Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T16:22:46.644Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘Life in one colour’: Indian Australian perceptions of social inclusion in regional Queensland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2014

Robert Mason  and
Dianne Jones
Robert Mason
Affiliation:
[email protected]
Dianne Jones
Affiliation:
[email protected]
Get access

Extract

In April 2010, an Indian university student was robbed while leaving the campus of his university in regional Queensland. Soon afterwards, the local newspaper described how a ‘gunman’ had accosted the student and ‘forced [him] to lay [sic] face-down on the ground’. The event was not isolated in the national context; there had been a sharp rise in media reports of violence against Indian students in Australia during the preceding six months. The attack in the regional city of Toowoomba appeared to echo these other incidents, given that the victim was an Indian student and the alleged perpetrators were young white Australian males. The case called our attention to how reports of violent racism in metropolitan centres might affect perceptions of social inclusion in regional communities.

Type
Articles
Information
Queensland Review , Volume 21 , Issue 2: Special Issue on Migration , December 2014 , pp. 203 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Endnotes

1 L. Burley, ‘Student robbed at gunpoint’, The Chronicle, 29 April 2010, 3.

2 See, for example, NDTV, ‘“Buddy, are you Indian?” Asked Oz teens before attack’, 27 September 2010, http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/buddy-are-you-indian-asked-oz-teens-before-attack-54994.

3 Wimmer, Roger and Dominick, Joseph R., Mass media research: An introduction, 6th ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2000)Google Scholar.

4 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006 Census of population and housing Toowoomba (Qld) (Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2007)Google Scholar, http://www.abs.gov.au.

5 Hage, Ghassan, White nation: Fantasies of white supremacy in a multicultural society (New York: Routledge, 2000)Google Scholar.

6 Phillips, J., Klapdor, M. and Simon-Davies, J., Migration to Australia since Federation: A guide to the statistics (Canberra: Parliamentary Library, 2010)Google Scholar, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/158143/upload_binary/158143.pdf.

7 Vertovec, Steve, Migration and social cohesion (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1999)Google Scholar.

8 Chand, A., ‘The Fiji Indian chutney generation: The cultural spread between Fiji and Australia’, International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics 3 (2) (2007), 131–48CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

9 Friesen, Ward, ‘The evolution of “Indian” identity and transnationalism in New Zealand’, Australian Geographer 39 (1) (2008), 45–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Historical migration statistics: Australia's estimated residential population by country of birth at 30 June 2011 (Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 2014)Google Scholar, http://www.immi.gov.au/media/statistics/historical-migration-stats.htm.

11 Vahed, G., ‘Adaptation and integration of Indian migrants in Brisbane, Australia’, in Parekh, Bhikhu, Singh, Gurharpal and Vertovec, Steve (eds), Indian diaspora (London: Routledge, 2013), pp. 37–51Google Scholar.

12 Xiang, B., ‘Structuration of Indian information technology professionals’ migration to Australia: An ethnographic study’, International Migration 39 (5) (2001), 73–90Google Scholar.

13 Voigt-Graf, C., ‘The construction of transnational spaces by Indian migrants in Australia’, Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies 31 (2) (2005), 365–84CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14 Biao, Xiang, ‘Gender, dowry and the migration system of Indian information technology professionals’, Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 12 (2005), 357–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Foroutan, Yaghoob, ‘South Asian female migrants’ work differentials: multicultural assessment’, South Asia Research, 28 (2008), 203–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

15 Singh, Supriya, Cabraal, Anuja, Robertson, Shanthi, ‘Remittances as a currency of care: A focus on “twice migrants” among the Indian diaspora in Australia’, Journal of Comparative Family Studies 41 (2) (2010), 245–63Google Scholar.

