EDITORIAL | Thoughts on Immigration in Australia

 

Immigration has been a debated topic for years. If you look at the last couple of elections one of the most spoken about topics was Australian immigration. Some people think we should let them in, some people think we should only let a select few in and some people are in the middle.

One question that is always asked during the debates is “do the immigrants have to adopt out culture and values?” when this question is asked it always splits people more.

One thing people always bring up when complaining about immigrants is how Australia’s culture is being taken over by other cultures. What culture? When you think of Australia, and only Australia, away and what culture do we have?

We have a collage of other countries cultures.

When you strip all of that just leave Australia, what do we have? Our culture is accepting other cultures. We do not have our own selective culture. For example we have accepted Italy’s food, America’s clothes, Japans TV and if you look far enough back almost everyone born here’s ancestors are from Britain.

Some people claim that our culture is the overly advertised fake “throw a shrimp on the barbie” Bogan culture but let’s be honest, Bogans are just a small part of Australian society.

There is one culture in Australia though that everyone seems to like ignoring.

Indigenous Australians.

Indigenous Australian Man laughing with his eyes closed.

The reason I left indigenous Australians out of the last paragraph is that the people who say “immigrants need to embrace our culture” definitely do not mean indigenous Australian culture. So the real question is, what do people mean when they say “immigrants need to embrace our culture?”

 

If Australia doesn’t have much of a culture and Indigenous Australian culture is practically dismissed these days, what culture are they talking about? Australia is a place that is built upon Immigration.

 

Our “culture” is a multitude of other cultures embraced by us to form a whole. We have so many cultures and that’s not a bad thing, so when immigrants are coming into our country we should be rejoicing at the idea of accepting and getting to experience another culture without having to pay for an over expensive plane ticket.

As much as embracing other cultures is a part of Australia so is following the laws.

The law is important to Australia and how we live our lives, so when we let people into our country I think it’s very important that we make sure that there culture or beliefs do not go against our laws and regulations. For example if someone’s belief consists of racism, sexism or ideals of terrorism I think we should take precautions when letting them in.

Of course people shouldn’t be discriminated against because of their beliefs but we shouldn’t risk people’s lives or freedom.

You can’t just simply insist someone stops supporting their own culture.

When someone comes to Australia its definitely going to be a shock, not only do they have to embrace Australia’s laws and regulations they are also going to have to embrace all the cultures we have here. So I think its extremely important that when they get here they can still take solace in the fact they still have a bit of their culture to come back to if they get scared or shocked. If they don’t that can cause them distress or take a toll on them mentally.

When we look into the idea of immigrants embracing our cultures and values it’s important to remember that they also have a culture and that you can’t just take it away because it scares you. Cultures are very important to all people and every country has one.

Especially with Australian immigration it’s important to remember the fact that we are built upon the culture and values of many other countries. Not just our own, making us the most successful multicultural countries in the world.

 

http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/workers-on-lunch-watch-on-in-horror-as-man-sets-himself-alight-in-sydneys-cbd/news-story/1ce1a292fbedde4bc8a659c110936c0f

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jul/05/border-force-illegally-sent-two-australian-citizens-to-christmas-island