The revival of the objective of assimilation of Aboriginal Australians and all migrants.

The drive to promote bellicose, flag-waving nationalism.

Support for US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the increased interference by Australia in the affairs of neighbouring countries in the Asia Pacific region and the promotion of militarism.

The appalling treatment of refugees displaced, to a great extent, by the actions of capitalist globalisation, with its consequent wars and economic and environmental devastation.

The attacks on democratic rights under the guise of combating "terrorism".

The denigration of Muslim Australians and the encouragement of intolerance in general.

The attacks on multiculturalism are, in essence, part of an overarching policy of cementing Australia more firmly into the US empire and giving further privileges to the transnational corporations favoured by US imperialism.

Howard and his more reactionary colleagues and supporters have never supported multiculturalism. In 1988 the PM said that Asian migration should be slowed to safeguard his version of Australian "values" and cultural identity. Last year, Liberal backbencher Dana Vale said that "we" are aborting ourselves into oblivion and that in 50 years we would have a Muslim Australia. The Federal Treasurer Peter Costello said, "If you don’t want to take your shoes off, don’t go into the mosque. If you want to come into Australia, you will be asked to respect its values."

One Nation founder Pauline Hanson said she felt vindicated by the Treasurer’s outburst. In fact, the Federal Government has been appropriating the xenophobic policies and language of Hanson’s now redundant party for quite some time. In 2001, at the opening of the Liberals’ federal election campaign — a campaign held in the shadow of the Tampa incident — Howard said provocatively: "We will decide who comes to this country, and the circumstances in which they come", ignoring every country’s obligation to assist refugees.

Multiculturalism is a process by which a new (in our case Australian) culture is derived from the interaction and merging of the various cultures present in the community. It is more than the simple sum of those cultures considered separately.

All these cultures have been developed in a long historical process in their original homelands. Because the cultures developed in class-exploitative societies, they all have their progressive and reactionary aspects.

The Communist Party of Australia (CPA) strongly supports multiculturalism and the development of an Australian culture based on what is good and progressive in the cultures present in Australia and arriving on its shores.

Multiculturalism as government policy in Australia dates from the time of the Whitlam Government. It replaced previous policies that sought to assimilate "new Australians" and impose an "Anglo Saxon" cultural stereotype on them. Multiculturalism encouraged ethnic communities to preserve their languages and to become involved in the teaching of them as community languages. It assisted ethnic communities to preserve their artistic and food culture and to share this heritage with all Australians of other backgrounds. A widespread misunderstanding of multiculturalism sees it as simply the spicing up of daily life with exotic food, music and festivals courtesy of this or that migrant group.

The CPA supports giving recognition, encouragement and assistance to ethnic communities to preserve the cultural heritage of their homelands. This in no way contradicts the support for the process of the continued development of Australian culture but, rather, enriches and complements it. From the outset, the CPA has supported the teaching of community languages in schools and institutions of higher education and welcomes the fact that, while English is the official and main language spoken, Australia is a multilingual as well as a multicultural society.

The Howard Government does not support any of these very widely accepted attitudes. The destruction of multiculturalism has been part of the unfinished business of the more reactionary Liberals who have set the government’s agenda since its election in 1996. One of the most recent acts of the federal government was to rename the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) and make it the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

"Citizenship", in the outlook of the Government, is not about the possession or granting of full political rights, but primarily the requirement for migrants to subscribe to Australian cultural, social and political capitalist values.

A major part of the government’s drive to impose its values involves the acceptance of the ruling class view of Australia’s history since colonisation. It is part of its motivation in moves to standardise school curricula across the country. Schools throughout the country must now sign up to the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools. They are obliged to fly the Australian Union Jack flag even though Australian patriotism has not traditionally been associated with flag-waving and today, also involves recognition of the Eureka and Aboriginal flags.

Howard apparently believes that the inhumane immigration and detention policies pursued by the government are an electoral asset as well as an aid to the preservation of a cultural "fortress Australia".

Why would Howard and his government want to make Australia a poorer place culturally and to invent threats to our cultural identity? Howard, personally, may very well believe in the superiority of Christianity over other religions and of the "Anglo Saxon" culture over other immigrant cultures. It should be pointed out, however, the cultural stereotype he seeks to impose has little to do with the actual traditions of peoples of the British Isles. The values and culture he promotes reflect the interests, attitudes and prejudices of the British and increasingly the US capitalist ruling class transplanted into Australian soil. He does not promote genuine patriotism; the pride working and other exploited Australians have in the achievements of their people and which goes hand-in-hand with internationalism and international solidarity. Howard is pushing the interests of the capitalist ruling class and bourgeois nationalism.

The capitalist ruling class knows that resistance to the policies that boost their interests can be weakened by dividing and distracting the working class. Religious and other cultural differences are small compared to the common interests workers have as exploited people. However, as has been seen throughout history, tensions arising from a shortage of jobs and services and declining living standards can be channelled into ethnic tensions.

The situation involving "457 Visas" and guest workers is a challenge to the working class. The capitalist ruling class see institutions like the "457 Visas" as a win/win scenario. The wages paid to "guest" workers can often be used to drive down local pay and conditions. This can provoke racism and nationalism on the part of local workers — responses that reinforce the system of capitalist exploitation and hamper the desire of most for friendly communities and a more just society.

Solidarity with "guest" workers and struggle for on equal treatment for foreign workers are the only proper responses for the labour movement.

The government is not seeking solutions to the problems suffered by remote Aboriginal communities — quite the contrary. Intolerance of these problems by the rest of Australian society is being fanned with the ultimate aim of allowing the conversion of Aboriginal lands into private property. The land would then be more easily accessed for resource development and other purposes.

The intolerance promoted by the government and large sections of the media can cause communities to withdraw into themselves and to divide people along ethnic lines. In these circumstances, the less open and less progressive aspects of the communities’ cultures are reinforced. It slows the process of multiculturalism.

These developments must be answered with working class unity and solidarity, the promotion of peace and a proper understanding of patriotism and multiculturalism. Citizenship, understood as the acquiring of full rights as a citizen, should be promoted.

Internationally, the fostering of fears about "Islamic terrorism" has been used to justify new wars to gain resources, markets and strategic assets for US imperialism. Howard has even more firmly linked Australia’s fate to that of US imperialism, effectively cutting Australia off from the development of a new and more progressive system of international relations.

Howard’s attacks on multiculturalism and the fostering of intolerance have been constant themes during his time in office. They are not peripheral or incidental but major components of his overall political agenda.

The CPA calls on the Federal Government to remove all legislation which makes it more difficult for migrants to settle in their new country.

Attempts to force people into one cultural or linguistic mould will not produce a harmonious society. Howard’s attacks on multiculturalism have already increased racial tensions and led directly to a number of racially based incidents.

It is vital to beat back the Howard Government’s attacks on multiculturalism which drag Australia back to the already failed policies of assimilation. Preceding governments attempted to impose these policies on the Indigenous people — the original inhabitants and owners of the Australian continent — but they failed.

Promotion of multiculturalism and acceptance that Australian society is also multilingual will, on the other hand, enrich the totality of Australia’s culture life. It will unite society and not divide it. It will create a tolerant and vibrant society.

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