Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

4

MichelleBarker

andCristinaRocha

approach

tothe

globalhistory

ofBuddhism.ratherthana

separate

national

analysis‘

(Cox

andGriffin

2009:

9S).

Rocha‘s

study

of

BuddhisminBrazilevidencesthat

Brazilwasnever

isolatedfrom

global

flows

ofBuddhist

ideas,

people

andmaterial

culture

(2006).

Buddhist

teachers.

monks.

nunsand

practitioners

have

long

been

circulating throughout

the worldand

theintemet has

considerably

increased

this

circulation.

Australia's

ambivalencetowardAsia

The historical

relationship

between Australiaand Asia

has

impacted

on the

anivalofBuddhisminAustralia

in

particularways

thatdiffer

fromotherWestem

countries.The

geographical

locationofAustruliaasdistantfrom

Europe

andclose

toAsiahas

brought

enormous

anxiety

tosome

aspects

ofthe

Australian

psyche.

The

so-called

‘tyranny

ofdistance‘has

been

present

sincethefirstBritish

settlers

arrivedin

Australia.Asa

consequence

ofthis

mindset,

fearsofanAsianinvasion

have

always

loomedonthehorizon

(Gibson I992;

Walker

1999;

Papastergiadis

2004;

Elder

2007).

Such fears

gave

rise to the

Immigration

Restriction Act

(commonly

known as the WhiteAustralia

Policy).

thefirst law

passed by

Parliamentatter

Australiawasfederatedin

1901.This

policy

aimedtoensurethe

‘purity

ofwhite

Australianraee'

(Nicholl

2001:

110)

byimposing

restrictionson

non-white

Europeanmigration

toAustralia.As

theAustralian

sociologist.

Catriona

Elder,

notes: ‘The

differentcountriesofthe

Asian

region

were

represented

as

having

their

eyes

on

Australia

e

as

always

justwaiting

toinvadeoroverrunthe

nation'

(2007: 12).

During

WorldWar

11.

this

‘invasion

complex‘,together

with

the

Japanese

air

raidsonNorthernAustraliaand

the

Japanesemidget

submarine

attackon

Sydney

Harbour.createda

myth

that

therewasathreatofa

Japanese

invasion

(Papastergiadis2004).

The

myth

that

Australiawas

going

tobeinvaded

by

the

Japanese

still

enduresintheAustmlian

popular

imagination(Stanley

2002i.

Undoubtedly,

old

prejudices

and anxietiescontinuedeven

aftertheendofthe

WhiteAustralia

Policy

in I973.

According

to

Papastergiadis(2004:“):

TheWhite

Australia

Policymay

havebeen

formally

revokedin 1973 but

itsstructural

influence inthenational

imaginary

hasnot

entirely

receded.

whiteness isstill

deeply

embedded in the nation's

self-image

and isa

pervasive

featureofthe

repertoire

of

symbols

and iconsthat

dominatethe

representation

ofsocialand

political

life.

The

WhitlamLabour

government

introduced

the

concept

ofmulticulturalism in

1972.

although

some

argue

thatthenewmulticultural

policy

was

just

afacadet'or

assimilation

(Foster

and

Stockley

1984:

56;

Habel1992:

12).

Thefirstintakeof

Asian

refugees

in

AustraliaafiertheendoftheWhiteAustralia

Policyprovides

a

good

example

ofthe

effectsofold

prejudices.

Following

10

years

ofinvolvement

inthewarin

Vietnam,

theAustralian

government

withdrewits

troops

between 1971

and

1975,

simultaneouslyestablishing

a

policy

of

accepting

South

Vietnamese

refugees

intoAustralia.The

acceptance

ofVietnamese

migrants

occurredas

part

Inlr'odrlrlirm 5

ofanefi‘orttorefashionAustraliaasa

multiculturalnation.

However.

this

policy

resultedinold fearsand

anxietiesofanAsianinvasion

surfacing

oncemore.

TheAustralianmediawereawash

with

pictures

ofboatsfullof

refugeesarriving

onAustralia'sshoresand ‘Asians

go

home‘

graflitiappeared

inthestreets.As

Elder

argues:

‘Vietnarnese

refugees

were

represented

astooditl‘erenttofitinto

thenation'

(2007: 124).

More

recently.

theclimaxofthis‘fearofinvasion‘was

reachedin 2001

during

the

so-ealletl

"l‘alnpa

Crisis'andthe‘ChildrenOverboard

Athtir.‘Z

During

theseeventsthe

government

andtheAustralianmediacreateda

fearofaMusliminvasion

bycloselyassociating

these

refugees

withterrorism.

Theseeventstook

placeimmediately

beforethefederalelectionsand

helped

to

ensurethe

victory

oftheincumbent

Howard

government,

which

campaigned

for

‘strong

border

security'.

Thereisalso

strong

ambivalencetowardsAsiain

other

regards.

For

instance,

in 1992 PrimeMinisterPaul

Keating

affirmedin

hiswell-known

speech,

‘Asia

inAustralia:

Knowing

WhoWe

Are‘,

thatAustralia

was

part

oftheAsian

region

andhenceAustraliashould

engage

withAsia.This

viewwasinstarkcontrastto

the

previousemphasis

on

maintainingstrong

relations

withBritain.This

policy

of

engagement

withAsiaresultedinoutcomessuchas

increasing funding

for

Asian

languages

andculturein

secondary

and

teniary

education. This“as

part

ofa

larger

visionofamulticultural

Australia.

which

Australia'sfederalLabor

government

from 1982 to 1996 had

pursued

asadeliberate

andintentional

policy.

However.

whileAustralian multicultural

policies purported

to

recognize

and

respectreligiousplurality,

itwasdifficultto

achieveitin

practice.

Yonetaninotes

that this

engagement

withAsiastill

resonateswitha

perception

ofAsiaasthe

‘Northern

peril‘(2004).

According

toher

analysis.

bothnewandold

policies

of

engagement

andfear‘evoked

determinist

conceptions

ofthe

region.reproduced

adiscourseof

fear.

and

werefirelled

by

a

pervasiveparanoia

towarditsisolation‘

(2004:

5).

Indeed,

Yonetani

goes

ontonotethat:‘thenational

subject

atthecoreof

suchastanceisassumedto

be

an

Anglo-Celtic [t]he

Nationalselfismoreover

constructedindirect

opposition

to

theoutsideAsianOther'

(2004:5).

The 1996 electionofJohn

Howard.

the

ConservativePrime

Minister.

madeit

clearthatAustraliacontinuedtoseeitsell‘as

Anglo-Celtic

ratherthanmulticultural.

Howardwontheelectionona

policy

thatfavoured

BritishandNorthAmerican

connectionsand

promoteddisengagement

withAsia.This

policy

was

only

revoked

whenKevinRuddwaselectedasthenew

Mandarin-speaking

PrimeMinisterin

2007,

However.

Rudd's

seeming

reorientationtoAsia

reflectedandthrivedonthe

new

globalengagement

with

China.

notina

particular

commitment toAsia

in

general.

Multiculturalismanditsdiseontents

it

is

generallyagreed

thatAustralia's

policy

ofmulticulturalism

developed

after

WorldWar 11

in

response

tothe

economy’s

needfora

larger

workforce.

However.

prior

to

the

emphasis

onmulticulturalism inthe 19705 it was

expected

that

migrants

would assimilate into

Anglo-Australian

culture,

According

to

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