By Lara Pullin and Stuart Martin
CANBERRA — The February 1 federal by-election in the north Canberra seat of Fraser has become a focus for the "race debate". Of the 11 candidates, six have publicly advocated racist controls on immigration.
According to the Reclaim Australia: Reduce Immigration Party's candidate, John Hutchinson, in the January 24 Canberra Times, "Australia has to be reclaimed from the forces of internationalism [sic] which have resulted in mass immigration, multiculturalism and foreign ownership".
Australians Against Further Immigration are trying to give their racist campaign "environmental" cover by calling for zero population growth, the total scrapping of the extended-family reunion scheme and reducing the refugee intake to 8000 to protect Australia from overpopulation.
The propaganda of other right-wing candidates, such as those from the anti-gay and -lesbian Call to Australia (Fred Nile Group) and the Australia First Party, advocates an Anglo-Australian nation which does not tolerate different cultures or lifestyles. John Miller, candidate for Call to Australia, makes longing references to 1950s society as a model.
One of the "independent" candidates, Cheryl Hill, was a Liberal candidate in last year's federal election. While Hill says that she resigned from the party when its attacks were far worse than she expected, she has yet to condemn the Liberals' promotion of racism.
Also silent on this issue is the ALP candidate, Steve Dargavel. His campaign has thus far failed even to mention racism and has concentrated on his trade union background without any reference to ALP industrial policy.
The racist positions of the major parties and some of the other candidates has prompted Alice Chu to stand as an independent. Chu says she felt compelled to stand after Howard's lack of reaction to Pauline Hanson: "His wishy-washy attitude can only be explained in terms of a politician sitting on the fence not wanting to lose votes".
The ACT Chinese-Australian Association has endorsed Chu. Chu also opposes cuts to the public sector on the grounds of their impact on small business.
Dierk von Behrens, the Australian Greens candidate, says he wants to defend public services. A Community and Public Sector Union activist, Behrens was a leading member of the Save our Schools coalition and considers standing for parliament as an extension of, rather than an alternative to, community activism.
The Australian Greens support a non-discriminatory immigration policy and more resources for English language classes. However, like the WA Greens, they argue that immigration should be reduced on environmental grounds.
Behrens concedes that the Greens' "sustainable population" policy, formulated as part of their goal of an ecologically sustainable society, is not really thought out. He told Green Left Weekly, "An ecologically sustainable population is obviously an essential element, but exactly what this may mean is still open to research and debate."
Asked how the Greens' "ecologically sustainable population" relates to the current debate on immigration, Behrens said: "When we have 9% unemployment, it is hard to justify further large-scale immigration, particularly of the kind that is likely to exacerbate the number of unemployed."