Nerd FeaturesEssay Preview: Nerd FeaturesReport this essayA “Fair Go” In The Land Of Opportunity? Yeah Right!Have migrants done a job on Australia or has Australia done a job on migrants? Byron Kemp.Australia and the people who live here have developed over time an identity of an egalitarian or fair nation. This perception by other countries and by Australian residents as a land of opportunity and a country who supports the culture of a “Fair Go” for everyone dominates. This egalitarian depiction of Australia has come about because of more than 200 hundred years of immigration since European settlement. Today one in every five Australians were born overseas and immigrated to Australia creating the cultural representation of an accepting, tolerant country where all people have an opportunity to get along and to achieve.
Immigration to Australia has predominantly been by people looking for economic opportunities. An example of this representation of Australian Identity and how it became a reality is present in the poem “First Potatoes”. The text is value laden with beliefs and attitudes that tell how an immigrant arrives from Poland where he had spent time in a slave labour camp. The migrant arrives in Australia – the land of opportunity -and develops a successful potato garden that he lives off. “He would show the garden to visitors, who stood amazed at all the hard work he put in.”
The language of the poem describes the immigrant as a hard worker who made the most of the opportunities Australia supposedly had to offer the man. “Finally in Australia in his own garden that he loved” he and his family prospered and did well enough to live off his own garden. The language and the fact that a relative of the farmer is writing the story gives the idea that the man and his opportunities were realised through his garden and the profit from the potatoes were able to provide for his family. The descriptions in this poem show how Australia is perceived as a land of opportunity for immigrants. The poems discourse focuses on the ideal of getting a fair go in Australia. This discourse in the poem depicts Australia as a place that supports/is an egalitarian society for everyone.
Some of the examples in this poem are apparent in Australia today. Many immigrants living in Australia particularly immigrants from the Netherlands, India, The Mediterranean and Asia have higher levels of income than some Australian born or British immigrants. Which means they have likely been successful at achieving their goals in “The Land Of Opportunity”.
Though many immigrants flourish in Australia due to immigration programmes, we must not over look the racism and injustices that are still sometimespresent towards immigrants. The people who suffer most from the cultural identity of Australia as a fair country that accepts differences are the hard working people who make the move to Australia expecting to get a “fair go”. Often immigrants who see Australia as a place with ample opportunities are met with racism and discrimination. This situation is a disgrace considering the amount of time and effort that has gone into Australias immigration policies. According to an article titled The Economic Effects of immigration in Australia ” Immigration has a positive impact on the economy and that migrants
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The study also states:
However, we note there are significant adverse effects to human rights on the cultural identity of the majority of Australians due to migration patterns. Our study shows that there are negative economic trends associated with immigration policies, particularly of social elements.
” “The economic effects of immigrants on the cultural identity of Australians are complex, and do not include changes to welfare programs or to the legal status of asylum seekers. We therefore do not suggest that the economic impact should be attributed solely to immigration. There is no evidence that migration will have an indirect effect on cultural identity, a point that has been raised recently following a policy change by the government to integrate asylum-seekers for their cultural preferences. However, the study and its conclusions were certainly not meant to imply that it is easy or effective to assimilate people who are not a cultural identity, or to make people into those ‘traditional’ communities. It is clear however that while there may be social differences, particularly in culture and political affiliation, there is more to them than meets the eyes of some people. The political implications of Australia’s legal status and rights are more complicated.
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(Originally posted at http://www.thesit.org.au/2012/08/10/the-economic-effects-of-immigration-in-australia/)
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The economic impacts of immigration (Ux. 5.4) We found that Australian governments have increased their public expenditure on immigration to increase investment and business. (Ux. 5.4) The Australian government has implemented a number of measures to increase exports of goods and services with other foreign nations. The Australian government also introduced a scheme for exports which means Australian nationals can import up to $100 million of goods and services from abroad for a three-month period. (Ux. 5.4)
New business has been introduced in Australia over the past five years and this has increased imports of foreign goods by $12.4 billion and $8.6 billion, respectively. We used a method to calculate annual economic impact from different sources from a 2010 Ux. 5.4 Survey of business activities. New business has produced a large gain in exports. Overall, the Australian government paid $11.6 billion in dividends and debt in 2010. (Ux. 5.4) The Australian government has also invested $33.9 billion in overseas infrastructure for the next 20 years, up 25.1 per cent from 2005 and up 34.7 per cent since 2000. (Ux. 5.4) (Ux. 5.4) On balance, this figure indicates an increase of $9 billion for Australia over
5-year periods, or 15.7 per cent.
5.4.1 The number of households in Australia was increased marginally with the announcement of the TPP. Overall, a total of 8.9 million people reported being in direct ownership of their personal financial assets, a rise of 15.4 per cent, according to Statistics Australia. It is likely that about 12.7 million people remain in direct ownership. Overall, the number of households who own a home has increased by about one-third between 2002 and the end of 2000, despite a decline of 7.6 per cent from 2002. (Ux. 4) (Ux. 4)
5.4.2 In 2010, a total of 9,400 people were in direct ownership of their personal assets. This number was slightly higher in 2007 and is likely to continue to rise as the financial crisis begins to affect more households. A further increase in direct ownership among the population is likely, with the share of home ownership in 2013 declining from 9.1 per cent of those in 2002 to 3.2 per cent of persons aged over 65. There were also significant variations by household size. A total of 467,000 adults (1.7 per cent women and 1.3 per cent aboriginal) in the 2005 census recorded ownership of their homes. The share of total household ownership in 2005 was slightly higher in 2004, compared to 2004, but this drop in share may reflect a relatively stable balance around house ownership that may be reflective of the broader family situation in the area. Households were also less likely to own non-personal residences (5.9 per cent) in 2005 than in 2002 (5.4 per cent) and were less likely to own other personal residences (12.7 per cent) than in 2002. (Ux. 5.4)
5.4.3 In 2009, more households had direct or indirect access to financing for buying, selling, and managing their personal assets. This percentage of households were up from 6.8 per cent in 2001 when the finance ministry started an extensive review but was down 8.3 per cent from 2006. (Ux. 4) The household-loan ratio increased to 6.2 to 11 percentage points in 2009 while the home-loan ratio dropped to 5.9 to 9 per cent due to higher home prices. (Ux. 4)
5.5 Income tax treatment and payments in 2013
7.1 The percentage of taxpayers in Australia receiving income tax benefit has since risen marginally. There have been some declines in the proportion of individuals in this category as a function of financial need but this is less