Right: Former Deputy Prime Minister Peter Costello is one of many public figures denying that racism is behind the attacks on Indian students
.Arguments suggesting Australia is not racist
1. Many of the behaviours claimed to be racist have other causes
It has been suggested that the issue is not primarily one of racism, but one of violence and theft. Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner, Kieran Walshe, has indicated that he did not believe the attacks on Indian students were racially motivated. Rather, Deputy Commissioner Walshe has suggested, offenders were focusing on 'soft targets'.
The Deputy Chief Commissioner has stated, 'I don't think they are [racist] in general. We think the majority of these things occur through opportunistic activity.'
He has said he believes some Indian students were being attacked because they were by nature quiet and passive people, they travelled late at night, often alone and carried expensive gadgets.
Walshe has further stated,'Really what we're saying to them is to be aware of their surroundings, try and walk in areas that are well-lit. If you're walking on a road walk towards the traffic; if you're out in a public place, don't count money.'
This point has also been made by the former Australian Medical Association president, Mukesh Haikerwal, savagely bashed last year. Dr Haikerwal has said, '"I don't run away from the fact that I am of Indian origin but I was one of seven people attacked that night - and I was the only person with any kind of colour...I don't believe Australia is more racist than any other country and calling something a racial attack doesn't disguise the fact that all these things are wrong. We really have to work out why this is happening and send the message that violence is unacceptable in our society.'
A similar argument was made in The Herald Sun by commentator Andrew Bolt who stated, 'It's the sheer level of violence, not the motives driving some thug to kick in a student's teeth, that should shame and alarm us. After all, it's no less terrifying to be kicked in the head by a saint.
It also hurts just the same whether you're Indian, English or a Colac farmer, so we should be angry that it's not just Indians being bashed, but people born right here who are kicked unconscious at railway platforms, glassed in pubs, shot in Flinders St or pack-attacked to death outside nightclubs.
Where are the police? Where are the punishments? How did we fail to civilise so many young men, now acting like gleeful extras in a Tarantino splatter-fest or an Underbelly celebration of ferals? How did we fail even to make them fear to break the law?...
That so many Indian students are bashed and robbed can be largely explained by the kind of part-time jobs they tend to take, being hard workers - the late shifts in 7-Eleven stores, taxis and petrol stations, for instance.
Imagine how safe these students are when they then go home alone late at night, often walking or taking near-deserted trains back to the tough suburbs where the cheap rents are. How safe would your own children be? '
2. Australia has taken legislative action against any racism that does occur
Australia has a variety of laws which give form to its opposition to racism. These laws are intended to protect Australians of a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds from acts of negative discrimination. These laws seek to educate the total Australian population as to how we should treat each other. They also include sanctions or punishments for those who discriminate against others.
There is the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act (1975). There is the Commonwealth Racial Hatred Act (1995) and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act (1986)
The Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) aims to ensure that all Australians can enjoy their human rights and freedoms in full equality regardless of their race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin, being an immigrant (in some circumstances) or being a relative or associate of someone of a particular ethnicity or other status. The RDA applies to everyone in Australia including businesses, schools, local governments, State and Territory government agencies and departments and Commonwealth government agencies and departments. It overrides racially discriminatory State or Territory legislation, making it ineffective. However, Commonwealth legislation which is racially discriminatory is not necessarily overridden by the RDA.
The Racial Hatred Act extends the coverage of the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) to allow people to complain about racially offensive or abusive behaviour. In 1995, the Racial Hatred Act amended the RDA by adding in new laws specifically dealing with racial vilification. The Racial Hatred Act gives effect to some of Australia's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act (HREOCA) is another Commonwealth law which applies throughout Australia. HREOCA gives effect to the following relevant international conventions and declarations, such the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious or Linguistic Minorities. It also gives effect to International Labour Organisation Convention on Discrimination in Employment and Occupation and United Nations declarations concerning the rights of people with disabilities.
In Victoria sentencing laws will be amended by the end of 2009 to require judges to consider racially motivated factors and prejudice in sentencing violent offenders.
3. Some degree of racism occurs in all nations
It has repeatedly been claimed that Australia has no more racists than any other country.
