The Greens Amanda Bresnan is calling for leadership following the alarming Challenging Racism report results this morning:
“Rather than promoting understanding, politicians have instead recently tabled an anti-Muslim petition, made insensitive remarks about refugees attending the funeral of people killed near Christmas Island and insulted traditional Islamic Halal food preparation.
“The use of asylum seekers and refugees, many of whom are Muslim, as political footballs by both major parties has continued over a number of elections, with misleading and false depictions of ‘queue jumpers’ and ‘illegal immigrants’.
“Politicians should instead be clearly explaining to Australians the reality; that refugees who arrive in Australia by boat are usually coming from desperate situations in countries where they can’t apply for a visa or other documentation to leave.
More worryingly she wants the Multicultural festival to focus more on religion, which it’s hard to imagine the crowds would be thrilled about.
Also, once again, the kids are going to cop it, presumably because they can’t vote:
“The Greens want the Government to review grass roots projects such as the Interfaith and Intercultural Understanding in School Settings project that was piloted in NSW to further improve understanding,” Ms Bresnan said today.