Originally Posted By alexbook I read that the new Australian Prime Minister is an immigrant. There are a lot of countries (the US, Japan, France, etc.) where it would be impossible to have an immigrant as the head of government. Is it a big deal? Do you care? Do her opponents call her "un-Australian" or some such? I'm curious.
Originally Posted By Tandelothien Hey Alex, we have had several Prime Ministers who were not born in Australia so I guess that means we do not have that restriction. Nobody has mentioned that Julia Gillard is an immigrant...yet. The country seems to be in an uproar because she ousted the former PM which is ridiculous because a number of male politicians have done it before her without such a back lash but from her it is viewed as a bitchy act. Don't get me wrong, I liked Kevin Rudd and feel bad for him, but I think we should give Julia a chance and not discredit her because the rednecks over here don't want a woman in power. Australia...still colonial after all these years lol.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< I read that the new Australian Prime Minister is an immigrant. >>> The Parliamentary system that most countries use is different from the US direct-election method for head of government. In the US, the head of government (which we call the President) is a separate office and is directly elected by the people. This makes it possible to have special requirements just for that office. In the parliamentary system, the Members of Parliament elect the Prime Minister from amongst themselves. An analogy might be if the US Speaker Of The House was automatically the head of government, instead of having an elected president. If we had such a system in the US, it's unlikely that we'd have the "natural born" requirement, as there's no such requirement on members of Congress. <<< There are a lot of countries (the US, Japan, France, etc.) where it would be impossible to have an immigrant as the head of government. >>> I don't know about France, but I don't see why this would not be possible in Japan. Any Japanese citizen can stand for election to parliament if not otherwise disqualified, just as in the US. There's no distinction between natural-born and naturalized citizens. Just as the US Speaker Of The House can be a foreign-born but naturalized US citizen, so could the PM of Japan, however unlikely that were to actually happen. <<< Do her opponents call her "un-Australian" or some such? I'm curious. >>> My understanding is that immigration is a *huge* issue in Australia these days, with a very vocal anti-immigrant contingent. But from my understanding, anti-immigrant very much means anti-other-than-white-immigrant.
Originally Posted By Tandelothien ^^Well that's a nice back-handed way of calling us racist. But no, most Australians are anti-illegal immigrants. Nobody I know and nobody I've heard mouthing off about the subject has any problems with genuine refugees and legal immigrants. When you are getting hundreds of illegal immigrants in tens of boat loads every week it tends to become a bit of an issue for most people. And from what I've read on these boards and in the USA media this is not an issue restricted to Australia
Originally Posted By alexbook >><<< There are a lot of countries (the US, Japan, France, etc.) where it would be impossible to have an immigrant as the head of government. >>> I don't know about France, but I don't see why this would not be possible in Japan. Any Japanese citizen can stand for election to parliament if not otherwise disqualified, just as in the US. There's no distinction between natural-born and naturalized citizens. Just as the US Speaker Of The House can be a foreign-born but naturalized US citizen, so could the PM of Japan, however unlikely that were to actually happen.<< I was thinking not so much about the legal issues as the political. Whether or not there's a legal bar, there are plenty of places where it seems like it would be politically unthinkable for a party to nominate a non-native as their leader. Or maybe I'm being too harsh on the general public. Maybe I should take people at their word when they say they're only opposed to illegal immigration. Maybe I'm reading more into the subtext than is really there. (Maybe I should stop reading and listening to the news, since it makes me so depressed.)
Originally Posted By Tandelothien >>Maybe I should stop reading and listening to the news, since it makes me so depressed.<< Oh me too. The smarmy spin they put on stories to inflame people and try and make themselves not look like lazy journalists always gets me down
Originally Posted By debtee Although Julia Gillard was born in Wales in the UK, she is an Australian citizen, not just an immigrant. She moved to Australia with her family when she was four years old and all of her schooling was within Australia. I would agree with Tandelothien, that most Australians have no issues with immigrants, it's the illegal immigration that sparks emotions, just like in the USA. We have a small population compared to other Western countries ( 25 million ) and simply do not have the infrastructure in place, to be able to afford to support people that are not genuine refugees. I personally am not that fussed about Julia Gillard, other then I'm pleased we have a female Prime Minister. She will have to prove herself for me to vote for her at the next election. I hope she does. Her predecessor has put Australia back by decades! Thank goodness he's gone!
