<div dir="ltr"><h1 id="gmail-story-headline">Integration core in new multicultural policy</h1><div id="gmail-story-primary-asset" class="gmail-media-image"><div class="gmail-story-image gmail-secondary-asset gmail-zoomable gmail-zoom-on"><figure><a href="http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/a418efe7ae76059421176274fb49d46f?width=1024" class="enlarge"><img src="http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/a418efe7ae76059421176274fb49d46f?width=650" height="366" width="650"></a><figcaption class="gmail-story-caption">A
premium has now been placed on citizenship, with a strengthened
obligation to demonstrate allegiance to Australia and English as the
national language. Picture: DFAT</figcaption></figure></div></div><ul id="gmail-story-info" class="gmail-has-author gmail-has-comments"><li class="gmail-source">The Australian</li><li class="gmail-timestamp"><time datetime="2017-03-19T13:00:00.000Z" class="gmail-date-and-time">12:00AM March 20, 2017</time></li><li class="gmail-tools gmail-save-story"><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/integration-core-to-australian-identity-in-new-multicultural-policy/news-story/45a28c82a4a1f4d8ede71c8661c582f3#" class="gmail-tools-add-shortlist">Save</a></li><li class="gmail-tools gmail-share"><div id="gmail-share-tools"><ul id="gmail-share-tools-list"><li class="gmail-share-item-facebook gmail-first"><a title="Facebook" href="http://facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnational-affairs%2Fintegration-core-to-australian-identity-in-new-multicultural-policy%2Fnews-story%2F45a28c82a4a1f4d8ede71c8661c582f3&t=Integration%20core%20to%20Oz%20identity" target="_blank" class="gmail-share-facebook">Share on Facebook</a></li><li class="gmail-share-item-twitter"><a title="Twitter" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnational-affairs%2Fintegration-core-to-australian-identity-in-new-multicultural-policy%2Fnews-story%2F45a28c82a4a1f4d8ede71c8661c582f3&text=Integration%20core%20to%20Oz%20identity" target="_blank" class="gmail-share-twitter">Share on Twitter</a></li><li class="gmail-share-item-email"><a title="Email" href="mailto:?subject=Integration%20core%20to%20Oz%20identity&body=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnational-affairs%2Fintegration-core-to-australian-identity-in-new-multicultural-policy%2Fnews-story%2F45a28c82a4a1f4d8ede71c8661c582f3" class="gmail-share-email">Share on email</a></li><li class="gmail-share-item-more gmail-more"><a title="Share more..." href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/integration-core-to-australian-identity-in-new-multicultural-policy/news-story/45a28c82a4a1f4d8ede71c8661c582f3#share-tools" class="gmail-share-more">Share more...</a></li></ul></div></li><li class="gmail-tools gmail-comments"> <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/integration-core-to-australian-identity-in-new-multicultural-policy/news-story/45a28c82a4a1f4d8ede71c8661c582f3#comments" id="gmail-scroll-comments"><span class="gmail-livefyre-commentcount">352</span></a></li><li class="gmail-byline gmail-full"><div id="gmail-authors" class="gmail-has-author"><div class="gmail-module gmail-author-module"><div class="gmail-module-header"><h2 class="gmail-heading"><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/Simon+Benson" rel="author">Simon Benson</a></h2></div><div class="gmail-module-content"><div class="gmail-dinkus"><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/Simon+Benson" rel="author"><img src="http://media.theaustralian.com.au/authors/images/bio/simon_benson.png"></a></div><div class="gmail-title">National Political Editor</div><div class="gmail-location">Sydney</div></div><div class="gmail-module-footer"><div class="gmail-twitter"><a href="http://twitter.com/simonbenson" rel="me" target="_blank">@simonbenson</a></div></div></div>
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</div></li></ul><div id="gmail-story-description"><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">Australia’s
national identity will be redefined along fundamental principles of
integration, citizenship and unity in a pointed shift away from welfare
entitlement, in the first multicultural statement by a federal
government to also recognise the impact of terrorism on the nation’s
social fabric. </p></div><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">In a landmark
departure from the 2011 statement delivered by then-Labor prime minister
Julia Gillard, the Turnbull government has included for the first time
a list of individual freedoms, including freedom of speech, as core
Australian values. The statement, released to <i>The Australian </i>ahead of its launch today, is a rejection of multiculturalism as a vehicle for grievance and identity politics.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">The
government has dropped past emphasis on equitable access to welfare and
services for new migrants, and instead promotes values of opportunity,
self-reliance and aspiration.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">In an
implicit reference to the controversial provisions of section 18C of the
Racial Discrimination Act, it has moved away from Labor’s past
reference to the use of the “full force of the law” while denouncing
racism and discrimination, and promoting mutual respect.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">A
keystone of the document is the inclusion of white Australia — British
and Irish settlers — in a broadening of the definition of multicultural
Australia to beyond ethnic minorities and indigenous people. Introducing
“integration” as the core principle over ethnic segregation to guide
government policy, the statement signals a deliberate shift away from
the emphasis placed on services articulated by Labor.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">A
premium has now been placed on citizenship, with a strengthened
obligation to demonstrate allegiance to Australia and English as the
national language as “critical” features of ethnic integration.</p><div class="gmail-story-related-links gmail-secondary-asset"><ul><li class="gmail-item gmail-ipos-1"><a href="http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/link/1b07d0d672e5eb6ba5e8b6630e5e55af?domain=theaustralian.com.au"><span>More: </span>ANALYSIS: We’re best immigrant nation</a></li><li class="gmail-item gmail-ipos-2"><a href="http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/link/6d11670a13c5ad67b48b74e1a61883ac?domain=theaustralian.com.au"><span>More: </span>‘I’m welcome with a headscarf’</a></li></ul></div><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">The
