Urgent Investigation Needed into Reckless and Racist Scaremongering

Mr Sam Afra, Chairperson of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) sought assurances from councils and authorities across Victoria today that appropriate steps were being taken to investigate the source of inflammatory leaflets appearing in residents’ mailboxes this week.

“While I appreciate that aspects of an investigation are not always made public due to operational reasons, it is important to know that everything is being done to track down the individuals responsible for circulating this malicious and misleading material,” Mr Afra said. 

Mr Afra said that the offending leaflets made a number of vicious and unfounded generalisations about African Australians that are deeply offensive and upsetting to all Victorians, but especially to refugee families who have been accepted under the humanitarian resettlement program. 

Mr Afra described the level of vitriol and prejudice expressed in the leaflets as extremely alarming and ignorant.“While all right-minded people would recognise this material as nothing more than hate-fuelled scaremongering, it is still a concern that unsuspecting residents, including young children, are finding it sitting in their mailboxes,” Mr Afra noted. 

Mr Afra said he had received a numbered of calls from residents in both regional and metropolitan centres greatly distressed by the tone and "

Mr Sam Afra, Chairperson of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) sought assurances from councils and authorities across Victoria today that appropriate steps were being taken to investigate the source of inflammatory leaflets appearing in residents’ mailboxes this week.

“While I appreciate that aspects of an investigation are not always made public due to operational reasons, it is important to know that everything is being done to track down the individuals responsible for circulating this malicious and misleading material,” Mr Afra said. 

Mr Afra said that the offending leaflets made a number of vicious and unfounded generalisations about African Australians that are deeply offensive and upsetting to all Victorians, but especially to refugee families who have been accepted under the humanitarian resettlement program. 

Mr Afra described the level of vitriol and prejudice expressed in the leaflets as extremely alarming and ignorant.“While all right-minded people would recognise this material as nothing more than hate-fuelled scaremongering, it is still a concern that unsuspecting residents, including young children, are finding it sitting in their mailboxes,” Mr Afra noted. 

Mr Afra said he had received a numbered of calls from residents in both regional and metropolitan centres greatly distressed by the tone and content of the leaflets, and he urged local authorities to work swiftly to identify the distributors and take appropriate action. 

Mr Afra was also quick to stress that Victoria should not be tarnished by the bigoted and racially-intolerant sentiments being circulated around the state.

“It is vital that in the course of investigating who is behind this material that the citizens of Victoria, many of whom have opened their hearts to African families, do not have their integrity and generosity called into question. We as Australians need to affirm our traditional standards and give everyone a fair go.”

“Such is the stupidity and toxicity of this kind of material – not only does it deeply offend and criminally misrepresent the victimised communities, but taints the reputation of Victoria in the eyes of the world.”

 

" of the leaflets, and he urged local authorities to work swiftly to identify the distributors and take appropriate action. 

Mr Afra was also quick to stress that Victoria should not be tarnished by the bigoted and racially-intolerant sentiments being circulated around the state.

“It is vital that in the course of investigating who is behind this material that the citizens of Victoria, many of whom have opened their hearts to African families, do not have their integrity and generosity called into question. We as Australians need to affirm our traditional standards and give everyone a fair go.”

“Such is the stupidity and toxicity of this kind of material – not only does it deeply offend and criminally misrepresent the victimised communities, but taints the reputation of Victoria in the eyes of the world.”