Australia Fair

In recent years, African Australian communities have become one of the more visible newly arrived migrant communities in Australia. With their arrival has come a heated narrative about African ‘gangs’ and crime waves, stoked by familiar fears with roots in Australia’s racist past. In Episode 7 of Australia Fair, host Janak Rogers chats with activist and storyteller Bol Mayan, who runs the Seed Network to amplify African Australian voices; Mariam Koslay, a writer and filmmaker; and Jim Malo, a journalist examining race and media. This episode explores how sensational media coverage, particularly around events like the 2018 Moomba Festival brawl, COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne’s public housing towers, and the entrenched ‘African gangs’ coverage has affected Australia’s African diaspora communities.

In Episode 6 of Australia Fair, host Janak Rogers tackles the tumultuous evolution of Australia’s refugee policies, tracing their origins back to the 2001 Tampa affair and the events of 9/11. This episode captures the heated protests at Woomera Detention Centre during Easter 2002, when activists clashed with authorities, and examines how these moments of crisis catalysed harsh new immigration policies under Prime Minister John Howard. As the show navigates the fallout from these events, including the notorious "children overboard" scandal, it explores the ongoing impacts on asylum seekers and the political landscape. Featuring voices from prominent figures like Behrouz Boochani, who spent years detained on Manus Island, and refugees still struggling with limbo under current policies, this episode offers a close look at the legacy of Australia’s immigration policies and the deep-seated issues surrounding them.

By the 1970s, things are changing rapidly. Australia finally abandons the official White Australia policy, and start welcome in significant numbers of people from Asia. In episode 5 of Australia Fair, host Janak Rogers delves into the complex journey of Vietnamese refugees and their impact on Australian society. In the tumultuous days of April 1975, as Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces, countless Vietnamese fled. The arrival of the first Vietnamese boat people in Australia in 1976 marked the beginning of a significant shift in the nation’s demographic and cultural landscape. Despite the initially warm reception, the growing Vietnamese community soon faced challenges and discrimination. Figures like Pauline Hanson built a powerful political party initially by attacking Asian immigration, and by the 80s communities in Cabramatta became a by-word for drug and gang violence. Hear from Dai Le, the first person with a Vietnamese refugee background to be elected to Federal parliament, as well as lawyer and emerging leader Tu Le, and Lam Tac Tam, one of the first Vietnamese refugees to ever arrive in Australia.

The Second World War changed everything — or mostly everything. In Episode 4 of Australia Fair, host Janak Rogers dives into the complexities of Australia's post-war immigration policies and their impact on diverse migrants. Janak’s parents were a British ex-soldier and an Indian diplomat’s daughter who met on a trip to the Taj Mahal and later migrated to Australia. But their journey to Australia was thanks to the benign-sounding, but clearly racially driven, Assisted Passage Migration Scheme. The scheme allowed British immigrants, known as "ten pound poms," to settle in Australia for just £10. The episode explores the origins of this migration scheme, tied to Australia's post-war fears and the "Populate or Perish" policy. Hear how Australia’s immigration policy evolved from a strictly racial preference to a more inclusive, albeit imperfect, approach.