The Stranger's Case

The immigration issue is front and centre in the Australian media, both social and legacy, at the moment.

There's an irony in the historical fact that our original settlers were outcasts, strangers, and people the British deported as criminals, at the same time as some are calling for deportation of "undesirables". Originally, the raison d'etre of our nation began with solving a problem of "undesirables".

Some of the posts on social media expose a deep seated fear of the "other", the "stranger". 

I look back on my lived experience, gentle reader, and remember how the presence of the "other", the stranger, influenced my attitudes and values.

I have an early memory of my mother giving a pair of my shoes to an aboriginal lad of my age when she was his teacher. The school was in central Queensland, and the bitumen road used to burn his feet when he walked to school. I wasn't happy, because they were my "good" shoes, and I was very proud of them, but understood in my child's mind, her motive.

Mum's values of compassion have been passed on to me and my five siblings.

When I was posted to an infantry unit (7 RAR) in 1969, I ended up in a rifle section which included a West Indian corporal who was our boss, and many of the platoon members  would be regarded by some as "others".

They included a bloke who was Polish, born in Berlin of refugee parents, a British migrant who was unlucky enough to be in Australia when he turned twenty, and was thus included in the national service lottery draw, a Sri Lankan with a Scottish name, a Murri from Central Australia, and a Bundjalung man from NSW. 

I remember at Canungra when we were practicing contact drills and shouting orders, that one of the Canungra staff observed "These blokes need an interpreter".

Nevertheless, we worked well as a unit, and were consequential in 5 platoon winning the best platoon competition.

During my working life I taught in special schools, and ran five of them at different stages. I remember a very effective Asian Occupational Therapist, and staff from all over the globe. 

Later, in a regional management position in remote North West Queensland, I was the only non-Aboriginal person on a NATSIEP* committee, and spent hours travelling and working with the committee, many of whom were members of then stolen generation.

So when I hear some of the bile directed at migrants ("others") it makes me wonder what these people fear.

Perhaps we have to go back to the immortal bard to understand where this bile is coming from. Sir Ian McKellen appeared on Stephen Colbert's Late show in February this year, and read a piece written by Shakespeare in 1593.

This 400 year-old piece puts it very clearly. It's worth a watch and a listen. 

*National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders' Education Programme