We have done a lot right as a nation during the pandemic, but on the whole we have not treated foreigners as well as we might have. The inequality of treatment has been in evidence during the twin health and economic crises brought on by COVID-19.
Foreigners who have found themselves stuck in Australia and, strangely, Australians stuck overseas have been among those who have been largely forgotten. Responsibility for these omissions has largely rested with the federal government.
Through its generous JobSeeker and JobKeeper programs, the government has attempted to support the economic circumstances of Australian citizens and industries. Simultaneously, the health emergency has been addressed effectively through closure of all but essential businesses, international and domestic border controls and enforced social distancing. This health response has largely caused the economic crisis.
There are many categories of foreigners in Australia holding a variety of visas, some specific to categories such as New Zealanders. These include workers, students, refugees and tourists. Old and young, they come from virtually every country in the world. Some are on their own, while others are with some other family members. Most are a long way from home. Those in work are found in just about every sector of the economy. Their economic circumstances vary from the relatively comfortable to the absolutely desperate.
Looking after their welfare is undoubtedly a moral obligation, given that we share a common humanity of greater value than any national citizenship. Welcoming strangers is a deeply held humanist and religious value.
Welcome also should be seen as a reciprocal social obligation given that at any time, and certainly during this pandemic, in just about every category bar refugees there are Australian citizens in similar situations spread around the world.
'Lying behind these policies has been an attitude of exclusion and off-handedness. It has been an Australians First policy by Team Australia.'
In various ways caring for these strangers in our midst is also in our national self-interest. Our economy needs the continued participation of foreign workers. International travel restrictions preventing crucial immigration over the next twelve months means that it is in our national economic self-interest for them to remain in Australia, with adequate income support, if they wish to do so.
Yet during the crisis their needs have been largely neglected and their welfare has often been treated as of secondary importance at best. This general point can be illustrated in various ways.
Those directly in the Australian workforce have often worked in temporary or casual jobs, many in the hardest hit sectors such as hospitality and retail.
International students, another important category which forms a huge export industry, have usually supplemented their income through casual work of the above kind.
A smaller category, but high profile, has been those thousands of foreign workers trapped on cruise ships stuck in Australian waters.
In all cases the go home ASAP treatment of these foreign workers has been dismissive and unworthy.
Generally this has been demonstrated through their exclusion from the various income protection schemes. But, even worse than this, lying behind these policies has been an attitude of exclusion and off-handedness. It has been an Australians First policy by Team Australia.
The treatment of the foreign workforce of the notorious Ruby Princess, for instance, was hard-hearted. They were shunted off to Port Kembla with too little attention given to their obvious health needs. Many were COVID-19 positive. The eventual departure of the ship from Australian waters was ordered with almost breathless anticipation.
A footnote to our treatment of foreigners in Australia has been the patchy attention given by our government to those Australians caught overseas working, travelling or cruising. Some notably good steps were taken but there was also plenty of neglect. Many still overseas but wanting to return need assistance desperately. The market option seems to have been given priority when other governments, like the UK, have taken more extensive direct care of their offshore citizens. If it wasn’t for efforts by private businesses and groups the situation would have been much worse. An opportunity for international collaboration in caring for travellers around the world was missed.
It is not too late for the nation to insist that the federal government lifts its game in this regard. Already some state governments and charities, as well as individual employers, universities and communities, have begun to recognize the limitations in our care and begun to fill the gaps. Much more needs to be done or our national reputation as a caring nation will suffer irreparable damage.
John Warhurst is an Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University and Chair of Concerned Catholics Canberra Goulburn. He is a PC 2020 delegate from the Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn.
Main image: Ruby Princess ship (Getty Images/Mark Metcalfe)