Australian Multiculturalism for a New Century: Towards Inclusiveness
2 Australian Multiculturalism: Towards Inclusiveness (continued)
2.6 Multiculturalism for all Australians
Inclusiveness
The Council believes that, for the coming decade, which will see the start of our second century as a nation, Australian multiculturalism should have 'inclusiveness’ as a major focus.
Multiculturalism in its inclusive sense is crucial to our developing nationhood and Australian identity.
It should emphasise the things that unite us as a people - our common membership of the Australian community; our shared desire for social harmony; the benefits of our diversity; our evolving national character and identity.
By emphasising the inclusive nature of the concept and practice of Australian multiculturalism, the Council is seeking to correct the misconception that it is concerned mainly with immigration and minority ethnic communities.
The Council strongly endorses the view that multiculturalism is about and for all Australians and that it is crucially concerned with our present and evolving 'citizenship’, national character and identity.
The Council views multiculturalism as relevant to all Australians, both as a description of the kind of culturally diverse society we seek and as a public policy.
It is an important objective, therefore, that multiculturalism seeks to embrace and be embraced by all Australians.
It must be seen as relevant to the interests of all sectors of the Australian community: our original inhabitants, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as well as all other Australians, whether born here or overseas and whether of English- or non-English-speaking origin.
Australian society contains many cultures, traditions and histories. Australian society is, as a descriptive reality, multicultural.
Multiculturalism - the strategies that address cultural diversity in our community - is relevant to the whole community because all Australians are part of this diverse society.
We all share Australian democracy and therefore share an interest in its proper, efficient functioning.
We all have a cultural identity and belong to a society that guarantees our freedom to live by our cultural preferences, subject to the laws and structures of our democracy.
Further, each of us has a legitimate expectation of being treated fairly, and this implies a reciprocal obligation to treat others fairly.
The Council believes it is very important and appropriate to specifically acknowledge the role the receiving community, comprising both Australian and overseas born, has played, particularly over the last 50 years, in welcoming migrants from all over the world, thus helping to build modern multicultural Australia.
The Australian people have continued to receive migrants with warmth, friendship and generosity, and with a level of good humour and tolerance that would not be surpassed by any community in the world.
It also acknowledges that had it not been for the democratic, egalitarian traditions of the Australian people, the successful introduction of so many different traditions and customs into Australian society could not have been achieved.
While the receiving community has itself become progressively more multicultural, Australians whose origin is wholly or partly from Great Britain and Ireland can take special pride in their heritage for its substantive contribution to the development and success of Australian society.
This is exemplified in the underlying philosophy and principles and the essential components of Australia’s democratic system, which is the foundation on which our society has been built, and in our special social values of mateship and a fair go, which contribute so much to community harmony.
The Council recommends that future multicultural policies and strategies give high priority to the notion and promotion of inclusiveness.
Centenary of Federation
The Council’s terms of reference recognise the special significance of Australia’s Centenary of Federation, which will be celebrated in the year 2001.
The Council has been asked to 'consider and provide advice to the Minister on the policy implications of Australia’s linguistic and cultural diversity in significant forthcoming events’, including the Centenary of Federation.
The Council considers the goodwill and generosity with which migrants from all over the world have been made welcome by the receiving community, the great contribution of Australia’s culturally diverse population and the success of Australian multiculturalism, all deserve special recognition and celebration as major achievements of our first century as a nation.
These achievements have also placed us in a very strong position to meet the challenges and grasp the opportunities of the next. In less than a hundred years Australia has been transformed from a somewhat insular and largely Anglo-Celtic white society to one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world.
The Council recommends that the National Council for the Centenary of Federation, with which it has initiated discussions, as well as all government and other bodies in the public, private and community sectors involved in preparations for the Centenary, ensure that this transformation is given the prominence it deserves.
The experience and contribution of Australians from all over the world in the course of this transformation should be appropriately celebrated and commemorated in the events and lasting memorials that mark the Centenary.
Full advantage should be taken of the outstanding opportunity that the Centenary celebrations provide to highlight the transition of Australian multiculturalism towards the greater inclusiveness recommended by the Council.
Additionally, the interest generated by the Centenary should be used to promote educational programs to make all Australians more aware of our cultural heritage starting with indigenous people to European settlement to modern multicultural Australia as well as our political history including the development of our democratic system, the creation of the Australian nation in 1901 and the progress leading to the Centenary.