16 Caluya, Gilbert, Probyn, Elspeth and Vyas, Shvetal, ‘“Affective eduscapes”: The case of Indian students within Australian international higher education’, Cambridge Journal of Education 41, no. 1 (2011), 85–99CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

17 Lakha, S., ‘Negotiating the transnational workplace: Indian computer professionals in Australia’, Journal of Intercultural Studies 26, no. 4 (2005), 337–59CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

18 Coleridge, B., ‘Stairway to international student security’, Eureka Street 19 (2009), 33–4Google Scholar.

19 Neilson, Brett, ‘The world seen from a taxi: Students-migrants-workers in the global multiplication of labour’, Subjectivities 29 (2009), 425–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

20 Australian Education International, Research snapshot: Onshore higher education international students (Canberra: Australian Government, 2011)Google Scholar.

21 Markus, Andrew, Scanlon Foundation mapping social cohesion report (Melbourne: Monash University, 2013)Google Scholar.

22 J. Taylor, ‘Refugees and regional settlement: win-win?’, Paper presented to Australian Social Policy Conference, University of New South Wales, 2005.

23 McDonald-Wilmsen, B.et al., ‘Resettling refugees in rural and regional Australia: Learning from recent policy and program initiatives’, Australian Journal of Public Administration 68 (1) (2009), 97–111CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Missingham, Bruce, Dibden, Jacqui and Cocklin, Chris, ‘A multicultural countryside? Ethnic minorities in rural Australia’, Rural Society 16 (2) (2006), 131–50CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

24 Schech, S., ‘Silent bargain or rural cosmopolitanism? refugee settlement in regional Australia’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 40 (4) (2014), 601–18CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

25 Australian Bureau of Statistics, National regional profile: Queensland 2007–2011 (Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013)Google Scholar, http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/Latestproducts/3Population/People12007-2011?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3&issue=2007-2011.

26 Mudaliar, A., ‘Discord down under’, Kennedy School Review 10 (2010), 130Google Scholar.

27 Dunn, Kevin, Pelleri, Danielle and Maeder-Han, Karin, ‘Attacks on Indian students: The commerce of denial in Australia’, Race and Class 52 (4) (2011), 73CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

28 Arjun Ramachandran, ‘Indian student bashings on the rise in Sydney: Community leader’, Sydney Morning Herald, 29 May 2009, http://www.smh.com.au/national/indian-student-bashings-on-the-rise-in-sydney-community-leader-20090529-bpxy.html.

29 Nyland, Chris and Forbes-Mewett, Helen, ‘The international student safety debate: Moving beyond denial’, Higher Education Research and Development 29 (1) (2010), 95CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

30 Dunn, Pelleri and Maeder-Han, ‘Attacks on Indian students’, 77.

31 Dunn, Pelleri and Maeder-Han, ‘Attacks on Indian students’, 77.

32 ‘Police outraged by Indian KKK cartoon’, ABC News, 8 January 2010, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-01-08/police-outraged-by-indian-kkk-cartoon; ‘Indian “racist police” cartoon angers Australia’, BBC News, 8 January 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8447465.stm; ‘Ku Klux Klan ad in India angers Australia’, NDTV, 8 January 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMAomMDuzIE; L. Wilson, ‘Police smeared in Indian newspaper as “Ku Klux Klan”’, Australian, 8 January 2010, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/police-smeared-in-indian-newspaper-as-ku-klux-klan/story-e6frg6nf-1225817145020.

33 Dunn, Pelleri and Maeder-Han, ‘Attacks on Indian students’, 84.

34 Interview 1, 12 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

35 Interview 6, 28 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

36 Interview 7, 30 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

37 Interview 9, 30 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

38 Interview 14, 14 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

39 Interview 16, 20 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

40 Interview 6, 28 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

41 Dwyer, T.et al., Content consolidation and clout: How will regional Australia be affected by media ownership changes? (Melbourne: Communications Law Centre, 2006)Google Scholar.

42 Simons, M., The content makers: Understanding the media in Australia (Ringwood: Penguin, 2007), p. 403Google Scholar.

43 Cunningham, Stuart and Sinclair, John, Floating lives: The media and Asian diasporas (Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001)Google Scholar.

44 Friesen, ‘The evolution of “Indian” identity and transnationalism in New Zealand’, 53.

45 Meadows, Michaelet al., Community media matters report (Brisbane: Griffith University, 2007)Google Scholar; for an exception see Forde, Susan, Foxwell, Kerrie and Meadows, Michael, Developing dialogues: Indigenous and ethnic community broadcasting in Australia (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009)Google Scholar.

