By Casey Neill
“It’s so nice to hear some positive affirmation of the community rather than the constant negativity.”
Rhonda Garad and her husband Ilyas were in the gallery in the Monday 12 February Greater Dandenong Council meeting.
They were among those to applaud councillors’ unanimous decision to declare their support for the municipality’s African community.
“There’s no outcome associated with it, but it’s a positive statement,” Rhonda said.
Ilyas moved to Australia from the Horn of Africa 30 years ago, has a successful business and four children, and is one of the leaders of the Somalian community in Australia.
Rhonda said the negative coverage of Australia’s African community had been constant.
“It’s very distressing,” she said.
“People often say it’s the last migrant group that always cops the negativity, but I think the African community cops more than their fair share.
“There’s a cruel and negative element.
“It is so unjustified.”
She said many members of the African-Australian community were concerned their children would be afraid to acknowledge their background.
“They want their children to be proud of their heritage,” she said.
Cr Matthew Kirwan first proposed the stance at the Monday 29 January council meeting, where it received no support.
“I think second time round that majority of councillors realised that it was simply but importantly about recognising that the vast majority of Greater Dandenong – and for that matter Victorian – residents of an African background are not committing these crimes and should not be tainted with the same brush and need our support,” he said.
He said Australian-born youths committed 1462 serious assaults between June 2016 and June 2017, compared to 45 for those born in Sudan.
Following the successful motion, the council will express its support for the various African-Australian communities living within the municipality.
It will recognise that only a small minority of people from African backgrounds were committing crimes and affirm that those Greater Dandenong residents from an African background were valued and respected members of the municipality.
The council will support constructive state and the federal government actions to reduce crime committed by those from the African community, better rehabilitate offenders and prevent crime by early intervention.
It will ask state and federal members of parliament to refrain from language that can lead to fear and division, and inform African-Australian community groups, MPs and the public of the stance.
