John Pasquarelli, 12th June 1999
As we head towards the new century, two distinctly different Australias are emerging, the seed for their creation having been planted during the last, all too short thirty years. This great and tragic divide is that between the city and the bush. City Australians perch mainly on the eastern seaboard and other capital cities and far outnumber their country cousins. An increasingly centralist federal government panders to the Sydney - Canberra - Melbourne triangle, with some leakage of patronage to Brisbane. The real power, governmental and economic, resides in the triangle. Country Australians, still predominantly of Anglo - European heritage have their backs to the wall. The new - age economic theories have taken their toll, forcing many small farmers off the land. The young with nothing to keep them at home, drift off to the cities, many of them straight onto the dole queues, while those with weak wills fall prey to the drug dealers and other city predators. Rural real estate continues to drop in value and a wide range of services and benefits contract. In the cities, things are different. Inner city real estate booms and large scale development projects reflect the strategy of the politicians and their backers. The aggressive, minority lobby groups have their headquarters mainly in the triangle - they are close to their political patrons and they want the good life that city living offers to the fortunate.
City Australians, particularly those with Anglo - European roots pay an increasing price for their chance in an affluent society that favours those who manage to fight their way to the top of the ladder. Increased crime, much of it based on ethnic criminal groupings makes life in the cities dangerous for those who cannot make their way into the leafy, protected suburbs where the ghettoes are something to be read about in the odd, weekend newspaper article.
Australia is still a country with its culture based on Christianity, its Anglo - European heritage, the Westminster system of government and the English law but there has been a huge onslaught against these foundations that have stood the test of time for over 200 years. It is always good to be able to blame someone else for our problems but Malcolm Fraser and Bob Hawke are outstanding candidates! It was Malcolm Fraser who created the Office of Multicultural Affairs and called on Australians to share his guilt over the Vietnam War by making it easy for the boat people to come to Australia. It was Bob Hawke who snivelled on national TV when he granted asylum to 20,000 Chinese 'students' who had fled China after Tiannamen Square.
Australians are now confronted by puerile, politically correct slogans such as 'multicultural diversity is strength!' and we are told that we are being mean and primitive when we seek to criticise the government driven racial changes that are taking place in our society. We all know that it is perfectly acceptable to be proud Aboriginals, Asians or Africans but woe betide those who proclaim that they are proud to be white!
The Japanese must wonder at our naivety. They promote a policy of racial homogenity and have no formal immigration or multicultural policies. They have no refugee programme and yet the world queues up to do business with them. The hardline Asians to our north must have the greatest contempt for us. They see a procession of weak governments bending over backwards to appease minority groups and a populace that looks on with a great deal of pusillanimity. The fact that we are now a 'soft touch' is evidenced by the blatant and frequent landings of 'illegals' on our shores. It is now fashionable for many newcomers to flaunt their dual citizenship status and pursue the vendettas of their homelands on Australian soil. Too many of our politicians of all political persuasions are captive to the ethnic lobbies. Those migrants who have become 'dinkum Aussies' are more surprised than most of us.
Ordinary Australians can still play a part in putting the brakes on before it is too late. Pauline Hanson and One Nation for a brief flick of the political eye, had the major parties in confusion but ignorance, selfishness and ego saved the day for the big boys. Our political system by and large has served us well but like an old piece of machinery that has known better days, it is in need of repair, restoration and modification. A couple of the possible solutions are simple in the extreme but impossible in practice, given the nature of the human beast! Lots of us could stay at home on election day thus creating absolute havoc. Ten thousand viable, small business people and farmers could refuse to pay income tax - again confusion and chaos but neither of these protests are viable for all the obvious reasons. We have to hope that good and sensible independents keep on putting their hands up at election time, then it is up to the rest of us to support them. Apathy and time are our enemies. The big parties have the money and manpower to outstay any political rebellion but if we are as concerned about our future as many of us say we are, we will hold our ground irregardless of the consequences. Hardline politics are not for the fainthearted.