[Closed] Racism row in Australia

I didn't make the claim 😆

I think Fin25 nailed the issue some time ago:

I think the distinction that needs to be made here is between personal racism and structural/institutional racism.
Of course racist idiots are going to feel justified if their government's policies towards indigenous Australians and foreign immigrants are as negative and, well, racist as those of the Australian Government.
The stolen generation was only two generations ago and the Government continues to pursue aggressive policies against indigenous communities based on largely unsubstantiated child protection scaremongering, just as they did to justify the stolen generation in the first place.
Adam Goodes is a high profile indigenous Australian who is not afraid to remind people what has been done in their country, and what continues to be done in their name. A lot of people struggle to understand or empathise with indigenous Australians' experiences, so resort to good old fashioned racism.

I know but I can't be ****ed with you... and Tom in the UK you could have Borris as PM without an election same as you got Brown after Blair. You also completely miss the point as to why they got elected in the first place.

Let the children play Mike, there's cricket to be watched

I know it was the lunch break...

I know but I can't be **** with you... and Tom in the UK you could have Borris as PM without an election same as you got Brown after Blair. You also completely miss the point as to why they got elected in the first place.

Boris would still be better than Abbot.

Your best of the best in a mainstream party would be kicked out of UKIP for being too racist in the UK. Instead your politicians voted him into a position of power!

If you cant be arsed why did you get involved 😆 what the hell has Boris got to do with how people are treating an indigenous AFL player. Wow that is quite a jump 😆

No, are you just hard of understanding Tom? There are a few points going on here. Institutionally we have a much more diverse population than the UK, we have more people from different backgrounds in positions of power than the UK, it's a true multi cultural nation. Racism is being psuhed further out.

Except what you have in Australia that we don't have in the UK is an indigenous population that everyone else can join in being racist against, who have suffered what pretty much amounts to genocide, that continue to be be massively discriminated against.

Well, except for gingers.

Anyway George Bush was a more progressive statesmen than Abbot, so why do Aussies feel they should be let off the international piss taking hook?

only if you didn't bother reading the previous posts (OH HANG ON...) it is all about Tom if I'm guessing right (aged 17 3/4) missing sever points about a political system where the leader of the majority party becomes PM rather than voting for a PM/leader US style system for a president and that we could have replaced Abbot in March and it was very close (if you actually follow Aus politics as I'm sure you do)

Also trying to extrapolate AFL to the entire population is overrated given it's basically a Victoria sport with minor influence in the other states.

only if you didn't bother reading the previous posts (OH HANG ON...) it is all about Tom if I'm guessing right (aged 17 3/4) missing sever points about a political system where the leader of the majority party becomes PM rather than voting for a PM/leader US style system for a president and that we could have replaced Abbot in March and it was very close (if you actually follow Aus politics as I'm sure you do)

You are missing the points, our politicians would have never even come close to voting for Abbot in a leadership contest. Now lets refer back to the old saying that "people get the government they deserve", our politicians would never vote for a leader like Abbot because they know that there would be a public backlash against it.

🙄

Tom, really, if you're interested in Auspol, do some reading of the last 10 years in Canberra. It's stranger than fiction, but it does highlight just how lucky Abbott is to be anywhere near The Lodge.

Looking at it from the outside, as you are, makes it very easy to draw the wrong conclusion, as you are

If you want really scary Auspol check out this guys story "Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen" not long ago and really frightening.

Looking at it from the outside, as you are, makes it very easy to draw the wrong conclusion, as you are

Sounds remarkably like what a White South African or Rhodesian would say.

If you want really scary Auspol check out this guys story "Sir Johannes "Joh" Bjelke-Petersen" not long ago and really frightening.

Even by Qld standards he was indeed quite special.

I think his son is involved in state politics up there now 😯

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If you want to know about a political landscape in a country you don't really know that much about then read all sides and don't just pick extreme examples, I'm reading around a lot of issues here and trying to get to grips with the very complex situation in SE Asia. There is a lot going on and a lot of politics, it would be very foolish to try and make a point based on isolated examples.

Sounds remarkably like what a White South African or Rhodesian would say.

I think that's close enough to Godwin to count

oh and just saying like..
[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33716501 ]David Cameron criticised over migrant 'swarm' language[/url]

Asked about the Calais crisis, he spoke of "a swarm of people coming across the Mediterranean, seeking a better life, wanting to come to Britain".
Labour's Harriet Harman said "he should remember he is talking about people and not insects" and called the use of "divisive" language a "worrying turn".

That's what you basically are though, as a white person in Australia.

You are following the same colonial traditions, perhaps a milder version, but you are more closely related than you think. How the indigenous population is still treated in Australia just serves to highlight that.

oh and just saying like..
David Cameron criticised over migrant 'swarm' language

The difference is, is that the correction of his statement will probably be accepted by Cameron and not viciously opposed by every other party member and his/her dog.

"No but, Abbott, but racist but but but....."

How do you feel about moving to and contributing to a country that is little better than an apartheid state Zokes?

