Recession driven rise in xenophobia

Late last year federal treasurer Wayne Swan grappled publicly with the dreaded R word in response to questions from the media about the state of the economy. So difficult was the public relations task for the usually unflappable treasurer that he chose to avoid saying the word recession.

Treasurer Swan took the more popular “glass half full” approach, speaking up the economy to allay public unease, after releasing an impressive stimulus package of $10.4 billion in December for pensioners and low income families. The Treasurer went a step further in February to thwart a recession by announcing a supplementary community sweetener of $42 billion for all salaried workers, due in their bank accounts next month.

Despite the doom and gloom forecasts, made by well paid social commentators to the first stimulus package, that welfare recipients would spend the money on over-sized plasma television sets and on poker machines at their local club, most beneficiaries hastily disposed of their windfall within their community and in so doing injected life into the economy.

Indigenous people, not by design, featured prominently in the category of pensioner or low income earners who received the maximum grants on offer and gladly paid outstanding bills or acquired essential household appliances to replace those that had seen better days.

The one saving grace for the public at this crucial time in our economy is that we didn’t have opposition finance spokesperson Julie Bishop in the treasurer’s seat: she irresponsibly prescribed the official opposition policy of a “wait and see” approach with “no action” to the encroaching fiscal storm.

If the government had followed Ms Bishop’s lead they could now be seeing an escalation in foreclosure signs on homes and business around the nation, not to mention the thousands of retail and small business employees who would’ve been laid off before Christmas.

Fortunately we didn’t have to “wait and see” for too long into the new year to see Ms Bishop relieved of her shadow finance portfolio, by Joe Hockey.

However, as a global perspective, our $42 billion incentive package pales into insignificance when compared with President Barack Obama’s finance rescue plan of US $1.5 trillion, which many commentators say may rise to US $3 trillion, to restore the United States economy to its former pre-recession glory.

Sadly for the Australian government the expected national account figures released recently showed the gross domestic product drop 0.5 per cent in the December quarter - the first negative result in eight years. Technically a recession occurs when governments encounter successive quarterly drops, for example, six successive months of costs outstripping income. The recession declaration is expected to occur officially after the next quarter.

As boring as these national account figures appear they will, however, play a major part in shaping the destiny of many Indigenous Australians in the months and years ahead.

When the economy is strong and unemployment is low the broader community feels less threatened by Indigenous people and their demands for a fair go. At times some civic leaders are overcome with empathy - some might argue that past guilt is a more apt narrative - to the extent where benevolence to the Indigenous cause is a practical consequence.

However, when the economy is in decline and the job queues at Centrelink get longer, mainstream society assumes a less tolerant stance to minority groups and their plight - irrespective of their merit in the national scheme of things.

In light of the unforeseen global economic crisis and the devastating Victorian bush fires that claimed more than 200 lives on Black Saturday recently, two contrasting Indigenous public issues in recent weeks signalled to me the end of any hope of the current government following through with their promise of injecting significant resources into Closing The Gap strategies, after the historic Apology address by the Prime Minister on February 13, 2008.

Last week the federal government made an unconscionable decision to shut down a key Australian Crime Commission taskforce carrying out groundbreaking investigations into Indigenous violence, child abuse, drug trafficking and alcohol-related crime.

The 30-strong taskforce, which has spearheaded investigations into child prostitution and the trucking industry, and the failure of some government agencies to report child sex abuse, will be wound up in June.

The cost saving decision to shut down the taskforce, with an annual budget of $4 million, was reported in the Herald as causing widespread dismay among law enforcement agencies who viewed the taskforce as the first serious attempt in 50 years to pinpoint the causes of Indigenous crime endemic in remote communities.

The second public news story that captured my attention has more sinister implications for our people as it highlights the raw ugliness of racial intolerance at its pinnacle.

The Daily Liberal reported anonymous residents of Beveridge Crescent in Dubbo, New South Wales, had complained about the prospect of the Aboriginal Housing Office (AHO) purchasing a $400,000 property in their street.

The Dubbo newspaper reported the following day, that NSW housing minister David Borger ordered the purchase be cancelled, citing the fact that the five-bedroom luxury property did not suit the profile of what should be purchased for public housing purposes.

That decision was questioned by the NSW Aboriginal Land Council representative for the central region, Councillor Stephen Ryan, who asked in which Dubbo streets the AHO may be able to house its clients.

The debate took an ugly turn when Beveridge Crescent residents awoke to the site of the vulgar act of vandalism, which was quickly patched up by council staff. Dubbo Mayor Greg Matthews was reported in The Daily Liberal saying he was telephoned by a resident and informed of the graffiti.

“I was told there was a racist remark painted on the road and I was immediately disappointed,” Cr Matthews said. “Obviously this is a delicate matter but everyone is entitled to have an opinion. It’s just up to people to control their emotions.”

I suspect similar incidents of racial intolerance will occur more frequently around the nation as mainstream society feels the global economic pinch. In particular, I predict rural communities with large Indigenous communities will come in for some unsavoury treatment from intolerant residents recently laid off work or experiencing downsizing of their home and car as a result of reduced pay packets.

I make this prediction cognisant of the wave of racial unrest witnessed during difficult economic times following Pauline Hanson’s rise  to national prominence after her February 14, 1996 expulsion from the Liberal Party as their candidate for the federal seat of Oxley for derogatory comments made about Aborigines.

I’m also mindful of the unsavoury conduct of 5,000 strong “patriotic Aussies”, draped in the Australian flag, who turned on anyone of colour on December 11, 2005 on Cronulla beach.

I sense the closeted, racist Aussie is more prone to raise his ugly head when the going gets tough.

In these times of economic decline I feel sorry for our mob who are not confident or assertive enough when waiting in line to be served at a grocery or retail shop, at a real estate office seeking rental accommodation, at a public hospital waiting to be attended, or in line to get into a nightclub or footy match. In fact I’m concerned for Indigenous people at any public place where they’re outnumbered and placed under the gaze of intolerant Aussies competing for speedy access to the same service.

The government may be sincere in their commitment to Indigenous people and genuine in their endeavours to provide practical outcomes to age-old problems, but when hit with recent twin tsunamis of the global economic crisis and the bushfires it is hard to compete for limited resources from the treasurer’s coffers - more frustratingly when they are committed for Indigenous projects but remain unexpended.

To say these two unforeseen catastrophes changed the political landscape for our people is an understatement. And I don’t condone for a moment the focus of government to these emergencies in the immediate future - however, I would like our Indigenous leaders to remind government of their obligation to our mob at every political opportunity.

I also stress to our prominent leaders their role in meeting the challenge posed by the global financial crisis, continued government inaction and consequent predicted rise in racial intolerance in their communities.