Tyson, Nathan --- "Book Review - Race: John Howard and the Remaking of Australia" [2002] IndigLawB 18; (2002) 5(15) Indigenous Law Bulletin 23

Book Review

Race: John Howard and the Remaking of Australia

by Andrew Markus
Allen & Unwin 2001
270 p
RRP $29.95

Reviewed by Nathan Tyson

Over the last two centuries Aboriginal people have experienced countless injustices at the hands of those that consider bigotry to be justified as part of a ‘natural order’. Individuals holding significant positions of power within Australia, who consider ideologies of racial and cultural superiority to be acceptable, have used race politics to preserve this ‘natural order’.

In his latest book, Race: John Howard and the remaking of Australia, Andrew Markus considers and comments upon the development and influence of race in contemporary Australian politics. Markus provides a highly informative overview of the manner in which a number of prominent politicians and other interested parties have strategically used issues of race and immigration in an attempt to stimulate public debate and achieve political outcomes.

Markus examines the history of race politics in Australia from the abandonment of the White Australia policy in the late 1960s, to the development of race discrimination legislation in the 1970s, and the rise of a mining industry campaign to defeat proposed land rights legislation in 1983. Most significantly he examines the end of bipartisan political agreement on the fundamentals of race and immigration policy in 1996 when ‘... Howard led the assault on bipartisan policies which broke down the process of reconciliation ... [and] ... alienated moderate Aboriginal leadership’.[1]

The author argues that the re-emergence of racial issues is a result of a ‘complex conjunction of factors’, which includes the New Right mobilisation, the construction of meanings based on the ideal of ‘one nation’ in the mainstream of Australian politics and the role of John Howard in the electoral positioning of the Liberal Party. Markus also highlights the influence that the values and policies of the far right had in the re-emergence of race politics in Australia, as well as the impact of traditional populist politics.[2]

Markus critically examines the double standard that is a hallmark of race politics. For example, Markus considers the statements of such people as Geoffrey Blainey and Hugh Morgan, ‘leading propagandists’ of the ‘New Right’, in the Mabo debate.[3] He insightfully warns us that:

The critics of Mabo sought to enlist ‘common sense’ and logic for their cause, while ignoring the possibility that Aboriginal people were not claiming special rights but rights similar to any other litigant pursuing their interest in property as recognisable in common law.[4]

Markus also comments on this double standard when he points out the contradiction of politicians, academics and others opposing ‘special benefits’ for groups such as Indigenous people on the one hand, while proposing increased spending for rural communities and ‘emergency relief’ for landholders on the other.

The role of John Howard and Pauline Hanson in the rise of race politics is closely reviewed in this book. In a highly critical examination of John Howard’s role, Markus explains that ‘[i]n the first four years of his prime ministership Howard had visited just one Aboriginal community.’[5] According to Markus this meant that the Prime Minister had no intention to learn from first hand experience. Instead the government, distanced from the implications of its policies, would be the one to set the standards, and ‘Aboriginal people would be the ones to make accommodations’.[6]

On the role of Pauline Hanson in the re-emergence of race politics Markus suggests:

An essential part of the context of Hanson’s idealisation of Australian history is denial of the existence and hence structural impact of racism. Refusal to accept the reality of the historical record led Hanson to present a mythical picture of a past before the advocacy of Aboriginal rights, ... when Aboriginal people and pastoralists amicably coexisted.[7]

The involvement of far right organisations, including The League of Rights, Australians Against Further Immigration, the Confederate Action Party and the gun lobby, in the re-emergence of race politics is also discussed.

Race: John Howard and the remaking of Australia is essential reading for anyone wishing to become more informed on the use of race issues in political strategy. The book is well researched, with an abundance of statistical and comparative analysis. Empirical data and constructive insight are well used to substantiate Markus’ commentary. I particularly recommend the book to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, policy advisors and advocates, and anyone that was less than impressed by Pauline Hanson.

Nathan Tyson is an Indigenous Conciliation Officer with the New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Board and is a team leader of the Board’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Outreach Team.

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[1] Andrew Markus, Race: John Howard and the remaking of Australia (2001) 220.

[2] Ibid 113.

[3] Ibid 49-51.

[4] Ibid 80.

[5] Ibid 106.

[6] Ibid 106.

[7] Ibid 192.