the Prime Minister did not show a great deal, a number in the ALP stood up to be counted (as did the Greens Senator Bob Brown). The truth is that refugees flee countries because they have little or no choice - it has nothing to do with Australia's policies. These are human beings like us and we need to show humanitarianism rather than use it for political advantage - as the Liberal Party seem bent on doing: see a great piece by Crikey here.
The issue of political donations was the second story discussed. The question is: do political donations corrupt democracy? I have discussed this previously in a paper looking at the need to reform the system and make it more transparent (read it here).
There is no doubt that when someone makes a political donations there are, at least some, strings attached. The questions is how many strings?
I think that we need to demand more from our politicians and ask them to reform the system. All donations over $1000 should be made public and no longer should there be such cozy relationships between big business and government. Even if there is nothing to worry about, the truth is that the perception that such a relationship means 'favours' are being done, we are seeing the undermining of our democracy.
Ok, that is it for now... join me next week on FBi!
Cheers, james
1 comment:
Not abandoned you yet J., You won't get rid of us that easy, haha.
First of all, the higher political donations should of course be transparent and overtly displayed, it's not enough to have free access, they should be promptly listed on the front page of the Telegraph for instance, that way no one can miss them.
The example in the US conspiracy film "The Pelican Brief" may just be American hype but the principle was sound. Countless other examples and not just in Hollywood.
The Irony in processing asylum seekers on "CHRISTMAS Island" is really unbelievable. "Welcome everybody to our Christ mass paradise." We still are a predominantly Christian country are we not?
The racist attitude left behind by the Howard govt. still reigns supreme I see, we used to have one of the best reputations worldwide for the promotion of human rights, now we have one of the worst, and Rudd appears to be so scared of countering the ignorant attitude amongst certain voters. Isn't doing the right thing more important than a vote, I guess not.
I still feel he says sorry for political advantage and that's all, but that's another issue, isn't it?
Today, someone told me we need proper education, from the grass roots up, to combat such racism, but I feel that a certain amount of 'adult education' is what's really needed. For one thing, people will continue to travel into and around the country so adults need to be continuously be made aware of a racist stance. The need for children to teach adults may also be an important step as well. Many children in Australia grow up with friends from diverse ethnic backgrounds and for most of their lives, they see no difference in any of their friends habits etc. It seems to be the ignorant attitudes of parents which incite racist views in children.
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