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Australia's largest migrant community organisation says it is
disappointed with the lack of attention paid to multicultural policy in
2013. </div>
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<p><strong>(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)</strong></p>
<p>The Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia, FECCA,
believes Australia's image as a country that celebrates cultural
diversity has been undermined by what it calls the ugly political debate
about asylum seekers.</p>
<p>As the year draws to a close, FECCA is also concerned about the
direction multicultural policy could take under the Abbott Government.</p>
<p>Michael Kenny reports.</p>
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<div class="">Disappointment over multicultural policy in 2013</div>
<div class="">Australia's largest migrant community
organisation says it is disappointed with the lack of attention paid to
multicultural policy in 2013.</div>
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<p>2013 began on a positive note for multicultural policy when the
Federal Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Migration released a
report in March, describing Australian multiculturalism as a success
story.</p>
<p>The committee, comprising five Labor, four Liberal and one Greens
member, said Australian multiculturalism stands as a good example to the
world on how to build a cohesive society.</p>
<p>The committee put forward 32 recommendations including the need to
rebuild Australia's research capacity in the multicultural field, review
the provision of ethnic specific aged care services and work towards
improving employment opportunities for migrants from a non English
speaking background.</p>
<p>The committee's chairperson, Labor MP Maria Vamvakinou, said
multicultural policy must also reflect the importance of Indigenous
Australians.</p>
<p>"Our challenge as a nation has always been to reconcile our
Indigenous identity with that of our modern identity. Australia is one
of the most diverse nations on Earth. We are, as I said, a country with
an ancient Indigenous inheritance and a contemporary multicultural
society."</p>
<p>A submission from the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils
called for a change to the legal system for Muslims throughout the
nation.</p>
<p>But the report's Deputy Chair, Liberal MP Louise Markus, said the committee rejected any move to implement Sharia law.</p>
<p>"The question of Islam was raised throughout the report and of course
in a number of our public hearings. As the report notes, the government
and the Coalition do support this. It has the consistent statement that
the implementation of Sharia law is not to be considered or
implemented."</p>
<p>None of the 32 recommendations from the report were acted upon either by the former Labor or the current Coalition government.</p>
<p>As the federal election date drew closer, both sides of politics made
a direct appeal to voters from culturally and religiously diverse
backgrounds.</p>
<p>In August, then Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told a Ramadan dinner
in Sydney, that he believed Australia's diversity was one of its
strengths.</p>
<p>"I believe in the fundamental unity of mankind. I believe that the
things that unite us truly are more important than anything that divides
us. This must be so if the world is to prosper, if the world is to
progress."</p>
<p>Having easily won government the following month, Mr Abbott scrapped the position of Multicultural Affairs Minister.</p>
<p>He announced that multicultural affairs and settlement services would no longer be managed by the Department of Immigration.</p>
<p>Instead, it would fall under the control of a newly created
Department of Social Services with Kevin Andrews the Minister, who would
also be responsible for aged care services.</p>
<p>Mr Abbott appointed NSW Senator Concetta Fierravanti Wells as
parliamentary secretary for social services with special responsibility
for multicultural affairs and settlement services.</p>
<p>Since taking up the new position, Senator Fierravanti Wells has
praised Australia's cultural diversity as one of its greatest assets and
committed herself to reviewing the way current multicultural programs
are working.</p>
<p>"We are a country that has been built on its migrant experience. I
myself am a product of that. I've been brought up in a bicultural,
bilingual environment. I was born and raised in Wollongong. So as a
country with a migrant story, it is very important that we follow how
successive government programs have worked or not worked. What does work
and what doesn't work? And where do we need to put our resources and
also take the positives from where experiences have resulted in a
socially cohesive society?"</p>
<p>Labor's former Multicultural Affairs Minister under the Rudd
Government, Senator Kate Lundy, believes the Coalition's decision to
scrap the ministerial position shows it won't put a high priority on
multicultural policy.</p>
<p>"I think it's profoundly disappointing for all of those people who
devote themselves to that part of our community sector and are engaged
in our multicultural communities. We worked very hard as a federal Labor
government to lift both the status and the substance of the
multicultural affairs portfolio and unfortunately the Coalition
government has taken some pretty giant steps backwards."</p>
<p>Following Bill Shorten's appointment as Labor's new leader in
October, he appointed western Sydney MP Michelle Rowland as Labor's
