Australia-China relations: PM Morrison’s coalition draws flak again after senator thanks Chinese community for ‘putting up’ with racism
- Liberal Party senator Andrew Bragg made the comment in a public discussion, referring to the ruling coalition’s ‘intemperate rhetoric’ about China
- Chinese-Australian observers said the senator’s remarks showed how ‘out of touch’ the Liberal-National coalition was about racism
With two weeks to go before Australia’s May 21 federal election, the issue of anti-Chinese racism has remained a major talking point amid a campaign that has seen Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s coalition face criticism for using China as a bogeyman to woo voters.
In the latest development, some Chinese-Australians have slammed a senator from the ruling coalition after he thanked the community for “putting up with racism”.
Some Chinese-Australians told This Week in Asia that Liberal Party senator Andrew Bragg’s remarks at a public discussion on Friday put on display just how out of touch and condescending the ruling coalition was on racism.
In a public discussion on Friday evening in Sydney, Bragg acknowledged there had been serious cases of racism toward Chinese-Australians during the Covid-19 pandemic and amid the continuing deterioration in Canberra’s ties with China.
The ruling coalition has previously denied Australia was unsafe due to racism, which rose when the pandemic started. Beijing, on the other hand, has since 2020 warned students about studying in Australia following multiple instances of overt racism in the country towards Chinese nationals.
“Thank you for your steadfastness, thank you for putting up with some intemperate rhetoric at times, thank you for putting up with racism at times … it’s not good enough,” Bragg said at the event on Friday evening.