There was a time when refugees were heroes in Australia. In the late 1970s, when thousands of Vietnamese refugees were resettled in Australia, the then Fraser government published their “stories of hardship and courage”. They had names and faces and were represented as individuals with great resilience and normal human needs. It makes sense to give sanctuary to brave people like nurses, teachers, engineers, and their children. When we are humanitarian and welcome refugees, we support them and ourselves.
A lot has changed since then. As a former Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs in the Fraser government, I have witnessed changes in the Australian public’s attitudes towards refugees over the past 20 years, since the Howard government began focusing on the issue, viewing asylum-seekers as a threat to the nation. I watched it with regret. Australian way of life. Dog-whistle slogans fuel hysterical and sometimes racist elements of public debate, and refugees’ humanity and individuality are lost to political opportunism. But this politics has proven to be a winner, and over the past two decades both major political parties have come to share the same inhumane asylum policy. This is illustrated by the recent ugly and acrimonious parliamentary debate and hasty response by the Legislature following the High Court’s ruling that it is illegal for the Australian government to detain people indefinitely in immigration detention centres. It’s obvious.
This brings us to today’s challenge. It means Australians tune out and look the other way. The Guardian’s latest Essential report says the majority of Australians now say our country should distance itself from world affairs, believing it is “best for the country’s future”. . Peter Lewis says this “inward-looking” perspective could undermine public support for the Albanon government’s “vital” efforts to welcome people displaced by climate change in the Pacific, and potentially He warned that it could be more than that.
Now, further Essential polling conducted for the University of New South Wales Kaldor Center for International Refugee Law proves Australia’s political leaders need to reframe the way they think about refugees around the world and here at home. Masu.
It may start with an honest and informed discussion. This data suggests that Australians know less about refugees and Australian policy.
The majority (52%) could not accurately estimate how many refugees Australia takes in each year. Only a few (9%) came close. Approximately 21,000 refugees were granted protection or resettled in Australia last year (out of 195,000 in the overall permanent residence program).
Many of us (28%) significantly overestimate the number of refugees we take in. Most people believe that our country is holding its own in this regard (53%). In fact, although Australia is increasing its number of resettlement admissions, it will still rank 68th in the world in terms of total number of refugees admitted in 2022, relative to GDP. We continue to detain people seeking asylum on our shores, including deporting them to Nauru. . Although we are part of the Asia-Pacific region, we have long denied resettlement to refugees who arrive in Indonesia, leaving thousands of people in limbo within our world.
Those who overestimated the number of refugees Australia hosts had more negative views of refugees. It’s encouraging to see that while 44% of people agree that welcoming refugees into Australia is something to be proud of and the right thing to do, 36% are unsure. In fact, overall, a significant portion of respondents were unsure of both the facts and their own opinions on the issue. How can we turn this uncertainty into an opportunity to rebuild community support for refugees, as I know from experience?
When I was Minister, this was a bipartisan effort. Labour’s Shadow Minister Mick Young, Secretary of State for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs John Menadue and I visited cities and towns across Australia. We worked together through councils, churches, charities and community groups to explain refugee policy to Australians.
The new poll numbers may be unsurprising given that the issue has been weaponized for two decades, undermining the gains Australia is making through its refugee resettlement programme, but the country’s contribution to refugee protection We have found that there are more negatives than positives about As the late immigration scholar James Jupp observed, the challenges of displacement can be difficult for Australians who have never experienced war or persecution to understand.
In this drift of ‘I don’t know/I don’t care’, Australia loses something important. We will lose not only our sense of moral responsibility, our standing overseas and our reputation as a welcoming and responsible country, but also a stronger Australian community.
But there is hope in the results of Scanlon’s new report on social cohesion, which found Australians strongly support multiculturalism and believe immigration is good for the economy.
While we recognize that Australians have significant concerns about conflicts overseas and the cost of living at home, we look to Australia’s history and wider evidence to show that refugees are an important and important part of local communities and societies. You can be confident that you are making a long-term contribution. to the Australian economy.
As Minister for Immigration, I saw first-hand how Australia welcomed thousands of Vietnamese refugees. The refugee facility was not a detention center but a settlement center. Humanely welcomed people have contributed greatly to the development of our culture. Many became successful entrepreneurs and excelled in various professions. Their children certainly did. With strong political leadership and a bipartisan, humane approach, most Australians did not simply tolerate, but embraced these newcomers, and they have enriched my life and my country ever since. Our leaders today would be wise to consider the long-term costs to all of us of continuing to pursue exile politics as usual.
Ian McPhee AO was Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs in the Fraser government (1979-1982)
UNSW’s Kaldor Center conference ‘Learning from the future: looking ahead to the next decade of forced migration’ on 20 November will discuss: Will refugees be welcome?
