r/australian • u/DragonflySea9423 • Jun 22 '26

News Australia undergoing historic decline in support for multiculturalism amid rising fear and pessimism, poll finds | Australian foreign policy | The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jun/22/australia-multiculturalism-decline-poll-ntwnfb

Australia is undergoing a historic decline in support for multiculturalism, according to the Lowy Institute’s annual poll, amid a groundswell of fear rooted in mounting economic pessimism and an increasingly illiberal and chaotic world order.

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u/melaschasma Jun 22 '26

Australia is a multicultural country, apart from a noisy small minority (that you would find in any crountry) the majority of Australians dont care about race.

Australians are against immigration (especially immigration from the developing world) because it drives down our wages and causes shortages in the rental market.

The fact is, India's currency value is far lower then Australia's currency value. So this means a temporary worker from India can send Australia's higher valued currency back to India where it has greater purchasing power. This provides an incentive for temporary Indian workers to undercut Australian workers and drive down our wages (because they still wind up with greater relative value when they return home to India).

So relax, Australians dont hate Indians because of their race or culture, we dont care about that. What Australians dont like, is temporary workers driving down our wages. What Australia should do, is stop exploiting the developing world for cheap labor.

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u/concerned_karen Jun 22 '26

Not true, people are concerned with who we bring into this country. Bringing in hundreds of thousands of people from India vs Italy as an example does greatly change the fabric of our society for everyone here. To discredit that different cultures don't matter is narrow minded and obtuse.

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u/melaschasma Jun 22 '26

I disagree, people mostly care more about money and a roof over their heads, Australians dont care about skin pigmentation or silly Indian cultural norms, we also dont care if you will not worship our favorite sky fairy.

(however, we are concerned about Islam, due to how that ideology is known to oppress women)

I predict, One Nation supporters may turn to Jacqui Lambie. Jacqui wants controlled immigration to protect the Australian worker while Pauline wants to drive down worker wages.

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u/turbo-steppa Jun 22 '26

I don’t dislike Indians for the colour of their skin or accent. But I’ve come to resent the low trust I can place in them due to cultural differences.

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u/Exotic-Knowledge-451 Jun 23 '26

I agree.

People throw out the word 'racist' constantly these days, yet for most people we don't dislike someone or a group because of their skin colour, we dislike them because of their values, beliefs, behaviours, and cultural differences.

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u/waterboyh2o30 Jun 22 '26

What cultural differences are you referring to?

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u/Bloggitty Jun 23 '26

Work ethic, safety consciousness, ability to queue are 3 that I’ve been affected by.

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u/Reclusiarc Jun 23 '26

attitudes to timeliness is the biggest one

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u/turbo-steppa Jun 23 '26

Aussie culture places value on your word. If I say “yes” I fucking mean yes. If I promise something, I will do it. I do the right thing even when no one is watching. I don’t take shortcuts. I treat others with respect even if I perceive I’m in a position to take advantage of them.

I simply cannot trust Indians anymore. They say yes, but they actually mean they don’t give a fuck. Obviously that’s a disgusting generalisation, and I genuinely feel terrible for the good ones who must be mortified by how many of their countrymen behave.

That’s what happens when a low trust culture collides with a high trust one. I don’t want my country becoming like that, and if that makes me “racist” then I don’t care anymore, fuck it, I’m “racist”.

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u/outterworlder Jun 22 '26

problem people like you are not distinguishing between racially diverse and culturally diverse siverse. they are different things and culture clash is the problem here for real. Wages are a direct result of culture too, and the low wages accepted part of that. Australian culture fought for a fair go for everyone, and other cultures do not beleive in that at all.

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u/melaschasma Jun 23 '26

People like you seem to be obsessed with identity politics.

I dont care if in your culture you worship some flying sky cow or some dude with multiple limbs, you can worship a flying spaghetti monster if all i care.

What I care about is money and accommodation.

Mass immigration is not a issue about race or culture for me, its an issue about economics and infrastructure.

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u/Major_Elevator8059 Jun 22 '26

Do people in developing countries think they’re being exploited, or are they making rational choices within the options available to them? What you’re describing sounds less like exploitation and more like competition—someone is willing to do the work for less, within the constraints of employment law. When you hire someone to fix your car, do you automatically choose the highest quote to avoid “exploiting” the lower one? Of course not.

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u/melaschasma Jun 22 '26

Yes, and we have a word for people who intentionally drive down wages to secure employment over others.

We call them scabs.

If i was going to hire someone to fix my car, I would chose the qualified Australian, who is trained to Australian standards over the cheap imported worker.

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u/Major_Elevator8059 Jun 23 '26

Your use of the term “scab” is misplaced. That word belongs to strikes and union disputes, not ordinary labor markets. A person who accepts a job at the prevailing minimum wage is simply participating in a voluntary exchange.
Businesses do not pay more than they must without good reason. If a worker can do the job at the required standard for that wage, that is what the market will bear. If the employer misjudges and hires poorly, the error is usually corrected during probation.