Tom_W1987 - Member
That's what you basically are though, as a white person in Australia.

I am an immigrant in a country, I have basic rights and it will take up to 4 years to get any more. I look at my position here and understand it. I also talk and work with people from diverse backgrounds and we talk about racism and immigration.

So you're a white person, talking to mostly white people and the odd well educated Indian and Asian from a white persons perspective.

Good for you Mike.

Tom_W1987 - Member
How do you feel about moving to and contributing to a country that is little better than an apartheid state Zokes?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/05/australia-apartheid-alive-aboriginal-history

You're calling me and by extension one of the greatest journalists of all time a child?

Seriously, how old are you Tom?

Tom I'm a white South African and I'm not liking your tone, you are generalising and pissing me off. What are you trying to say?

I've seen more mature debate in the comments section of YouTube

Really Pigface, he comes across as the new Adrian Mole...

I assume Tom knows nothing about apartheid or Australia, or who I talk to and about what.

What was a good discussion has now turned pretty petty guys.
I'm off to look a pictures of cats

Go on Zokes, tell us all...in a mature way.... how John freaking Pilger is wrong and in actual fact a child.

Really Pigface, he comes across as the new Adrian Mole...

At least Adrian Mole had some knowledge of world politics

At least Adrian Mole had some knowledge of world politics

You keep saying things like this, without ever actually mounting a credible defense of Australia's ongoing treatment of its indigenous population.

mikewsmith - Member
grum, just repeating what happens if I get involved in a discussion on brit politics, [b]people play the man when they can't play the argument[/b]. It's exactly what has been said in the past.

mikewsmith - Member

Seriously, how old are you Tom?

mikewsmith - Member
Really Pigface, he comes across as the new Adrian Mole...

It's moving along, it's improving, we are heading towards major constitutional change on the issues. But you know all that

Mike/zokes. Have you read the Pilger article yet? Or anything else by him (or others) about Australian racism and treatment of the aborigines etc? Or do you just not really care?

That constitutional change that has been described as

Michael Anderson, leader of the Euahlayi Peoples, suggests that “the real hidden agenda of the proposed referendum [for constitutional recognition] is to coerce Aboriginal Nations and Peoples to become part of the Australian Constitution and by doing so consent to be governed. The Commonwealth government can then claim that Aboriginal Nations and Peoples have acquiesced. This is the main weapon the Crown has to counter our sovereignty movement.” [11]

Don't look here, just some casual racism from the British PM, and British cycle forum posters seem to agree with him... The country must be full of racists.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/swarm-in-a-tea-cup

Whataboutery in its purest form.

Tom, mate. I'd love to read your articles that you Googled to prove your point, but I'm too busy being a Brit, living in Oz and actually speaking to real people. My opinion is something that gets formed as life happens, rather than by what I've read that day.

Yes, this country's not without faults and yes I do see racism in different forms - on my first day here I heard a group of white guys make monkey sounds as a black guy left the pub. Really. Same as growing up in Buckinghamshire, working night shift in a factory, the shift leader instructed me to watch out for 'the dodgy p*kis'. Same as living in Croydon when my landlord hated 'all them foreign ****s'. Same as living in Aberdeen when a lot of Scots hated all those English w*nkers, Same as living in Copenhagenm when local Danes viewed all immigrants, mainly Turks, with massive distrust - despite relying on them to do all the jobs they wouldn't do themselves. My point? Take a limited sample, extrapolate far enough and you'll create the evidence to prove your point. My recommendatoion would be to get out a bit, chat to real people and form opinions based on real life.

Yes, this country's not without faults and yes I do see racism in different forms - on my first day here I heard a group of white guys make monkey sounds as a black guy left the pub. Really. Same as growing up in Buckinghamshire

Tom, mate. I'd love to read your articles that you Googled to prove your point, but I'm too busy being a Brit, living in Oz and actually speaking to real people. My opinion is something that gets formed as life happens, rather than by what I've read that day.

So you're saying that Australian attitudes on race are similar to our attitudes 30 years ago? Sounds about right.

Tom, mate. I'd love to read your articles that you Googled to prove your point, but I'm too busy being a Brit, living in Oz and actually speaking to real people. My opinion is something that gets formed as life happens, rather than by what I've read that day.

Yeah, my opinion is just based on being married to an Asian who lived in Australia for a bit - as opposed to a white boys experience of living in Australia.

But yes, your experience is totally based on your life - which being white is probably a very cushy one in Aussie land.

Did anyone say 30 years ago, seen that level of racism a lot more recently in the UK and heard it too. It's not defending Aus as being better/worse than UK but that extrapolating AFL is like using crap football games as a valid sample of the population.

Apart from I'm not sure what you mean... IS your friend back on Oz? What is their experience back here over their perception.

yes been back around 2 years now, being a cyclist he’s noticed the differing attitude to cyclists too, if you think it’s bad over here!

it’s not about perception but real experience having grown up in aus and then spent 10 years in london.