Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Multicultural Australia
Other, more consistent factors that are related to views on multiculturalism
are education and political identification. Those with a tertiary qualification are
consistently more likely to support multiculturalism, although even among respondents
with a university education there has been a steady increase in the number
concerned about multiculturalism, from only 9 per cent of respondents in 1990
to 20 per cent in 2016. Nevertheless, those without a university qualification show
a much higher level of concern about multiculturalism, with more than 45 per
cent of respondents in 2010 and 2013 and 40 per cent in 2016 stating that equal
opportunities for migrants had gone too far. The most consistent factor that is
related to views about multiculturalism is how respondents vote during the
election. Those who vote for Labor and the Greens at each election have been
consistently more likely to support multiculturalism, compared to those who vote
for the Coalition. This would be expected because since the 1990s the Labor Party
has more actively promoted multiculturalism. Federal and state Labor electorates
are also more likely to have significant populations of migrants from both low
socio-economic and non-English-speaking backgrounds.
Conclusions
Political leaders, by and large, acknowledge that the old form of nationalism in
Australia, based on common history, language and tradition, has declining
relevance. These leaders have given expression to what a new ‘national community’
should be. In the 1980s, Prime Minister Bob Hawke supported the view of a
‘national community’ in Australia as defined in terms of multiculturalism. This
view was presented in the 1989 National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia.
Whitlam, Fraser and Hawke all attempted to reconcile diversity with a common
British-Australian identity. However, the use of multiculturalism as a symbol of
Australian nationalism began to unravel when subsequent governments began to
feel uneasy with the concept. 57 SincetheriseoftheONPandconservativepolitics
in the late 1990s and terrorism in the 21st century, consecutive governments have
refrained from promoting multiculturalism as a unifying symbol of national
identity. Instead, the policy of multiculturalism is considered useful for managing
cultural diversity and social cohesion.
The findings of the Australian Election Studies discussed in this chapter show
that while there are many ebbs and flows in government policies and public debates
on multiculturalism and immigration, there is a fairly consistent level of public
support for multiculturalism, especially among those with a tertiary qualification
and Labor voters. It appears that efforts among government and media elites to
undermine the enduring success of multicultural Australia have had very little
success, revealing the inclusivity and egalitarianism of the Australian population.
57 Curran 2002.
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