Are Aussie soaps too white?

The answer seems to be yes as TV producers of shows like Home & Away and Neighbours are accused of applying a ‘white Australia policy’ to casting. According to a report at the weekend:

University of Queensland Aboriginal studies lecturer Sam Watson said
the dramas were operating an “exclusive white family club” that didn’t
reflect Australia’s true demographic.
“The producers and
directors of these shows are very sadly harking back to the White
Australia policy of the ’40s and ’50s,” he said. “Instead of embracing
the rich diversities of our country, they are shunning it.”

The Neighbours cast

The report continues…..

It’s a huge concern for actors’ union the Media Entertainment and Arts
Alliance, which will discuss the problems at a conference in Sydney
next month. The union’s national director of actors’ equity,
Simon Whipp, said he had been campaigning on the issue for 20 years and
still little improvement had been made.  “Our members are missing out on roles for no other reason than the fact that they are not white,” he said.

The White Australia policy began in 1901 to restrict non-white immigration to the country.
While it was scrapped in 1973, viewers of Neighbours and Home and Away might be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

In
Neighbours, white Ramsay Street residents Susan and Karl Kennedy
regularly laugh over the fence with their equally white neighbours
Steve and Miranda Parker- even though the soap is set in the culturally
diverse city of Melbourne.

In Home and Away, the residents of
Summer Bay, just north of multi-cultural Sydney, are also white
Australians, with the exception of Jai Fernandez- a token Asian
character who stereotypically lost his parents in the Boxing Day
tsunami.

Aboriginal MP Marion Scrymgour, who is Arts Minister for the Northern
Territory, said people in indigenous communities needed greater
representation on television. It’s important that young
Aboriginal people are able to see there are opportunities for
interesting and rewarding employment,” she said.

Indigenous youth advocate and former Young Australian of the Year Tania Major is also concerned. “It
really annoys me that they never have any indigenous actors in these
shows- not only that, but they never have any black or Asian actors
either,” she said.
“All the producers want to portray is the
typical White Australia image and that isn’t reflective of our
multicultural country at all. The fact that these shows are broadcast internationally is just appalling in terms of the message they send out.
What
we produce on TV has a big influence on people when they form their
opinions and this is exactly why Australia has a reputation of being a
racist country.”

I don’t watch either of these shows (do you?) but I do agree more diversity would be a positive thing in EVERY facet of the media. Where are the Asian or indigenous or dark-skinned news and current affairs reporters? Models? TV presenters? News readers? Commercial TV and the mainstream media do a lousy job of representing any demographic other than white anglo saxons.

Isn’t it about time we began to reflect a more multi-cultural image of Australia? One that more closely relates to the kinds of faces you see when you walk down the street or go to the beach or wander around Westfield looking for your car? What makes producers think we all just want to see white people on TV? And how can we tell them otherwise?