In an editorial published in The Australian on June 2, it was stated, 'But while we must be fast and firm in denouncing all such attacks, we must be equally resolute in rejecting any idea that these attacks explain anything about Australia. Certainly our nation, as with all other countries, includes individuals who act out their own social incompetence and evil aggression by attacking innocents in the streets. Nor is there any doubt that people who stand out due to the colour of their skin, the cut of their clothes or whose hand they hold in public can be singled out by cowards who fear anybody who is different to them. But while no society can forgive such behaviour, Australia has no more than the same share of violent outcasts as exist in any other nation where the rule of law exists because the vast majority of its citizens wish it.'
In a letter published in The Age on May 30, 2009, Farhad Billimoria stated, 'I am an Indian and have been living in Australia for 17 years. Australia is one of the most accepting nations and one of the most multicultural. I have no doubt that these acts, while abhorrent, do not reflect the attitudes of the majority of the public.
It is a shame the Indian Government has used this as an excuse for politicking. It has tried to paint the whole country as racist, and seems to be putting the blame on the authorities.
While I have experienced the odd racial incident, it is a minority element. Unfortunately, making that known does not seem as newsworthy or politically dramatic as trying to impugn an entire country.'
In another letter published on June 1, 2009, in The Age, Munusami Kumaramangalam stated, 'After reading the reports about attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and watching the television interview with the Indian High Commissioner, I looked at three different Indian newspapers online. The following headlines of incidents in Indian cities attracted my attention: "High-ranking police officer faces sexual harassment charge"; "Jain temple priest killed and eight kilograms of gold stolen in Chennai"; "Lab technician killed in Bangalore"; "Man murders three-day lover"; "Interstate bike-lifters nabbed"; "Case against police constable for causing a bleeding injury with a knife"; "Quarrel leads to murder".
Admittedly, there is no alleged racial element to any of these incidents. However, it shows that violent attacks are not confined to Melbourne or Australia, as we are lead to believe by the Indian media and officials.'
4. Australia's political leaders have spoken out against racism.
On May 28, 2009, after meeting with the Indian High Commissioner, Sujatha Singh, the Victorian Premier, John Brumby stated that violence against Victoria's Indian community is 'completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated...
We agree that while the overall rate of crime in Victoria is low compared to other jurisdictions, any incidence of crime or violence against a member of Victoria's Indian community is one too many, completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated.'
Mr Brumby went on to say that any attack on an individual because of race, culture, gender or appearance is disgraceful and unacceptable.
On June 1, 2009, the Australian Prime Minister, Mr Kevin Rudd, stated, '"I speak on behalf of all Australians when I say that we deplore and condemn these attacks. I said to (Manmohan) Singh [India's Prime Minister] that the more than 90,000 Indian students in Australia are welcome guests in our country ... and the more than 200,000 Australians of Indian descent are welcome members of the Australian family.'
Mr Rudd further said, 'Australia is a country of great diversity, harmony and tolerance. We are a multicultural nation and we respect and embrace diversity, diversity which has enriched our nation," he said.
The Australian government is committed to developing a stronger, closer relationship with India ... (we are) also committed to the safety of all Australians and all those that visit our nation.'
5. Perceptions that Australia is racist are outmoded
It is argued that claims that Australia is a racially intolerant nation still marked by policies such as the 'White Australia Policy' are outmoded. Critics of this view note that Australia now has a high level of racial and cultural diversity and that this variety of peoples generally live in harmony.
On a New South Wales Department of Education school's Internet page dealing with multiculturalism it is noted, 'Multiculturalism is wide-ranging and therefore a unifying force in our developing nationhood and our growing identity. Multicultural Australia emphasises the things that unite us as people- our common membership of the Australian community, our desire for social harmony and the benefits of our diversity.
According to the 2001 census, Australian's come from over 200 countries. Every one of these groups of people has its own cultural diversity as an outcome of history, regional differences, internal and external population movements, as well as variations associated to factors such as class, gender, intermarriage and urban and rural environments.
Australian multiculturalism means that as a nation we recognise, accept, respect and celebrate our cultural diversity. Australian multiculturalism is about embracing the heritage of Indigenous Australians, early European settlement, our Australian grown customs and those of the diverse range of migrants now coming to Australia.'
The Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull has stated, 'Australia is a country of great diversity, harmony and tolerance. We are a multicultural nation and we respect and embrace diversity, diversity which has enriched our nation.'