Customer Reviews

Multiethnic Australia: Its History and Future

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REVIEW FOR MULTIETHNIC AUSTRALIA by Celeste MacLeod

This is an engaging, extremely well written informative book about Australia, a country about which there are many myths, many negative stereotypes, and much misunderstanding.

MacLeod gets to the heart of the enigma that is Australia by the way she relates the beginnings of that nation to the changes that have occurred over the years. The basic strength of Australia as a parliamentary democracy lies in the concept that that there should be "a fair go" for everyone.

Without hitting the reader on the head, MacLeod shows us how forward looking policies, like a secret ballot, old-age pensions, and votes for women, all in place by 1902, plus since the 1970s, recognition of respect for different ethnicities, made it possible for Australia to grow and prosper. She does not gloss over past inequities, but she shows how positive progressive leadership leads to economic and social prosperity. I was engrossed in her description of how Australia accepted five million immigrants from two hundred and forty countries, including Asia, Africa and the Middle East after World War II, and helped them become integrated into Australian society. This is no small feat, but it worked because of a national multicultural policy that encouraged immigrants, as well as indigenous Aborigines, to retain their traditional cultures while becoming loyal Australians.

MacLeod shows the reader how the current regressive leadership of the Australian government is destroying many years of progress. It's so easy to wreck progressive social policy and so difficult to build and sustain it. She holds out hope for Australia, however, based on the unifying concept of "a fair go" for everyone.

This was so interesting that I couldn't put it down.

Rhoda Curtis, Instructor/Consultant, CalStateU-East Bay, Hayward

Multiethnic Australia: Its History and Future is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of this fascinating continent as well as those who might be considering immigration. The book covers a vast range of time and topics without being ponderous. It triggers the reader's desire to know the Australia of the future better: either in a sequel or through its amazingly diverse people, who call Australia home well into the 21st century.

Convicts were the first European settlers in Australia. To officials' surprise, convicts' children did not inherit "depraved" genes, but given a fair chance they thrived and became responsible citizens.

Early Australia was a rough and tumble place. In the early days when men vastly outnumbered women. There was wilderness, desert, vast expanses of country, ranches isolated by great distances. Cities grew up on the coasts: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane.

A "fair go" was an integral part of the vision of early Australia--at least a fair go for Caucasions. Indigenous people were treated terribly, killed off, persecuted, their culture nearly eradicated as children were separated from their parents.

In the 1960's this changed, and a more humane policy was adapted towards indigenous people. At the same, Australia was absorbing millions of refugees and immigrants from a multitude of countries.

Australia's underlying premise of "a fair go" has resulted in admirable social policies: health insurance, free education, old-age pensions, and more. It has resulted in a society to which other countries can look as a model.