Blog Marco

With the recent racial riots of Sydney sparking other countries such as Indonesia releasing travel warnings to Sydney especially it's beach areas (really - there is no or little risk of anything substantial happening again due to increased police presence) some research study results have been released about the tolerance of Sydneysiders to cultural diversity.

It has been two weeks after the Cronulla race riots and tens of thousands of people returned to Sydney's beaches for Christmas Day.

In the survey on racial attitudes, residents were asked to respond to two statements: 1) It is a good thing for society to be made up of different cultures. 2) Australia is weakened by different ethnicities sticking to their old ways.

Residents of Mosman and Woollahra have joined those in the Sutherland Shire as among the Sydney people least tolerant of cultural diversity and multicultural values, a map of the city's racial attitudes reveals.

Professor Forrest said the least accepting groups were in outer suburbs where populations are mostly solidly Anglo. But the least tolerant also include culturally diverse places such as Liverpool and "old" wealth areas such as Mosman and Woollahra. Waverley, which adjoins Woollahra but is more culturally diverse, is among the most tolerant.

Among the most tolerant are people living in the local government areas Sydney, South Sydney, Leichhardt, Auburn and Pittwater.

Professor Forrest said wealthy, better-educated areas of northern Sydney were quite tolerant and inner-city areas highly tolerant.

Less tolerant areas include outer locations such as Gosford and Campbelltown, but also culturally mixed areas such as Bankstown and Ryde. Bankstown has a substantial Muslim population, while Ryde has many Chinese and Koreans. Culturally diverse areas such as Parramatta, Marrickville and Penrith, and the suburbs Hurstville, Randwick and Botany, are tolerant.

Responses to other statements by 5056 people in Queensland and NSW immediately after the September 11 attacks showed 12 per cent held beliefs akin to racial supremacy. More than 13 per cent believed "races" should be kept sexually separate. About the same ratio admitted being racially prejudiced.

But Professor Forrest said Australia was generally less racist than most societies. Similar studies in Britain had revealed one in five to be openly racist. He believed the US figure was about one in three.

At a Christmas Mass in Richmond, in Melbourne, Father Peter Norden reflected on Sydney's race riots, saying a glance at the crib would reveal "some Middle Eastern looking gents, carrying some suspicious looking parcels … They certainly wouldn't have been allowed on Cronulla Beach in the last two weeks."

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