A lively anti-racism public meeting in Melbourne on November 6 echoed the calls from other cities for a national day of action against racism.
Sue Bolton reports that more than 60 people turned up to hear Lam Nguyen, a Vietnamese secondary student; Hasan Titiz from the Kurdish Association; Alison Dellit from the socialist youth group Resistance; Florentino, an East Timorese refugee; and Maurice Sibelle from Asian Australians Against Further Intimidation address the meeting.
Nguyen described what it was like to identify as an Australian but still experience racism because of the colour of your skin. And racism is not just the offensive words of Pauline Hanson, John Howard and others, said Dellit. It is also the discriminatory policies and practices of government and the business sector.
Florentino talked about the discriminatory policies of the Australian government which is denying East Timorese refugee status. He explained how this has led to a situation where East Timorese refugees have no access to government benefits or to the Red Cross benefit scheme for refugees, leaving them with no access to money at all. When they attempt to earn some money to survive, many East Timorese find it very difficult to get work and when they, it is usually in the most exploited jobs, he said.
Titiz told the meeting that the promotion of racism is very much tied to a capitalist system which is axing jobs and slashing welfare.
In this framework, Sibelle spoke about the urgent need to organise "a large and broad campaign against this racist push, a campaign which involves those people most directly affected by racism — the migrant and Aboriginal communities". The meeting overwhelmingly supported Sibelle's suggestion that: "We in Melbourne need to join together to support the national day of action against racism on November 23, and then build a really big demonstration in support of Aboriginal rights on Invasion Day [January 26] in 1997."
Bolton reports that at this stage it seems that there will be rallies against racism held in Melbourne on November 23 and again on December 8. For more information phone (03) 9329 1277.