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The Forum > Article Comments > The spirit of Australia > Comments

The spirit of Australia : Comments

By Christina Ho, published 14/11/2008

Australia is the land of opportunity, but only for some. We’re lagging behind in gender equality for some of our newest citizens.

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It’s a wonder these poor immigrants (especially females in this case) come to Australia at all!

This woman‘s involvement with “transforming cultures” says it all. She obviously wants to transform Australian culture to suit malcontent immigrants.

She uses “de-skilling” as though an inability for some women to gain employment commensurate with their foreign-gained qualifications is the fault of Australia: Australia, she tries to con us into believing, is doing the de-skilling deliberately. She doesn’t concern herself with the fact that many of these qualifications do not comply with the Australian equivalent. She also doesn’t concern herself that many immigrants don’t have the English skills to perform the jobs they think they should have in Australia.

Australians find themselves having to struggle to understand the “English” of many immigrants who are employed in dealing with the public. Probably the ‘skilled’ people she referred to as working in trades, sales, clerical positions etc. in her previous article in OLO on 28/4/04. In that article, she recognises the problems of people with professional skills not being able to understand or speak “Australian English”.

But, instead of concentrating on that problem and encouraging the people concerned to take lessons in Australian English, she is back, 4 years later, banging Australia over the head and blaming us for other people’s problems.

But, it is all Australia’s fault, claims Christina Ho. She claims that conservative politicians (including John Howard) and unidentified “commentators” of:”… are using gender issues as a proxy for racism and Islamophobia.”

What a silly, politically motivated and racist comment: John Howard could have kept these people out of Australia any time he wanted if he was the racists this woman claims.

Continued...
Posted by Mr. Right, Friday, 14 November 2008 10:43:54 AM
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...continued

However, there is a lesson to be learned from this article. The lesson is that the bipartisan skilled immigration programme of our incompetent (or worse) politicians is a total sham. The politicians chirrup about ‘needed’ skills, and lack of skills while bringing in supposedly skilled people whose English is not good enough for them to gain employment other than in unskilled areas where we don’t need more people. And, immigrants are putting it over us by claiming to be able to use their skills here when they clearly CANNOT because of lack of useable English.

Here, our dishonest Australian politicians are definitely to blame. They don’t want ‘skills’. They just use the expression to cover up their mass immigration policies that bring in more fodder to spend as much as they can and help drive lunatic growth which lines the pockets of big business; how the immigrants get that money, whether or not the learn English of fit in, is quite unimportant.

Putting aside its ‘moaning migrant’ theme, this article supplies further proof that the highly acclaimed skilled immigration programme is just another political confidence trick to cover ulterior motives. More burdens on the country for no gain.
Posted by Mr. Right, Friday, 14 November 2008 10:47:10 AM
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There is a lot of truth in what Ms. Ho says. In China women are, indeed, more integrated throughout all sectors of the work-force. They also recieve a lot more support through both family and employers to enable them to work when they become mothers. The whole debate about "choices" which is carried on in Australia with varying degrees of heat from both sides is unknown in China where motherhood does not bring with it the pressure to make the kinds of choices it does here.

It is also true, to a degree, that some Chinese emigrants do not originally speak English with the degree of fluency they need in the workforce. However, English is compulsory is schools and Universities so, for most, it is simply a matter further practice, especially as colloquial Aussie English can be confusing even for those who speak British or South African English!

One other area not touched upon by Ms. Ho is the pressure felt by younger women - students - concerning sex. Having learnt that Western women are liberated they are often confused that so many young women feel pressured into sexual activity. While young people in China are engaging in far more sexual activity than their parents or teachers dream is happening, peer pressure and societal messages play no part in this.

The realisation that young girls here often become sexually active less from a careful choice than through a need for acceptance, to be cool, or to seem adult, is strange. To them it argues that such girls do not, in fact, have the autonomy over their bodies that Chinese girls do. This is , for some, a contributing factor for the accusations of lack of assimilation with rest of the student body, whose mores are alien (and even somewhat frightening) to them.

I can quite see that women in Australia could easily appear to be more hampered by their gender than those in China.
Posted by Romany, Friday, 14 November 2008 11:29:18 AM
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Well.. you don't have to be a_fortune_teller or an_astrologist to know what will come from my keyboard on such_articles...

It's worth pointing out however.. that most of what I write is a response to something else.

Christina mentions

In the Sydney Morning Herald in 2006 he stated, “There is, within some sections of the Islamic community, an attitude towards women which is out of line with mainstream Australian society”.

No kidding!

I wonder where Mr Howard got this 'rubbish' from ? I mean HOWWWW could John get it so obviously wrong.. so far off the mark..so incredibly dillusional... I mean.. there is just absolutely NO possibility that Muslim men might feel justified in beating their wives due to some clear and unmistakable permission in the Quran..... is there?

Read on!

Quran 4:34. Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them.

I hope everyone read the last phrase.

Many essays have been written by Muslim apologists to try to make out that 'BEAT THEM' does not in fact mean..'beat' them. Usually written by women.

But hey...don't rely on my blusterings.. after all..I'm a biased whack-a-mossie Christian hyper fundamentalist, hate and fear and loathing promoting rabble rouser ....right?

No no.. let's get it straight from the horses (Arabs) mouth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp3Eam5FX58

But wait... this is the ONLY Arab Muslim man who feels this way....right? He is simply 'interpreting' the Quran to suit his own misogynistic agenda....right?

Read/view on:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr-vt2DTCFw&feature=related

aah.. another 'fanatic'.....

Lets try this one: a young girl married to an old man.. similar to 53 yr old Mohammad with 9 yr old Ayesha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDLb2GuIM3Y&feature=related

Well...on the evidence.. both doctrinally and experientially.. John Howard was 100% correct..note his words "some sections".. indeed.
Nothing for John to apologise for there.
Posted by Polycarp, Saturday, 15 November 2008 7:41:36 AM
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Christina is quite right in pointing out that Australia still maintains many facets of sexism - in culture, attitude and institutions. No culture or religion is exempt from sexism of some sort - it just manifests in different ways. I think Christina has done a good job in reminding us of this.
Posted by Jenny E, Saturday, 15 November 2008 3:36:37 PM
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I'm not sure why this is another crack at the conservatives. We have been there and done that. They have rightfully been consigned to the political equivalent of Nauru. The only thing left is for the missing link to vacate the whitehouse next year.
Posted by Neutral, Sunday, 16 November 2008 12:29:18 AM
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