Luke Foley defends ‘white flight’ concern
THE NSW opposition leader has defended his use of the term “white flight” when referring to struggling western Sydney suburbs. What exactly does that term mean?
NSW
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THE NSW opposition leader has defended his use of the term “white flight” when referring to struggling western Sydney suburbs, saying the issue is more about class than race.
Luke Foley told The Daily Telegraph “many Anglo families” are relocating from suburbs such as Fairfield because they lack the education resources and employment opportunities to support huge numbers of refugees.
The Labor leader says “white flight” is an academic term.
“It’s an identifiable phenomenon in many western cities that reflects the changing cultural mix of many suburbs,” he told ABC radio when defending his comments.
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“This is a class issue more than a race issue.”
Mr Foley named Fairfield, Guildford, Yennora, Sefton, Granville, Regents Park as suburbs of concern where there were large numbers of Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
“I don’t want anyone to think you have to move out of those suburbs to do well in life, that’s what I’m fighting,” he said.
When asked whether he was simply engaging in dog-whistle politics, Mr Foley said he supported the refugee intake but wanted more services to support the communities.
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He also highlighted that he was the only NSW political leader who had ruled out any preference deal with One Nation’s Pauline Hanson.
“I won’t have a bar of her divisive race-based politics,” he added.
