Hate crime attitudes in Australia

[twiga]

I am a step away from filling out my skilled ind. application but then the Sydney thing pops up and I am a concerned since I look middle eastern.

I am not trying to judge "Australia" as a country but was just curious what the average Australian perceives about hate crimes.

Here in the US, they are thoroughly shunned and punished. For example, those convicted (both sides of the gangs) in the Sydney riots would face Federal prison (aka. different ball game 🙂). No pun intended.

Of course, despite the stiff legal implications of hate crimes in the US, they still do occur. Thus, I am not saying that Australia should be free of hate crimes. I am just curious what the average Australian's perception of it.

Thanks.

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[CSI Miami]

The vast majority of Australians strongly disagree with these riots. They are conducted by a very small minority of certain gangs. Such gangs exist in every country & I can recall similar riots on TV in England & Europe. There were race riots by white supremacists in Portland Oregon a while ago too. What happened in Sydney was terrible, but is nowhere near as bad as the racist & religious violence that occurs in the Middle East or the former Yugoslavia for example.
Australia is one of the safest countries in the world with very low crime rates.
You should not be deterred from going at all.

 

[MSCDOC]

The vast majority of Australians strongly disagree with these riots. They are conducted by a very small minority of certain gangs. Such gangs exist in every country & I can recall similar riots on TV in England & Europe. There were race riots by white supremacists in Portland Oregon a while ago too. What happened in Sydney was terrible, but is nowhere near as bad as the racist & religious violence that occurs in the Middle East or the former Yugoslavia for example.
Australia is one of the safest countries in the world with very low crime rates.
You should not be deterred from going at all.

Good post CSI Miami. That's the kind of positive attitude and encouragement ppl are lookin for and need after such an incident.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Racist hate crimes, the violent sort, occur more frequently in Europe. I know a few people in Australia who used to live in London. Guaging the level of xenophobia between the two places, almost all of them said London had a far bigger problem with racism. There are some aggressive gangs that hang out at the beaches but for the most part Australia is not a violent or racist country.

 

[twiga]

Thanks again for the nice posts from people who are actually living down under. And as you observe, hate crimes occur all over the world. Your replies have helped and I will be content with anything else you would like to throw out there on this subject.

The bottom line is that there's always "bad" stuff going on in this world no matter where you are. Hopefully, from your comments, things are "better" in Australia than other places. Now if only I can pick the "best" place near Perth to move out to for a few years.

Again, thanks and let me know if you need anything from stateside eg. XBox 360 etc 🙂. (OK I'm kidding).

 

[pitman]

Thought this quote apropos:

Multiculturalism has always been an embattled idea, but the battle has grown fiercer of late. In this, it is terrorism that is setting the agenda, goading us to respond: terrorism, whose goal it is to turn the differences between us into divisions and then to use those divisions as justifications.

(Salman Rushdie, I think yesterday in The Times of London)

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Did you see the graphics on the Playstation 3, I am waiting for that, MGS4 and Devil May Cry 4 rock.

 

[twiga]

I haven't seen the PS3 previews yet, but I am sure they will be spectacular.

You wouldn't have any kewl links for the PS3 would you? I like www.kotaku.com for the XBox 360 if you haven't seen that one yet.

P.S. God of War is looking intense right now for the PS2.

 

[farqueue]

Darwin's Theory clearly explains this:
No two species can co-exist in the same environment.

No matter how hard we try, there is a tendency to judge people by their looks/skin color etc. In short, everybody's racist by nature. Tolerance and acceptance is the key to a multicultural society.