Recession driven rise in xenophobia

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.