MIGRATION ACTION Vol. XVIII, Number 2 LIBRARY October, 1996 ®0™E;iHOOD°f SI LAURENCE 67 BRUNSWICK STREET FITZROY VICTORIA 3065 Citizenship One nation, many cultures A Selection from the CHOMI Bookshop B01 Behind the lines by Peter George: ABC, 1996, 229pp. $17.95 B02 Journeys to justice by Phillip Hunt: Harper Collins, 1996 $16.95 B03 Miracle of the waters by Zeny Giles: Giles, 1996 reprint, 141pp. Price on request X01 Cutting the rose: female genital mutilation: the practice and its prevention $49.95 by Efua Dorkenoo: Minority Rights, 1995 X02 Claiming a continent by David Day: Angus & Robertson, 1996, 487pp. $19.95 X03 Demidedenko file by John Jost et al.: Penguin, 1996, 300pp. $14.95 X04 The Indochinese in Australia: from burnt boats to barbecues $24.95 by Nancy Viviani: Oxford Press, 1996, 207pp. X05 Aboriginal sovereignty by Henry Reynolds: Allen & Unwin, 1996, 221pp. $17.95 X06 1788 edited by Watkin Tench with an introduction $16.95 by Tim Flannery: Text Publishing, 1996, 276pp. X07 Wogfood: an oral history with recipes by John Newton: Random House, $24.95 1996, 240pp. X08 Women’s business by Chris Kenny: Duffy & Snellgrove, 1996 $19.95 W01 Eating fire and drinking water $16.95 by Arlene J. Chai: Random House, 1996, 551pp. W02 In our own day by Matthew Karpin: New Endeavour Press, 1996, 144pp. $14.95 W03 A stranger here by Gillian Bouras: Penguin, 1996, 247pp. $16.95 MAP 78 The development of migrant settlement and welfare in Australia Price on by Kimba F. Chu: CHOMI, 1996 request MAP 79 Childbirth experiences: women from the Horn of Africa Price on by Roslyn Macvean and Caroline Kop: CHOMI, 1996 request MAP 80 Joining the grand-children: the life, health, and use of medicine amongst Price on elderly Korean immigrants in Australia by Gil Soo Han: CHOMI, 1996 request Purchases from the CHOMI Bookshop may be made by phone on (03) 9416 0044 or fax(03) 9416 1827 or by mail to the Ecumenical Migration Centre, PO Box 1389 Collingwood Victoria, 3065. Please note that prices are subject to change. / igration A ction MIGRATION ACTION Contents VO L XVIII, NUMBER 2, Immigrants, Australian citizenship and national identity OCTOBER 1996 John Goldlust and Trevor Batrouney....................................... 3 ISSN: 0311-3760 Citizenship and Constitutional reform: a just republic — or just a republic? Migration Action Michael Salvaris......................................................................... 9 is published by the Ecumenical Migration Centre, The Politics of Difference 161 Victoria Pde, Collingwood, Jose Simsa.................................................................................15 Victoria, Australia, 3066. Citizenship in Australia: an indigenous perspective Tel:+61 3 9416 0044 Fax: +61 3 9416 1827 Michael Dodson........................................................................17 EMC is a non-government agency which, through Australian Citizenship: What does it mean today? its welfare, educational, project and community Kim Rubenstein....................................................................... 22 work fosters the development of Australia as a multicultural society. The centre has been working Who are the Citizens? with migrants since 1962. Margaret Thornton..................................................................26 Its work is diversified, from community service Public journalism, public participation and Australian Citizenship and development to social action and community education. Cratis Hippocrates and Clem Lloyd....................................... 30 Within a framework of ensuring equal access and Citizens of the world or citizens of a community: Just where is the rights for all Australian society, EMC provides Internet heading? counselling services and community development Larry Stillman.......................................................................... 35 activities to a number of ethnic communities, both established and newly arrived. Double fascination: identity and citizenship of Iranian women in EMC also initiates research towards an understand­ Perth ing of a range of issues, and promotes change Nezhat Toolo & Siavash Shakibaee.........................................37 where necessary. EMC operates a Documentation Centre comprising a library, a bookshop and a publishing house, for­ merly the Clearing House on Migration Issues (CHOMI), This is an unique information centre on migrant, refugee and ethnic issues. The library holds over 40,000 documents and 250 periodicals which are used by students, teachers, government departments, community organisations and other seeking up-to-date information and undertaking research. Editorial Committee: Basil Varghese, Kathy Laster, Anne Seitz, Glen Coomber, Margret Holding, Kimba Chu, Hugh Martin and Vivian Papaleo Editing, design and production: Ecumenical Migration Centre Printing: Art Offset It is not the intention of this journal to reflect the opinions of either the staff or the committee of EMC. In many matters this would be difficult to ascertain, nor do the editors think it desirable. The aim of the journal is to be informative and stimulating through its various articles, sug­ gestions and comments. