[csaa-forum] Asian (non-)voters

[Tseen Khoo]

[I had some kind of address hitch - sent this yesterday...horse seems to
have bolted but here 'tis anyway...]

hi mark

> the number of voters in this election
> seems to be a bit over 10 million, but politicians keep saying there are 20
> million people in Australia. 

apparently Aust's voting turnout has been above 94% since 1972. I don't
know how many of Aust's 20 million are eligible to vote - anyone got #s
for our voting population? [and, yes, poster who pointed to the reams of
data out there is right]

> People who migrate to Australia as I understand
> it fail in large numbers to become Australian citizens, rather having the
> permanent residency status which gives them most of the benefits, but not
> the vote - hence I think a lot of Chinese in Sydney, say, are still outside
> the electoral process. 

hmmm. well, below is a table of source country groups and the % of
citizenship uptake.  

__Country of birth & Citizenship rate__
Greece  97% 
Viet Nam  95% 
Philippines  90% 
China  80% 
Italy  80% 
Netherlands  78% 
Germany  77% 
United Kingdom  66% 
New Zealand  38% 

Total overseas-born  74% 

[Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Year Book Australia 2003,
Table 5.48]

I have found it interesting (and not just a bit strange) that we are
talking about something like how 'asians' are voting alongside
discussions about fractions of class, region, religion, etc. and, yes, I
realise that this kind of discussion does depend to some extent on
generalisations but still...

I agree with you, Mark, that there are fair whacks of the population who
are not registered, or who choose not to vote, or who vote informally.
it is a multi-faceted issue that, in many ways, reflects how much one
feels in possession of civic rights and representation (not just talking
legally here). 

and, just for the generalised record, the majority of 'asians' I know
voted Howard.

tseen
___________________________
Dr Tseen Khoo
Monash Research Fellow
National Centre for Australian Studies
Monash University, Clayton VIC 3800
tseen.khoo at arts.monash.edu.au