National consultations on eliminating prejudice

Consultations Homepage || Meeting Notes: 1 July 2003

Consultation hosted by the WA Office of Multicultural Interests, South Perth Civic Centre, 1 July 2003

The meeting was chaired by Ms Leela de Mel, Executive Director of OMI.

It was attended by 20 invited participants.

Dr Bill Jonas, Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner, opened the meeting with a brief presentation. Meredith Wilkie (notes) and Susanna Iuliano also attended from HREOC.

What are your experiences of discrimination and vilification?

Has there been an increase in incidents after 11 September 2001?

“I think there has been a dramatic increase in the number of incidents and the underlying feeling of alienation and unease since September 11 and, more particularly, since October in Bali.”

One participant described how, when planning to give a public lecture on Islam, “we even found discrimination in renting a hall. Some were not willing to rent for a Muslim event.” It was also noted that ethnic groups can apply for grants from the Lotteries Commission but not religious groups.

“Because of the hardship and discrimination, Muslims are turning towards their religion more, including wearing the hijab and attending mosque. But that in turn makes them more visible and obvious and therefore more vulnerable.”

The meeting was told that women who wear traditional dress try to avoid going out in public as they are visible targets.

One participant described his treatment at Perth airport on returning from Cairo, where he had gone to fetch his wife, on 29 September 2001.

“I was subjected to searches for three hours. I was asked why I had spent time in Cairo, Dubai and Saudi Arabia. They read my diary from A-Z. They even removed the film from my camera. When I queried the treatment they said they were entitled to do it. When they let me go they didn’t apologise of acknowledge the reason for this treatment. They realised I was a Muslims because of my name. I decided never to travel again. This is an example of structural discrimination created by politicians creating fear.”

Is the current racism different in nature from earlier waves?

The meeting generally felt that the current wave of prejudice against Arabs and Muslims is different in nature from that affecting earlier generations of new arrivals. For one thing it is based on religion as well as race. For another, Australia is now mirroring the world. “Muslims are the underdog everywhere.” The example was given of the establishment of immigration detention centres in 1992: “They weren’t considered to be necessary when the Vietnamese boat people came.”

It was noted that not all Australians are racist: “There is a thin layer of the community that has to find an enemy”.

What has been the role of government?

The institutionalised nature of the racism experienced by Australian Muslims was noted. The example was given of a multicultural affairs survey conducted in WA under the Court (Coalition) Government which asked ‘do you think Muslims smell?’ and ‘do you think Muslims are untrustworthy?’.

“I can tolerate the odd incident. People are different. But when it becomes institutionalised I start to get worried.”

“The bottom line is we have all discriminated against others at different times. [The real problem is] when institutions that are influential use images of Muslims and 99% of the time they’re negative.”

The role of political leaders and security legislation was referred to.

“Our government has involved this country in the conflict in the Middle East. Without that involvement, Muslims in Australia would be more confident.”

“If the head of the family beats a drum, the whole family will dance. The head of this country has been beating the wrong drum.”

“Media shares the blame with some politicians and government as well. They say it’s not about targeting the Muslim community but it’s precisely why they’ve put it in place. Why didn’t they react in the same way to the bikie bombings? The ASIO Bill is a slap in the face of human rights, civil liberties and democracy. At the time it was introduced, if I had friends over my neighbours got suspicious.”

“People can be imprisoned because of information they might have. The laws will ultimately affect Muslims. Over the past two years all who have been arrested for terrorism have been Muslims.”

The risk of community members in dispute reporting each other to the national security hotline was also raised. One participant said that “Many of the ASIO raids were based on false information”.

How have police responded?

There was criticism of the culturally insensitive treatment by police of a 13 or 14 year old Muslim girl. She was being detained and police separated her from her mother.

“They assaulted that family in front of me. The father was charged with obstructing the police [for objecting to the separation] and got a $100 fine plus another charge which the magistrate rejected.”

Describing suspect and offenders by reference to their race and religion was perceived as a new phenomenon applicable to Arabs and Muslims. When a hijacker is not Arab or Muslim, for example, he is described as ‘disturbed’ and his race and religion are not referred to.

“The AFP treat Muslims differently than they would if the suspects had been Anglos. If this is how they’re going to treat us, why give us citizenship? They might as well take it away.”

