CORRESPONDENCErnLetter From Australiarnby Roger D. McGrathrnAmerica Down UnderrnVietnamese gangs shake down proprietorsrnof small businesses for protectionrnmoney. Blacks have enormously highrnrates of drug addiction, alcoholism,rncrime, and out-of-wedlock births. Pakistanis,rnLebanese, and Nigerians driverncabs. Japanese buy up downtown highrisernand choice beachfront properties.rnChinese and Koreans take control of sectionsrnof the intercity. East Indians andrnArabs run small shops and gas stations.rnImmigrants quickly Icarn how to defraudrnthe welfare system, working for cashrnwhile collecting government benehts forrnfood, shelter, transportation, and healthrncare. Whites flee to the suburbs, publiclyrnprofessing their love for people of allrncolors but privately admitting that therndemographic shift and accompanyingrnproblems are ominous.rnSounds like California, Los Angeles inrnparticular. Except I am describing Sydneyrnand, to a lesser degree, Melbourne.rnAustralia has followed in American footsteps,rneven copying our dramatic 1965rnreversal of immigration policy.rnThrough the end of World War II,rnAustralia’s population consisted almostrnentirely of whites of English, Irish, andrnScottish extraction. There were also arnsmall number of aborigines and a dash ofrnDutch, German, and Scandinavian settlers.rnBeginning in the late 1940’s andrncontinuing through the I950’s, Greekrnand Italian immigrants arrived from theirrnwar-torn native lands. Although most ofrnthem spoke little English, they werernwhite, Christian, and European. Moreover,rnthey came in numbers that madernacculturation and assimilation practical.rnSome of them were instrumental inrnhelping to develop Australia’s boomingrnwine industry.rnDespite these new arrivals from southernrnEurope following World War II, inrnthe 1960’s Australia still looked veryrnmuch like the British Isles. Ninety-fivernpercent of Australians traced their ancestryrnto England, Ireland, or Scotland.rnMost of the blokes were some version ofrnPaul Hogan, who was working on thernSydney Harbour Bridge at the time, andrnthe sheilas a variety of Olivia NewtonrnJohn.rnStrict control of immigration was relaxedrnin 1973 and nonwhites beganrnpouring into Australia. At first their presencernwas hardly felt. By the I990’s, however,rnthe effect was changing entire sectionsrnof Sydney and Melbourne, creatingrnsharp racial antagonisms and strainingrnthe social welfare system. Afraid to be labeledrnracist, few dared to speak out. Recently,rnPauline Hanson, a member of thernAustralian pariiament, has addressed thernimmigration problem with forthrightnessrnand candor. She has been viciouslyrnattacked. Not her arguments, mindrnyou, but she herself. Argumentum adrnhominem—the last refuge of the politician!rnWhile visiting “down under” inrnMarch, I saw attacks on Hanson neadyrnevery day on television news. I saw thernastounding spectacle of Australia’s twornmajor political parties, Labor and Liberal,rnopening negotiations to run a candidaternjointly against her. A popular figurernin her native Queensland, she will be difficultrnto unseat. Whether she can withstandrnthe assault by the combined mightrnof both parties remains to be seen. Herrnhome base of Ipswich makes her a sentimentalrnfavorite. Wasn’t it from Ipswichrn(in New England) that John Wise challengedrnthe Puritan oligarchy? PaulinernHanson is challenging the secular religionrnof political correctness.rnMany politicians and Australian businessmenrnare terrified that Hanson’s pronouncementsrnwill damage relations withrnAsian trading partners. Eeatured on arnnightly newscast was a group of Australianrnpoliticians apologizing to andrngroveling, neady genuflecting, before arndelegation from Singapore. A governmentrnofficial told me privately that hernagreed with everything she said but notedrnthat Australia received more thanrneight billion dollars from trade withrnSingapore, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong,rnKorea, and Japan. With a population onlyrnhalf that of California, these dollars arernnot insignificant to Australia. The attitudernseems to be prosperity now and tornhell with tomorrow. Some later generationrnwill have to face a changed Australia.rnThe same government official toldrnme that Australia could not afford to givernthe appearance of being racist by prohibitingrnnonwhite immigration. “Afterrnall,” he said, “we are a part of the Orientrnand we must be full and equal tradingrnpartners.” “What,” I responded, “doesrnthat have to do with immigration?rnCould you move to Japan and become arnJapanese citizen? There are thousands ofrnKoreans who have been there for fiverngenerations now who are not allowed citizenship!rnWould Singapore allow boatloadsrnof Aussies to take up residence andrngo on the dole? Could you buy and developrnproperty in all those countries?rnWhy is it that only white nations are notrnallowed to restrict immigration? Why isrnit that only white nations are not allowedrnto restrict noncitizen property rights?”rnThe official looked down, shook hisrnhead, and said: “You’re right.”rnA changed Australia is already a realityrnin some areas of Sydney and Melbournernwhere a popular pastime is a game calledrn”Spot the Aussie.” As I learned, sometimesrnit takes a while to spot one amidrnthe East Indians, Malays, Chinese, Vietnamese,rnand other immigrants paradingrnby. The change is also evident alongrnparts of the Gold Coast and in Queensland.rnA real estate agent from Innisfailrn(just south of Cairns on a choice stretchrnof coastline inside the Great Barrier reef)rntold me that the Japanese were buyingrnproperties by the dozens and pushingrnprices well beyond the average Aussie’srnreach.rnHe also mentioned that the Japanesernhad bought his local golf course. He wasrnstill allowed to play on it but was forcedrnto move aside when any Japanese arrived.rnThey had absolute priority at all times.rnHe was ordered about on a course that hernhad played on for 30 years by, as he describedrnthem, “arrogant little bastards.”rnAfter we downed more Guinness stout,rnhe got more expansive: “We fought a warrnto keep them from invading Australia.rnThe bloody Japs. We fought them in thernCoral Sea. We fought them in NewrnGuinea. The bloody bastards.”rnChinese from Singapore, Taiwan, andrnespecially Hong Kong have also purchasedrnAustralian properties. Somernbeachfront casinos cater specifically tornthe Chinese, who have a well-deservedrnreputation for gambling. Along withrnthe gambling has come prostitution.rnJULY 1997/43rnrnrn