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: (per volume of 3 issues) — $20.00 (EMC member) — $25 (Student) —$36.00 (Individual) — $45.00 (Institutions) — $50.00 (Abroad) — Single issue: $8.00 OCTOBER 1996 1 D I TO RI A L One nation, many cultures In recent years we, in Australia, have been known to In this issue of Migration Action John Goldlust and boast that we have perfected multiculturalism, after- Trevor Batrouney put citizenship in Australia in a all, we are a nation made up of many cultures. We are historical context for us and begin to explore why the a tolerant people accepting of the many new peoples immigrant might decide to become a citizen. Michael who come to our shores wanting to make Australia Salvaris looks at the possibilities for constitutional their home. Our ancestors, if not ourselves, originally reform and democratic citizenship in Australia. came from another country. We enjoy the foods, drive the cars, watch the films which originate from Michael Dodson points out that before 1967 Aborig­ different lands, we are well-travelled and consider inal and Torrres Strait Islander peoples were denied ourselves ‘cultured’. citizenship in their own land and he draws our atten­ tion to the fact that as this nation’s First Peoples the In recent times we have uncovered the weak link in participation of Indigenous peoples is imperative in that chain that binds the numerous cultures that are any discussion on citizenship. now contributing to the development of the ‘Austral- ianness’. We have, in fact, shown ourselves not only Kim Rubenstein examines the three conceptions of to be intolerant but potentially unaccepting of that citizenship in Australia today - the legal status of the which we do not understand and feel threatened by. individual, his or her participation and membership in a democratic community and citizenship as akin to Having the citizenship of a particular country gener­ civic virtue and civic knowledge. Margaret Thornton ally means you are recognised officially and asks whether the law treats all citizens equally and accepted as a member of that country, with certain finds that it can often discriminate against the most rights and responsibilities. vulnerable in our community. From this time forward, under God,1 Cratis Hippocrates and Clem Lloyd ask whether I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, ‘public journalism’ is happening in Australia as is whose democratic beliefs / share, being experienced in the United States. Larry Still­ whose rights and liberties I respect, and man looks at the use of the Internet and where it is whose laws I will uphold and obey. heading, and as the world around us shrinks he asks if we are citizens of the world or citizens of a com­ Every time an immigrant decides to become a citizen munity. of Australia he makes this pledge of commitment as a citizen of the Commonwealth. 1 2. Lastly, Nezhat Toolo and Siavash Shakibaee take a look at one particular cultural group, Iranian women Why should the new arrival consider becoming an living in Perth, their search for identity and what cit­ Australian? izenship means to them. 1. The new citizen has the choice of making the pledge with or without Vivian Papaleo the words “under God”. on behalf of 2. Fact Sheet, Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Sep­ tember 1996. The Editorial Committee. Front cover: Newly naturalised citizens being addressed by the Mayor of Manly, Aid. J.W.A. Paton January 1961. (Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs photograph) Photos: EMC thanks the Department o f Immigration and Multicultural Affairs for permission to reprint photographs on pages 11 and 27 from the DIMA Photographic Archive collection. 2 OCTOBER 1996 / igration A ction Immigrants, Australian citi= zenship and national identity1 John Goldlust and Trevor Batrouney tion’ and, again in the early 1980s, by the adoption of the broad policy of ‘multiculturalism’. The early years of this Historical background period also coincided with the final abandonment of the last vestiges of the ‘White Australia’ policy as evidenced 1949-66: Australian citizenship as a symbol of mem­ by the shift, from 1973, to an immigration policy of non­ bership in the ‘Anglo-Australian’ nation discrimination on the basis of race, colour or nationality. In the late 1940s the Australian Government committed In the two decades since, an increasing