Reconciliation and multiculturalism
No picture of Australia’s cultural diversity can be complete without our indigenous cultures.
Encouragingly, the cultures of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have now become one of the key distinguishing features of Australian culture and this is increasingly evident in the cultural portrayal of Australia both here and abroad.
However, in recommending that we move towards a more inclusive phase of Australian multiculturalism, the Council believes it needs to stress its deep concern about the state of relations between indigenous people and the wider community.
Indigenous people have suffered much injustice and oppression and as a group continue to suffer significant disadvantage relative to the rest of the Australian community.
In the Council’s view, it should be a matter of the highest priority, for both moral and practical reasons, that all Australians now address these fundamental issues which must be resolved fairly and honourably if we are to achieve true reconciliation.
The Council stresses that Australia’s multiculturalism will remain fundamentally flawed until we have effected meaningful reconciliation between indigenous and all other Australians based on mutual respect.
From the beginning of British colonisation, the rights of Australia’s indigenous people were denied on the basis that the colony was terra nullius – a land belonging to no-one. Not until the High Court’s Mabo decision of 1992 was this doctrine overturned.
In the wake of Mabo, the 1993 Native Title Act formally recognised that Australia had been occupied prior to the arrival of the British.
While this recognition has removed one impediment to reconciliation, the complexities of Native Title have raised other issues, the implications of which are still being resolved.
It is essential that the challenges that these complex issues raise do not reduce our resolve or the urgency with which we pursue the process of reconciliation.
True reconciliation is critical for this nation if it is to enter the new millennium and the second century of federation as a mature and harmonious society.
This is summed up by the vision of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, which this Council wholeheartedly endorses:
a united Australia which respects this land of ours, values the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, and provides justice and equity for all.
Australians face a very real challenge to sustain the values of Australian multiculturalism and racial tolerance.
During the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics, Australia will be subject to intense global interest and attention will be given to the progress of relationships between indigenous people and the wider Australian community.
Progress towards achievement of true reconciliation will ensure that Australia’s image as a fair, just and non-discriminatory society is enhanced.
In the years since the 1967 Referendum that gave the Commonwealth powers in indigenous issues, there has been considerable progress in addressing the disadvantages suffered by indigenous Australians.
It is essential that progress continues to be made in the interests of justice and equality for all Australians.
The Australian Reconciliation Convention in 1997 put reconciliation firmly at the centre of the national political agenda and made it a driving force for community relations and public policy.
The Convention and the associated regional and city community meetings established a network for a people’s movement for reconciliation, the objective of which is to ensure that reconciliation becomes a practical reality in our society.
The Council strongly supports the 'Call to the Nation’ endorsed by the participants of the Convention, which asked all Australians to become personally involved in reconciliation activities in their communities, neighbourhoods and workplaces.
Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation: a call to the nation
The 'Call to the Nation’ contained some very powerful conclusions and challenges, including:
the reconciliation between Australia’s indigenous peoples and other Australians is central to the renewal of this nation as a harmonious and just society which lives out its national ethos of a fair go for all; and that until we achieve such reconciliation, this nation will remain diminished.
... reconciliation and the renewal of the nation can be achieved only through a people’s movement which obtains the commitment of Australians in all their diversity to make reconciliation a living reality in their communities, workplaces, institutions, organisations and in all expressions of our common 'citizenship’.
... leaders across the social spectrum expressed their own personal apologies and sorrow for the treatment of indigenous peoples; this was itself an historic moment.
We call on all parliaments, local governments, organisations and institutions to follow this lead with their own form of apology so that we can move forward together to share responsibility for the future of this nation.
Multiculturalism has hitherto tended to focus on the needs and the contribution of ethnic minorities made up of migrants and their descendants. This is too limited a perspective.
We need to acknowledge the unique contributions made by our indigenous people towards Australia’s national identity and heritage.
And we must accept and affirm the collective responsibility of all Australians to achieve reconciliation between non-indigenous Australians, migrants and Australian-born alike, and our indigenous people and to commit ourselves to the reconciliation process.
In the spirit of this principle we will explore with the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation how our Council can complement and support their work, while recognising that responsibility for the reconciliation process is primarily theirs and that reconciliation is of fundamental importance in its own right.
The Council welcomes the appointment of the Hon. Philip Ruddock MP, following the October 1998 Federal election, as both Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Reconciliation.
Minister Ruddock’s dual responsibilities open opportunities for multicultural initiatives to add value to the reconciliation process.
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