spokesperson on multiculturalism and citizenship.</p>
<p>But the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia says
it believes both the major parties failed to pay enough attention to
multicultural policy during the federal election campaign.</p>
<p>Recently departed FECCA chairman Pino Migliorino says he is concerned
over the negative debate that has emerged at the federal level over the
treatment of asylum seekers.</p>
<p>He is particularly concerned over the direction the Abbott Government is taking on this issue.</p>
<p>"I don't think you can have it both ways. I don't think you can go
really hard on irregular maritime arrivals and asylum seekers and at the
same time, reduce the number of offshore refugees from the UNHCR
because the federal government has indicated that it is reducing that
number from 20,000 to 13,750. Something needs to give, something needs
to be a bit more humane, a bit more engaging."</p>
<p>Mr Migliorino has called on both sides of federal politics to support
the passing of a Multicultural Act by parliament over the next three
years.</p>
<p>He says the proposed Act would ensure all future governments support
measures such as anti-discrimination legislation, a National Language
Policy and a National Accreditation Authority for translators and
interpreters.</p>
<p>New FECCA chairman Joe Caputo says a national language policy is
vital to assure a future Australia can communicate in a broad range of
languages.</p>
<p>"I would hope for a language policy that really harnesses all of the
potential of the communities that are based in this country -- not just
taking up the flavour of the month* that's saying, 'We have to teach
this language because ... you know, China is the (key to) the Asian
Century,' or Japan, or whatever, but really taking them seriously. We
need to have an approach where we encourage languages right across the
board."</p>
<p>And Mr Caputo says pursuing good services and care for the migrants
who helped build Australia over the past half a century will be another
priority for him.</p>
<p>"We are very concerned that, for example, in the aged area, as
migrants who have come here in the 1950s and the '60s are getting older,
that we ensure that we provide services for them so that they can live
in dignity in their old age."</p>
<p>At FECCA's biennial conference on the Gold Coast in November, another
issue that was raised was the lack of women from non English speaking
backgrounds on public and private sector company boards in Australia.</p>
<p>A federal government commissioned report was unable to say how many
women from non English speaking backgrounds there are in top jobs
because of a general lack of data.</p>
<p>Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick believes public
and private boards would benefit greatly if they better reflected
Australia's cultural diversity.</p>
<p>"What the boards are missing out on are the full range of diversity.
One woman in the focus groups just put it so succinctly: we're resilient
because we adapt to change, we understand a whole range of cultures,
we've moved from one country to another, so we understand a whole range
of cultures, we've moved from one country to another, so we understand
how to overcome barriers, there are all the things that women from
culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds can bring onto boards
and let's face it, a quarter of the country's population was born in a
country outside of Australia- they represent consumers and shareholders,
so if our companies are going to be representative, they need
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse women on their boards."</p>
</div>
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<div class=""><div class=""><span>1 </span></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><a rel="nofollow" class="">Sign in</a></div><div class=""><div class=""><em class="">8 people viewing</em></div><div class=""><a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/12/26/disappointment-over-multicultural-policy-2013" title="Ecoengine" class=""><img src="http://gravatar.com/avatar/6ca2a463e7a833a5a3e77f556b2dd8e6/?s=50&d=http://avatars.fyre.co/a/anon/50.jpg" alt="Ecoengine"></a></div>
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</div></div><div class=""><a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/12/26/disappointment-over-multicultural-policy-2013" class=""><img src="http://gravatar.com/avatar/6ca2a463e7a833a5a3e77f556b2dd8e6/?s=50&d=http://avatars.fyre.co/a/anon/50.jpg" class="" alt="Ecoengine"></a></div>
<a class=""><span itemprop="author">Ecoengine</span></a> 17 hours ago<span class=""></span>Our
nation's foundations were based on high immigration rates, at a time
when we had jobs and needed to build our nation, and economies of scale.
However, foundations are a base and aren't meant to form the entirely
of a building, and continue forever. The problem with support for
ongoing "diversity" and multiculturalism is that it's become a tool to
promote ongoing high rates of immigration. Already our cities are
feeling the squeeze of heavy population growth, and housing has become
the most expensive in the world. It's an oxymoron to promote
"diversity" and unity - a contradiction in terms. The migrant
experience is one that many Australians cherish and share, but it can't
be used to push us towards the potential toppling of our nation towards
the unwelcomed "big Australia"! <br><br><br>-- <br>**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br>
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