How has the media responded?

“After 11 September, Muslims have no access to the media to explain their side. But the media puts pressure on local Muslims as if they can control Osama bin Laden or the war.”

“Rather than talking to Muslims the media talk to intellectuals who have studied Islam but don’t practice it.”

“The media failed to ask ‘How benefited from September 11? How many Muslims died? Or in Bali?’ Rather they generalise from the wrong of one to all.”

“I myself contact with the media when I see something is false. If Osama bin Laden or his group did it, it’s just that group, not every Muslim.”

“If you deal with the symptoms you’ll make some improvement. But it is better to deal with the root causes. The root cause is the media. That’s the only window most people have to the world, especially as Perth is so geographically isolated. The ABC is one of the fairer outlets. But the rest, especially the commercial stations, don’t give us a fair go.”

Coverage of the recent mosque open day by one radio station was described to: the message was essentially that ‘if you go to the mosque they will terrorise you’. Other than that the commercial stations were not interested in covering the open day, on which 4 mosques were opened to the public. Only ABC and SBS covered the event.

The following exchange between two presenters on Perth radio 6PR after an interview with a Sydney-based Muslim leader was also described:

“After the interview on said ‘We should send them all back’. The other one said ‘You know not all Arabs are Muslims don’t you?’ Then the first one said ‘We should send the all back’.”

The anthem used to advertise Telstra was also mentioned: ‘I am, you are, we are Australian’. It has become “a new national anthem”. “There is not one Muslim face; not even an Aboriginal face. They might as well put ‘provided by the government’ because there are no minorities – only whites.”

Have there been impacts in the workplace?

A convert to Islam, working in a national company, asked for time and a place to pray, offering to shift his lunch hour and give up other normal breaks. However, the company refused and he felt unwanted and had to leave his job. A friend had offered to work on Saturdays for no pay in return for time off to attend Friday prayers.

Another participant noted that typical names such as Ahmad and Mohammad give Muslims away on job applications.

One participant said that unemployment among the Lebanese community in Perth is around 28%. This is the second worst figure and most of these Lebanese people are Muslims. The worst unemployment in Perth is experienced by the Vietnamese community 29%.

Discrimination in the private rental market?

Discrimination in the private rental market is said to be instigated by owners; real estate agents don’t care if a tenant is Muslim. Large families cause a problem. Somali families are said to be particularly struggling. One family signed a lease for two parents and two children when in fact they had more children. They were subsequently evicted for breaching their lease by having more children in the house. Another family with eight children was forced to purchase a house due to the lack of rental accommodation available. Discrimination in the private market can force families into emergency public housing, but the standard of this housing is low.

How are schools being affected?

“The four Islamic school campuses in Perth are less privileged than the least privileged public schools and have lower TEE scores. In fact they are near the bottom of the ladder state-wide, not just in Perth.”

Are formal complaints of discrimination being made?

“We are reluctant to complain to the same people who make the laws that treat us in this way.”

“Once you complain you are victimised. You would never work again. Your name would be mud, especially in a small business community like Perth.”

“The media would exploit the facts of the case to create more fear and stereotyping. But they never publish information about the legalities or the outcome of the case.”

What more could be done to fight anti-Arab and anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination?

“Reducing racism and discrimination is in the interests of the whole nation. If you give them a fair go, Muslims and Arabs will participate more, contributing as taxpayers, etc.”

The meeting proposed the following strategies for achieving some of the objectives identified by the Isma project.

Promoting positive public awareness

“You can educate young children at school but how do you educate the general public. There is a lot of ignorance. People are ignorant about Islam.”

Challenging stereotypes

Addressing biased and inaccurate media coverage was seen as essential. It was suggested that the relevant authorities should draw up a code of ethics for the media. A roundtable to enable the community to explain the impacts of media reporting and commentary was another suggestion.

“We need education at the media level. There are some programs on ABC and SBS. But mainstream Australia doesn’t watch ABC.”

It was also suggested that the community itself could be more open to the public, and to public scrutiny. “We should acknowledge our own weaknesses.”

Providing community support

“Politicians should be seen with Muslims more and talk more about Islam. The media always follows the lead of politicians. Leadership of this kind is very important. Our top leaders need to protect the Muslims of Australia – at least that would be nice.”