As far as the incorporation of the immigrants in the Australian society is concerned, the Minister for Finance Lindsay Tanner expresses his opinion in “The Sydney Morning Herald”.
Mr. Tanner who won’t be a parliamentary candidate in the next elections, is a philhellene and he speaks fluently Greek and so do his children. His article emphasizes on the problems the African immigrants cope with in order to be incorporated to the Australian Society while he also mentions the successful incorporation of the Greek immigrants.
He also refers to the movie “The kings of Mykonos” which focuses on the conflict between the two cultures: not between the Greek culture and the Australian one but between the Greek and the Greek- Australian culture. He says that in reality, the Greek-Australians are totally Australians and have influenced to a great extent the development of the Australian identity as a whole. 40 or 50 years ago, the Greek immigrants faced problems of discrimination, racism and difficulties in their incorporation, similar to those faced by the Africans today. But in this day and age, the satiric movies concern the Greek-Australian identity which In reality is Australian.
In addition, he makes an appeal for supporting the incorporation of the African immigrants in Australia, underlining that the social incorporation is a bidirectional procedure: The new immigrants have to be adapted to the laws and customs of the new country.
The Australian have to give them space and permission to maintain their culture and identity and ensure that they will be given the same opportunities everyone else has. This procedure is undoubtedly complex and difficult. “We managed to incorporate many different groups of various places of the world and we are proud of the results” says the Australian Minister.
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