Post by Lux on Mar 14, 2008 16:03:50 GMT 12
Inflammatory ... mayoral candidate, Kevin Wise says he deliberately sent flyers to indigenous families saying they should be moved out of the shire / David Martinelli
March 13, 2008 12:10am
Mayoral candidate targeted indigenous families
Wanted indigenous families moved out of shire
Called Stolen Generations a myth
A MAYORAL candidate who wants to be elected mayor has called for Aborigines to be relocated from his southwest Queensland shire.
Kevin Wise, 66, has single-handedly ignited racial tensions in Cunnamulla after he distributed 100 inflammatory flyers quoting his plans to replace indigenous families with "Vietnamese peasant families".
In the flyer he pledges to call on "the Federal Government to offer 25 indigenous families $50,000 each to relocate anywhere away from the Paroo Shire" and for their places to be allocated to 25 non-English speaking Vietnamese families".
"I guarantee that within that five years, these families will have advanced this shire's wealth and future prosperity out of all proportion to that achieved to date . . ." the flyer reads.
The man who wants to be elected Mayor for Paroo, told The Courier-Mail he deliberately asked for indigenous homes to get the flyers.
"I let it be known that I preferred them to go to Aboriginal households so that it wouldn't appear that I was running gutless and I was trying to sectionalise the receivership of the documents," he said.
He calls Cunnamulla a "dead in the water" community and the Stolen Generations a myth.
Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth said the comments were "hurtful" and "incredibly stereotyped".
Ms Booth said she could not comment further in case the flyer became the subject of a complaint and possible action.
Cunnamulla resident Maureen McKellar held back tears as she spoke of the devastation she felt when she read the comments and called Mr Wise a racist.
Another resident, John Mitchell, said the comments had "stirred up a hornets nest" and the community was now depending on Aboriginal academic Stephen Hagan to file a complaint with the Anti-Discrimination Commission.
Mr Wise yesterday maintained he was not racist.
"Every bugger in town is saying what I am saying out loud, but they won't say it themselves - arguing about the dead-end Aboriginal industry and their effects on town."
Mr Wise said he wanted Vietnamese families to move in because they were hard working and would tend market gardens in the community.
"Aboriginals are certainly not going to put in the hard yards to establish market gardens or anything," he said.
Mayor Ian Tonkin denied his community was racist and said Mr Wise should apologise.
Mr Hagan said he carefully considered giving publicity to Mr Wise's vilification but said the circulation of racist comments had to stop.
He plans to complain to the Anti-Discrimination Commission.
www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23366610-2,00.html#
March 13, 2008 12:10am
Mayoral candidate targeted indigenous families
Wanted indigenous families moved out of shire
Called Stolen Generations a myth
A MAYORAL candidate who wants to be elected mayor has called for Aborigines to be relocated from his southwest Queensland shire.
Kevin Wise, 66, has single-handedly ignited racial tensions in Cunnamulla after he distributed 100 inflammatory flyers quoting his plans to replace indigenous families with "Vietnamese peasant families".
In the flyer he pledges to call on "the Federal Government to offer 25 indigenous families $50,000 each to relocate anywhere away from the Paroo Shire" and for their places to be allocated to 25 non-English speaking Vietnamese families".
"I guarantee that within that five years, these families will have advanced this shire's wealth and future prosperity out of all proportion to that achieved to date . . ." the flyer reads.
The man who wants to be elected Mayor for Paroo, told The Courier-Mail he deliberately asked for indigenous homes to get the flyers.
"I let it be known that I preferred them to go to Aboriginal households so that it wouldn't appear that I was running gutless and I was trying to sectionalise the receivership of the documents," he said.
He calls Cunnamulla a "dead in the water" community and the Stolen Generations a myth.
Queensland Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth said the comments were "hurtful" and "incredibly stereotyped".
Ms Booth said she could not comment further in case the flyer became the subject of a complaint and possible action.
Cunnamulla resident Maureen McKellar held back tears as she spoke of the devastation she felt when she read the comments and called Mr Wise a racist.
Another resident, John Mitchell, said the comments had "stirred up a hornets nest" and the community was now depending on Aboriginal academic Stephen Hagan to file a complaint with the Anti-Discrimination Commission.
Mr Wise yesterday maintained he was not racist.
"Every bugger in town is saying what I am saying out loud, but they won't say it themselves - arguing about the dead-end Aboriginal industry and their effects on town."
Mr Wise said he wanted Vietnamese families to move in because they were hard working and would tend market gardens in the community.
"Aboriginals are certainly not going to put in the hard yards to establish market gardens or anything," he said.
Mayor Ian Tonkin denied his community was racist and said Mr Wise should apologise.
Mr Hagan said he carefully considered giving publicity to Mr Wise's vilification but said the circulation of racist comments had to stop.
He plans to complain to the Anti-Discrimination Commission.
www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23366610-2,00.html#
