Page 3587 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 8 December 1992
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I was also told while looking into the drug and alcohol problem in Holland that they also have a very bad unemployment problem. Mr Deputy Speaker, it is in these times of high unemployment that racism raises its ugly head. It is in these troubled times that those who are unemployed may blame others who have come from other lands and who do not speak the language as well as you and I. They are blamed for taking jobs and in some cases, as we have seen in the papers, they have been beaten up.
I would like to point out that many of our schoolbooks still contain racist statements, and this needs to be addressed. If ever we are to combat racism, we need to address this problem. It is in the schools that we can stop racism by teaching children on day one that you are first a human being. As Robbie Burns once said, "You're all that for all that". I remember my daughter coming home with a book that said that all Indians are bad. When her father asked whether she was talking about the Indians of North America or the Indians of the largest democracy in the world and who said it, she proclaimed that it was the Indians of the largest democracy and the book was printed in London. My husband burnt the book. I agree that these sorts of books should not be in our schools. I do hope that that book is no longer in any of the schools. That was some time ago.
Mr Wood: Not here, Ellnor.
MRS GRASSBY: I am sure that it is not, Mr Minister. Mr Deputy Speaker, I suggest that that is not the sort of book we should see in our schools. Racial stereotypes are constantly used, even when we listen to our news on television at night. It has been said to me that all shop stewards are pommies. Interestingly enough, the Department of Immigration did a survey on this some time ago and found that the British made up only one per cent of union shop stewards. Somebody sees somebody on television with an accent and does not like what they say, so immediately they call them a name.
I have seen people in the past, and unfortunately I am sure that I will see more in the future, who are not tolerant of other languages or cultures, and in some cases the way others dress. We see that today in the case of people who are of the Muslim religion, who do dress a certain way and who, at times, have been laughed at in the streets. Mr Deputy Speaker, I would say that such people who mock others do not represent the true Aussie, for the true Aussie believes in a fair go for everyone. If someone says to them, "Go back to where you come from" - and we hear this many times - I always tell them, "Always remember that you are an Australian by choice; they are an Australian by accident". There are only two people in this chamber, to my knowledge, who were not born in Australia, and are Australians by choice; that is, Mr Westende and Mr De Domenico. The rest of us are Australians by accident; they are Australians by choice.
Australia is a multicultural society, and thousands of Australians have come here as refugees from one war or another. I suppose you could say that the Leader of the Opposition is not a true Australian; he comes from Tasmania. We know that Tasmania often is left off the map - - -
Mr Kaine: I come from overseas too.
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