The seminar “Ethnic Issues in Australian Politics” opened with strong opposition to the current policies of the Liberal government. All four speakers had some criticism to contribute with regard across the board of contemporary Australian politics, whether it be the Reconciliation process, the current immigration policy and its strictly regimented quota especially with regard to the skilled migrant category or matters pertaining to government funding for the ethnic communities in Australia.

George Lekakis, chair of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV), opened with a brief history of the ECCV. Established in 1974 as a non-government, community-based organisation, the ECCV’s primary role is to advocate, lobby, support and share information among, and on behalf of, Victoria's ethnic communities. Also, the ECCV has the responsibility to assist Victorians of non-English speaking backgrounds and the three levels of Government to ensure the provision of equitable and accessible services to all people within the state. 

Lekakis talked about the need for multicultural flow in a pluralist society. He stressed that Australia, as a society, is exactly based on multiculturalism, and that there was no denying it. In Victoria, 1 in 4 Victorians were born overseas while in the suburb of Darebin, over 51% are migrants. With these numbers of migrants, it is vitally important that multiculturalism be nurtured. He said that multiculturalism, in the past, had suffered attacks, not only because of the backlash against immigration, but also through abuse by political opportunism. 

He named the example of the One Nation party that thrived from the period of 1996-1998. He suggested that even though the threat of One Nation to multiculturalism has more or less disappeared, however, the causal factors that led to One Nation’s appearance on the political scene remain. These factors must be resolved if more parties like the One Nation are to be prevented.

Lekakis then attacked the population policy of the government, saying that with current numbers of immigrants, it wasn’t enough to sustain a viable population growth in Australia. He gave a 1% immigration statistic as an estimate required to replace the numbers of people in Australia. 

It all boils down to the leadership that should be provided by the government, Lekakis said. For the government should provide the general framework and processes by which a positive program for migrants can be instituted to allow an easy incorporation into Australian society. In 1975, there was a report that suggested exactly that: a positive program that could be put in place to help migrants adapt. 25 years later, nothing has changed. The program has not been put in motion and migrants are still needing help that the government has not provided.

The last point that Lekakis had to make was regarding the resources that are used to put refugees awaiting approval to enter the country in detention centres. He suggested that the money and resources could be far better used in other areas, and that the refugees should be allowed to be part of the community here. Besides, the conditions at these detention centres are appalling. 

Phong Nguyen, President of the Veitnamese Community in Victoria, took over and presented a different perspective to the seminar. He focused on the importance of ‘practising citizenship’ on the part of migrants. He suggested that not only should migrants actively participate in Australian politics, but also that migrants should be given equal opportunity and representation in parliament, especially in areas of decision-making. 

Nguyen said that in the Vietnamese community, ‘politics’ is a narrow term that was only understood as being parliamentary politics. Practising politics is equivalent to being a politician. That was because in Vietnam and most Asian countries, politicians are ‘fatherlike’ figures while the common citizen was an uncritical follower. Because the Vietnamese bring these interpretations of what it means to be a politician here, they do not feel like they could take up that position of the ‘father’ figure, or at least to take up the position of a leader. In addition to that, the younger generation in Asian societies are usually discouraged from entering politics. 

However, with the advent of One Nation and its aggressive front against the Asian communities here, that attitude has changed, Nguyen said. The Vietnamese were outraged, and One Nation actually helped push the Asian communities here to form the ‘Unity’ Party based in Sydney. Rethinking their positions in the Australian society, the Asian communities have realised that self-representation is crucial in order to combat the harmful effects of parties like the One Nation.
Nguyen then summarised that it is important to see citizenship as not just a passive and receiving role but rather an active and involving one.

Miriam Suss, Executive Director of the Jewish Community Council in Victoria, suggested that migration inflows helped stave off the aging process of the ethnic communities. She also pinpointed to the fact that there is a disturbing downturn in family migration in current migration policy while migration in the skilled migrant category is increasing. She then said that the Government’s view of a balanced migration policy was just a euphemism for moving away from the family stream of migration towards the skilled migrant category.

Suss also acknowledged the fact that there have been vast benefits to the Australian economy due to refugee intake. A research done by the Business Counsel showed that at least 60% of the economy was contributed by migrants, which included the refugees.

She made brief points against the Northern Territory stand on mandatory sentencing, and against Senator Herron’s report. Lastly, she suggested that instead of the mainstreaming of services for migrants, the Jewish community strongly supports the lobbying for strong funding for ethno-specific services, in order to provide more comfortable environments for migrants who might not receive the help they need in a centralised establishment. 

Abraham Hadgu, Deputy Chair of the Inner Western Migrant Resource Centre, brought up the problem of the assessment that refugees still had to go through in the refugee humanitarian program. He said that the assessment was traumatic to refugees, who already had gone through extreme difficulty and hardship in order to gain access to Australia. He also said that the language barriers further prevented refugees from making a viable claim for entry into Australia.

Hadgu suggested that because the African community was so small in Australia, they had difficulty creating organisational groups and often had to join larger organisations as coalition groups. 

Moreover, the fact that there are several so-called ‘Aid’ societies to help Africans create a bad image for the African society here. Because of these reasons, Africans in Australia find it almost impossible to participate in politics. He asserted that Africans are genuinely enthusiastic about contributing to the greater society, however, in order for them to fully adjust to Australian society and to be able to overcome language barriers, the government has to provide resources for the African society. He stressed that only by gaining access to these resources would Africans be able to help themselves.