An interesting aspect of the Coalition’s suggestion that the ALP had committed to restoring $19 billion to the Australian Aid budget is that pro-Aid campaigners themselves had previously only mentioned $11 billion of cuts. That is, they intentionally inflate the level of cuts to more powerfully demonstrate their commitment to balancing the budget on the backs of the world’s poor. While politicians and Australia’s humanitarians war over the dollar figures in the forward estimates there’s another battle that’s less about our national budget and more about our national character – a war on generosity.
The commentary has covered the state of our material generosity – we’re now at the lowest levels of Australian Aid at any time in our history – but the fact that this is a point of pride for our Government, something they’d intentionally exaggerate to make a political point, says even more about our spiritual generosity. We are not only being financially mean, we are mean-spirited.
In the same vein, Immigration Minister Dutton’s logic-denying comments about illiterate and innumerate refugees who would “take Australian jobs” – while at the same time languishing on welfare for years – were depressing not only for their calculated fear-mongering but also because they announced that even the illusion of generosity towards refugees no longer has a place in the Coalition’s narrative.
The good refugee / bad asylum seeker dichotomy once employed to maintain some claim to compassion has been abandoned. No longer are dehumanising deterrence measures an ugly necessity that allows Australia to generously welcome more (carefully-vetted, individually selected) refugees but EVEN THESE refugees are here to rob Australians of work, drain our resources and undermine our living standards. When it comes to refugees, compassion is a weakness rather than a virtue.
Watch the “I Came By Boat” campaign to show the diversity of refugees. (Post continues after video.)
The truth of this is most fully evidenced by the farcical witch hunt for any candidate who has shown an ounce of generosity towards asylum seekers, ever. Anyone who has, at any time in their history, posted a pro-refugee tweet, signed a petition to get kids out of detention, attended a pro-refugee event or even questioned a contentious aspect of Labor’s policy is proof of disfunction, disunity and rebellion – rather than proof of possessing some humanity.
Case in point – Tim Kurylowicz, Labor candidate for the Riverina, has been a staunch supporter of the asylum seeker and refugee policy Labor settled upon at their National Conference in 2015. However, many months earlier, in December 2014, he tweeted “I wonder what would happen to #stoptheboats if #illridewithyou became a part of the asylum seeker experience?” – enough for The Australian to include him in “Shorten’s growing band of asylum rebels” and for the Coalition to include him in their aggregate of “soft on border security” candidates.
Check out the incredible things Welcome to Australia is doing to advocate for all Australians and our generous spirit. Images via Instagram. (Post continues after gallery.)
Welcome to Australia
In other words, it doesn’t matter what your position on the policy might be, generosity of spirit will be punished and – just like believing the Australian Aid budget should be higher – your generosity will be portrayed by the Government as a threat to Australia’s future prosperity.
The insinuation that being on the side of generosity is akin to undermining the national interest is an indication of the kind of future the war on generosity anticipates: mean, self-interested and profit-driven at the expense of healthy communities where all people can equally belong, participate and thrive.
Not only does the war on generosity visit physical destruction on the world’s most vulnerable people – at home and abroad – it also contaminates our culture with nastiness and fear while making our future less fair, equal and enjoyable. The world where cold-heartedness is a virtue and generosity is a flaw is not a world anyone wants to inhabit.
Brad Chilcott is the founder of Welcome to Australia. You can follow him on Twitter .
Top Comments
In an overpopulated world, Australians, and other wealthy countries have been keeping their reproduction down to fewer than two babies per woman for 38 years. If the source countries of the refugees had done the same, there would be no refugee crisis.
Resettling refugees does absolutely nothing to alleviate the world refugee crisis because as fast as one is resettled, two more babies (future refugees) are born. The largest refugee camp is in Kenya and there, 1000 new refugees are born every month.
We could be doing more to provide women in undeveloped countries with the education and contraceptive services they both need and want, but our political parties can't see past the able bodied men on our doorstep who aren't satisfied with safety, and want a western standard of living.
Foreign aid can make the difference between some people being able to stay in their home countries or being forced out as refugees. Foreign aid as education can stop young people coming under the influence of alternative education run by organisations that may not be friendly towards Australia. Foreign aid is really important towards promoting our country as a good neighbour. That may make all the difference when that young kid educated at a school supported by Australian foreign aid becomes the politician in the UN deciding who to support or a country is deciding whether or not to allow an Australian company to operate in their country.
However this opinion piece is spot on. We are developing a reputation overseas for ugliness and a poverty of spirit. Our policies reflect poorly on our values or those values that we like to think are Australian.