chairman of the Australian Multicultural Council, Sev Ozdowski, said
the document marked a profound change and returned the underlying
principles to those established under the Hawke government, when the
definition of multiculturalism was an inclusive policy. “I think it is
an important move … it takes multiculturalism away from identity
politics … it makes it a policy for all of us,” he told <i>The Australian</i>.</p><div class="gmail-story-image gmail-secondary-asset gmail-landscape gmail-zoomable gmail-zoom-on"><figure><a href="http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/36acf3cfe384377c0d324c8619af7ad8?width=1024" class="enlarge"><img alt="The chairman of the Australian Multicultural Council, Sev Ozdowski, said the document marked a profound change and returned the underlying principles to those established under the Hawke government." src="http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/36acf3cfe384377c0d324c8619af7ad8" height="366" width="650"></a><figcaption class="gmail-story-caption">The
chairman of the Australian Multicultural Council, Sev Ozdowski, said
the document marked a profound change and returned the underlying
principles to those established under the Hawke government.</figcaption></figure></div><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">The
Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs, Zed
Seselja, said it was a document that stamped the Coalition government’s
view of multicultural Australia, with the substantive difference
between it and previous government statements being the introduction of
a core principle of integration. “I think a focus on common values was
critical, and a focus on unity and citizenship, rather than an
emphasis to services and welfare, which is not the main game,” he said<i>.</i>
“It is about all of us, whether we arrived last week or whether our
ancestors have been here for hundreds or thousands of years.”</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">Terrorism
and border protection have been recognised for the first time as a
threat to social cohesion, with an unambiguous repudiation of behaviour
that “undermines Australian values”.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">“Underpinning
a diverse and harmonious Australia is the security of our nation,” the
statement says. “The Australian government places the highest priority
on the safety and security of all Australians.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">“Recent
terrorist attacks around the world have justifiably caused concern in
the Australian community. The government responds to these threats by
continuing to invest in counter-terrorism, strong borders and strong
national security.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">“This helps to
ensure that Australia remains an open, inclusive, free and safe
society. In the face of these threats, however, we do not compromise on
our shared values and national unity.”</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">The
document infers reciprocal rights and obligations, claiming that
“regardless of cultural background, birthplace or religion, everyone in
Australia or coming to Australia has a responsibility to engage with
and seek to understand each other, and reject any form of racism or
violent extremism”.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">“We take
responsibility for fulfilling our civic duties,’’ it says. “Practices
and behaviours that undermine our values have no place in Australia.”</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">The
inclusion of a set of “freedoms” fundamental to Australian values marks
a further divergence from previous statements. “Our commitment to
freedom is fundamental,” it says. “We support freedom of thought,
speech, religion, enterprise and association.”</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">The
statement is the first since the Gillard government’s 2011 document,
which focused on strengthening access and equity policies to “ensure
that government programs and services are responsive to the needs of
Australia’s culturally and linguistically diverse communities while
responding to expressions of intolerance and discrimination with
strength and, where necessary, with the force of the law”.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">Mr
Ozdowski said the document reflected a national policy for all
Australians. “It brings back those dimensions established by Hawke and
Keating with a focus on multiculturalism for all Australians … not a
policy statement on welfare or for particular ethnic groups, or
religions or refugees,” he said, adding that the use of the word
integration did not reflect a US policy of assimilation but recognised
people must accept Australian values while bringing new ideas and
connections.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">Senator Seselja said the
government had included national security to address “the elephant in
the room” and it reflected a need to promote social cohesion.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">Malcolm
Turnbull said that during a time of increased anxiety over terrorism,
it was important to reaffirm what should be Australian values.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable">“We
are defined not by race, religion or culture, but by shared values of
freedom, democracy, the rule of law and equality of opportunity,’’ he
said.</p><p class="gmail-selectionShareable"><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/integration-core-to-australian-identity-in-new-multicultural-policy/news-story/45a28c82a4a1f4d8ede71c8661c582f3">http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/integration-core-to-australian-identity-in-new-multicultural-policy/news-story/45a28c82a4a1f4d8ede71c8661c582f3</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<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><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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