46 Further discussion of this topic lies beyond the scope of this article. For detail, see van Vuuren, Kitty, ‘Contours of community: The independent community press in Southeast Queensland, 2006’, Media International Australia 124 (2007), 96–107Google Scholar.

47 Wanning, Sunet al., ‘The Chinese-language press in Australia: A preliminary scoping study’, Media International Australia 138 (2011), 137–48Google Scholar.

48 See, for example, ‘Indian girls saved from prostitution by Aussie charity’, The Chronicle, 10 June 2013, http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/initiative-changes-lives-india-slum/1900555; Lee Gailer, ‘AA women carry message to India’, The Chronicle, 8 April 2013, http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/aa-women-carry-message/1820927.

49 See, for example, Gen Kennedy, ‘Toowoomba's multi-cultural models take to the catwalk’, The Chronicle, 10 March 2014, http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/multi-cultural-models-take-to-the-catwalk/21929442; Megan Masters, ‘Taste of Indian comes to Toowoomba for Onam festival’, The Chronicle, 16 September 2013, http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/foodies-in-taste-of-india-toowoomba/2021326.

50 Interview 12, 4 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

51 Interview 11, 4 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

52 ‘Ministers and professors make tracks to mosque opening’, The Chronicle, 22 March 2014, http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/a-whos-who-of-toowoomba-religious-and-political/2206014; Letitia Commerford, ‘Spice n flavor adds recent awards to tally of gongs’, The Chronicle, 19 November 2013, http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/restaurant-adds-to-tally-of-gongs/2087735.

53 ‘Eleven cricketing Singhs make a Singh XI’, The Chronicle, 29 November 2013, http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/singhs-are-more-than-just-a-name/2097796.

54 ‘Indians think Australia is dangerous but good place to study’, The Chronicle, 17 April 2013, http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/indians-think-australia-dangerous-place-study/1833580.

55 Interview 8, 30 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

56 Interview 13, 11 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

57 Interview 20, 4 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

58 ‘Vibrant Indian traditions to be celebrated at festival’, The Chronicle, 14 September 2013, http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/vibrant-indian-traditions-be-celebrated-festival/2019896.

59 Forbes-Mewett, Helen and Nyland, Chris, ‘Cultural diversity, relocation, and the security of international students at an internationalised university’, Journal of Studies in International Education 12 (2) (2011), 181–203CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

60 Interview 1, 12 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

61 Interview 1, 12 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

62 Interview 17, 3 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

63 Interview 16, 20 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

64 Interview 6, 28 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

65 Interview 20, 4 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

66 Interview 20, 4 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

67 Interview 14, 14 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

68 Interview 4, 25 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

69 Interview 15, 14 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

70 Interview 17, 3 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland; Interview 12, 4 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

71 Interview 9, 30 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

72 Interview 5, 26 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

73 Interview 12, 4 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

74 Interview 18, 3 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

75 Interview 1, 12 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

76 Interview 9, 30 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

77 Interview 16, 20 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

78 Interview 17, 3 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

79 ‘A culturally inclusive city; I certainly don't think so!’, The Chronicle, 12 March 2013, http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/toowoomba-multi-cultural-i-dont-think-so/1788516.

80 Interview 15, 14 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

81 Stuart Cumming, ‘Safety no issue for Indian community’, The Chronicle, 17 July 2009, http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/safety-no-issue-indian-community/274099.

82 Interview 9, 30 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

83 Interview 11, 4 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

84 Interview 16, 20 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

85 Interview 13, 11 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

86 Interview 17, 3 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

87 Interview 4, 25 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

88 Interview 5, 26 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

89 Interview 15, 14 April 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

90 Interview 20, 4 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

91 Interview 9, 30 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

92 Interview 6, 28 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

93 Interview 19, 3 May 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

94 Interview 8, 30 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.

95 Interview 6, 28 March 2011, Toowoomba, Queensland.