In more than 50 years of federal public policy relating to Australia's First Nations peoples, employment has always been prominent among the issues taking centre stage. Recent Coalition governments have positioned it as one of their three major aims in the Indigenous Affairs portfolio: getting 'kids into school,' 'adults into work' and improving community safety. But behind these seemingly simple statements lies an enormous real-world complexity. Getting more people into work moves well beyond the supply and demand models of mainstream economics, with policy approaches hinging on a tangled mix of ideology, contested evidence and competing ideas. As Liddle's introduction to this volume suggests, many of the assumptions that underpin policy decisions remain informed by colonial narratives. These assumptions require serious and sustained critique. Key questions include: What counts as 'work'? Who decides? Are the challenges relating to First Nations employment best understood as structural or individual? How can employment policy move beyond notions of 'carrots' and 'sticks' and take account of the enormous locational, historical and aspirational diversity of First Nations peoples? To what extent should it be self-determined, or cohere with an Indigenous polity? And should notions of 'decent' work come into play?
Australia has received one of the relatively largest and most diverse intakes of immigrants of any of the Western nations, with more than half of the population of Australia's largest cities first- or second-generation immigrants. The tourism literature places great importance on the cultural industries and the growth of cultural tourism in countries like Australia. But the link between immigration, ethnic diversity, and tourism, which we call ethnic tourism, in Australia and elsewhere has received little attention by scholars. By ethnic tourism we mean not only the tourism by ethnic minorities to countries like Australia but also the way that nonminority tourists-in Australia, this means British, New Zealand, and North American tourists-are attracted to ethnic tourist sites such as ethnic precincts. The cosmopolitan character of Australia's largest cities, a result of the great ethnic diversity of Australia's immigration intake over the past 60 years, has lead to the development of ethnic tourism, a subset of cultural tourism. Ethnic tourism thus includes tourism to destinations that are labeled, marketed, and identified with the cultural diversity of a particular minority ethnic group. Ethnic precincts such as Chinatown, Little Italy, Thaitown, and Koreatown attract customers who are locals, national tourists, or international tourists to experience the "ethnic neighborhoods" of the city. These customers are often attracted by the presence of ethnic businesses-restaurants, shops, services-set up by ethnic entrepreneurs. Some tourists may be seeking an "authentic" ethnic experience in the precinct. This may involve the quality and style of food, the smells and sounds arising from restaurants, the presence of locals and "co-ethnic" customers and staff, and the de´cor and iconography of the streetscape, buildings, and landmarks. Ethnic communities and local governments may also hold ethnic festivals and events which attract both tourists and locals. Focusing on the links between immigration, ethnic diversity, and tourism, this article concentrates on the supply side of one site of the ethnic tourism industry in Australia: that of ethnic precincts in Australian cities. Drawing on recent fieldwork with tourists, entrepreneurs, ethnic community leaders, and local and state government officials in two metropolitan ethnic precincts (Sydney's Chinatown and Perth's Northbridge), this article explores some critical dimensions of the interface between immigration, ethnic diversity, and tourism. The positioning of ethnic precincts as tourism products includes contradictory and complex issues of authenticity, employment, the representation of ethnicity, consultation with migrant communities, negotiations with local government authorities, and marketing and promotion activities. The article concludes that while historical patterns of immigration and immigrant settlement have changed over time, ethnic precincts are important, though changing, sites of urban ethnic tourism in Australia and thus fertile sites to begin to understand the complex and changing links between immigration, ethnic diversity, and tourism in contemporary cosmopolitan cities.
Australia has received one of the relatively largest and most diverse intakes of immigrants of any of the Western nations, with more than half of the population of Australia's largest cities first- or second-generation immigrants. The tourism literature places great importance on the cultural industries and the growth of cultural tourism in countries like Australia. But the link between immigration, ethnic diversity, and tourism, which we call ethnic tourism, in Australia and elsewhere has received little attention by scholars. By ethnic tourism we mean not only the tourism by ethnic minorities to countries like Australia but also the way that nonminority tourists-in Australia, this means British, New Zealand, and North American tourists-are attracted to ethnic tourist sites such as ethnic precincts. The cosmopolitan character of Australia's largest cities, a result of the great ethnic diversity of Australia's immigration intake over the past 60 years, has lead to the development of ethnic tourism, a subset of cultural tourism. Ethnic tourism thus includes tourism to destinations that are labeled, marketed, and identified with the cultural diversity of a particular minority ethnic group. Ethnic precincts such as Chinatown, Little Italy, Thaitown, and Koreatown attract customers who are locals, national tourists, or international tourists to experience the "ethnic neighborhoods" of the city. These customers are often attracted by the presence of ethnic businesses-restaurants, shops, services-set up by ethnic entrepreneurs. Some tourists may be seeking an "authentic" ethnic experience in the precinct. This may involve the quality and style of food, the smells and sounds arising from restaurants, the presence of locals and "co-ethnic" customers and staff, and the de´cor and iconography of the streetscape, buildings, and landmarks. Ethnic communities and local governments may also hold ethnic festivals and events which attract both tourists and locals. Focusing on the links between immigration, ethnic diversity, and tourism, this article concentrates on the supply side of one site of the ethnic tourism industry in Australia: that of ethnic precincts in Australian cities. Drawing on recent fieldwork with tourists, entrepreneurs, ethnic community leaders, and local and state government officials in two metropolitan ethnic precincts (Sydney's Chinatown and Perth's Northbridge), this article explores some critical dimensions of the interface between immigration, ethnic diversity, and tourism. The positioning of ethnic precincts as tourism products includes contradictory and complex issues of authenticity, employment, the representation of ethnicity, consultation with migrant communities, negotiations with local government authorities, and marketing and promotion activities. The article concludes that while historical patterns of immigration and immigrant settlement have changed over time, ethnic precincts are important, though changing, sites of urban ethnic tourism in Australia and thus fertile sites to begin to understand the complex and changing links between immigration, ethnic diversity, and tourism in contemporary cosmopolitan cities.
Crises and interventions often generate opportunities for profitable business activities. This can have a significant effect on the outcomes of interventions. This article explores how economic interests can create crises and how the nature of interventions may be shaped by business interests. It looks further at the macroeconomic consequences of crises, the possibilities of corruption and neo-imperialism. Reference is made to examples of crises and interventions that illustrate these political economic concerns.
Crises and interventions often generate opportunities for profitable business activities. This can have a significant effect on the outcomes of interventions. This article explores how economic interests can create crises and how the nature of interventions may be shaped by business interests. It looks further at the macroeconomic consequences of crises, the possibilities of corruption and neo-imperialism. Reference is made to examples of crises and interventions that illustrate these political economic concerns.
This statement outlines concerns with the 2018 Deloitte Access Economics review of the implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC). The statement is endorsed by 33 academic and professional experts in the policy areas examined by RCIADIC, including policy responses to Aboriginal deaths in custody. It suggests that the scope and methodology of the Deloitte review mean that it misrepresents governments' responses to RCIADIC, and has the potential to misinform policy and practice responses to Aboriginal deaths in custody. It is also evidence of a more widespread problem in Indigenous Affairs policy-making in Australia. In particular, current approaches too often ignore the principles of self-determination and the realities of policy as experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The statement calls for the development of national independent monitoring of the implementation of the recommendations of RCIADIC, for the Federal Government to fully embrace and enact the intent of the RCIADIC recommendations, and for the Federal Government to provide a response to the Australian Law Reform Commission's Inquiry on Indigenous Incarceration Rates (2017).
