OPINION: Words and acts offensive

"IT'S pretty clear our government is sending offensive messages to refugees."

No Caption. Picture: Bill North

IN THE interest of balance, I think it's important that the cartoon above, even though I think the message is offensive.

To be clear, regardless of whether you are proficient in our (adopted) native language of English, or one of the "illiterate" - it's pretty clear our government is sending offensive messages to refugees.

>> RELATED: Peter Dutton says illiterate refugees will take jobs

And the stories have come out today to rebuke Minister Dutton's comments - because a lot of pale-skinned, blue eyed members of our community that you might think uphold the apparent Anglicised ideals of our country, might well be the very same those that we seek to turn away now.

And while many of these stories tell a tale of post-war immigration, working in mines, picking fruit and other laborious jobs stereotyped to the working class, some of them are also the surgeons saving kids lives, or educators and scientists pushing forward our society despite the enormous hurdles the initial language barrier would've provided. The idea that we'd now push away these people who contribute to our society is offensive.

The question you need to ask is this: If an illiterate person is taking a job from an Australian worker, what must that job involve that it can be done more effectively by someone who can't even speak the language? Is our livelihood really under threat? Or are these the jobs, that even in a time of unemployment highs, that "real" Australians won't touch, leaving it to the apparent underclass to fulfil. If that's the case, then I'd say we don't deserve those jobs, and we definitely don't deserve the right to deny people the rights to come here and work for a living like anyone else.

And yes, I can hear you saying that "these coloured people" will just come here and live off our welfare, and while that may be true in some instances, a cursory glance at statistics will show you the majority of people bludging the system are a whiter shade of pale. That's offensive also.

So what's the answer? Neither side of politics wants to embrace the idea of refugees now - saying that stopping the most desperate of people coming to our shores is a solution to a problem. The "problem" of course, is just diverted somewhere else, and often to places most of us would consider less "humanitarian" than us. But there's nothing humanitarian about our policies. Don't be offended by Dutton. Be offended by how we as a nation treat others.

Originally published as OPINION: Words and acts offensive