Letter Published In The Age 10 January 2007

Phong Nguyen, Chairman, ECCV

Kicking the latest people off the boat

COUNCILLOR Peter Brown's tirade against Sudanese-Australians (Letters, 9/1) adds to the long tradition of established Australians getting stuck into the latest people off the boat.

Twenty-odd years ago, the media and some politicians labelled Vietnamese-Australians as out-of-control drug dealers. Now many Vietnamese are the pride of the Australian community. Recently arrived Sudanese and Horn of African migrants are now under sustained attack from sections of the media, with a few politicians like Mr Brown and Pauline Hanson adding further fuel to the fire.

It seems now almost every time an African-Australian commits a crime there is a media report on it. But this small refugee community needs our support, not our harassment. The great majority of the community are decent, law abiding people trying to build new lives in Australia. As with all communities, some of the younger men in this community are hot-heads. But this requires a police response, not sermons from politicians.

Cr Brown's critique of the adequacy of the security arrangements and venue on the night of the brawl may be appropriate, but his critique of a small and struggling community is way off the mark. His stated preference that Sudanese from outside Dandenong not congregate in the area is downright racist.

Peter Brown represents one of the most culturally diverse communities in Victoria. He should get on with providing decent settlement and community harmony initiatives rather than attacking a small and struggling community.