One Nation's "English-only services" - ignorant and mean-spirited

 

by Helen Said, Melbourne Australia

My grandmother (Yaya) moved to Australia when I was a teenager. Upon arriving at Tullamarine Airport, Yaya proudly announced to me and my sister that she read three English newspapers every day. 

Yaya was born in Libya and learned to speak seven languages. She was the granddaughter of the local Greek Orthodox Priest. She grew up as a Greek speaker in Constantinople (Istanbul) and attended the local American Ladies College, where she learned English. She married a Greek-Maltese British Subject. My grandfather (Papou) found work with the occupying British Army shortly after the First World War, and accepted a transfer to Egypt upon marrying Yaya. Yaya and Papou raised their family in Egypt where my grandfather continued to serve the British NAAFI (Navy, Army and Air Force Institute) for the next 45 years. 

In widowhood, living in Australia, Yaya developed dementia and lost her ability to speak all of her languages except her native Greek. According to Pauline Hanson's One Nation, people like my grandmother, the widow of a long-serving British NAAFI employee, should not have been entitled to receive any government services in their own language. One Nation has labelled multiculturalism as a failed policy, a waste of money and declared that government services in different languages prevent migrants from learning English.

What an ignorant and mean-spirited policy, to deliberately deprive people like my grandmother of access to government services! It is a well-know fact that elderly people with dementia end up losing their knowledge of their second language. Elderly migrants who have spent their whole working lives perfecting their English, contributing to Australia's economy, paying taxes and raising their children as loyal Australians would be deprived of access to government support in their own language in their old age. Indigenous elders, living traditional lifestyles in remote communities, would also be hurt by this policy.

International tourism contributes greatly to our economy but, according to One Nation, non-English speaking tourists shouldn't be entitled to any non-English government information about our laws, our tourist attractions or even receive any government emergency warnings in any other language. 

Almost every country is home to ethnic minorities who speak different languages, including Canada, a country quite similar to Australia, which recognises both French and English as official languages.This One Nation English-only government services policy has no compassion or research behind it and is completely out of touch.