Group disrupts home auction in Sydney. Anti-Asian group?

This happened last weekend, where a 'anti-foreign buyer' group disrupted a home auction in Chatswood, Sydney.

In my opinion, this group has a racist agenda (where a group is being discriminated against, based on race, FYI; let's not get hung up on the labelling). This is because the flags in their placard are all Asian flags, which is not (anywhere near) a good indication of foreigners in Australia.

The group is angry that these foreigners have increased competition, making it harder for them to buy homes.

  • Many buyers also buy property as an investment.

  • They are understandably angry.

However if they've done their research, they would know that it Asian nationals make up a small group of buyers:

With these stats in mind, it doesn't seem fair that it's only the Asian nations (most which aren't even in the top 10) feeling the wrath in this 'anti foreigner' demonstration.

I hope I've made my points clear.

Do you think this group is anti-Asian? Or, if you think that they're just 'anti-foreign' as they claim to be, can you explain why they're singling out only Asian nations, when this is wrong?

(I'm feeling angry about this issue, that's all. It's hard enough trying to get into the property market; don't need discriminating (profanity) to make it even harder.)

Poll Options

  • 1
    I am undecided, and will explain.
  • 140
    The group is (covertly) anti-Asian.
  • 229
    The group is anti-foreigner (as they claim).

Comments

  • +17

    Well it's hard to tell yanks and Canadians apart from Australians, so of course, the Chinese groups stand out the most.

    In an auction of 50 people and with untrained eyes you will probably only "see" two main groups — people of Anglo descent and Chinese descent. Pick a target to get angry with. It'll be the Asians.

    And going by the investment figures, the Chinese have almost 2x the buying power of the US, so it's very likely the chinese are usually leading the auctions in terms of bidding price. That's just my conjecture though.

    • +18

      I get what you're saying.

      But if that was true, this is what they were probably saying:

      "It's hard to tell Americans, Canadians and the English from Australians… so let's just get angry with the Chinese. …And while we're at it, let's just add in all the other Asian countries."

      …Does sound like racism to me :S

      • +1

        Most people only see brown people white people fight. cannot tell chinese from japan.

        • most people said asian, but chinese, korean, japanese are all asian. which one that you mean?

    • +43

      Well it's hard to tell yanks and Canadians apart from Australians, so of course, the Chinese groups stand out the most.

      I wonder how the Australian-born Chinese feel, not only competing for a house with their Chinese "brothers" but also trying to avoid the attention of the Anti-Asian/Anti-foreigner groups. The worst of both worlds!

      • +13

        What about the non Chinese Asians, who are automatically assumed to be yet another Chinese buyer.

        • +9

          Protests should be targeted at politicians not people, many bystanders will be hurt otherwise.

          If I recall correctly the cronulla riots began with an Italian getting bashed because they thought he was a mulslim or whatever.

        • +2

          As a non Chinese Asian, I don't care.

        • +2

          @spn:

          Wait till its your community turbans then you'll care..

        • +1

          @dealman: turbans?

        • +10

          @spn:

          Lol,
          Typo from mobile… Wait till its your community turbans turn then you'll care.. lol

        • @dealman: Oh, but I already face alot of assumptions that people think I am from China anyways, so it really doesn't make a difference does it?

        • +2

          @spn:

          Yes, because it's not correct.

          Eg. no we're not all Chinese (so don't make those assumptions about me).

          … But that's just me.

        • +3

          @spn: As a non Chinese Asian I do care.

          Causes presented like this frequently attract, and then are hijacked by people who have racial and not economic agendas.

          It's just one step from 'anti foreign' to anti anyone who looks foreign (meaning non-white).

        • @sama: Really though, it happens everywhere. In China, all westerners looks the same to them as well, they can't tell the difference between a Scottish person and an Italian.

          Even when I was in China, people thought I was Chinese. Even my relatives think I look Chinese.

          Its easy to tell the difference between a Chinese and a Korean or a Vietnamese but really it really is pointless to educate that to the whole country. Even today right now, I really can't tell the difference between an Indian or a Sri Lankan and I don't think it is racist that I can't tell even if I try to.

        • +1

          @spn: I don't have any issues if someone can't tell my specific ethnicity or not. That's not racist.

          I'm just saying for people who are already racist, ethnicity doesn't matter. They're looking for someone who looks different to blame, the ethnicity is just a cover (hence sticking Vietnamese, Koreans, etc in their complaints). These movements are framed in ways that make it attractive for people who are already racist to join. And when they do in great numbers, they hijack the movement to attack 'others' regardless of ethnicity or complicity.

          For example Vincent Chin, a Chinese man, was murdered in the 80s because some Americans blamed Japanese on taking away car manufacturing jobs. The fact he was both Chinese AND American (he obviously wasn't in Japan making cars) didn't factor in for the people who beat him to death, or for those who gave the men responsible an absurdly lenient sentence. This case was quite famous and led to the Pan-Asian movement in the US.

        • @sama: yeah if that is their motive then I agree it should be stopped. Historically white Australians have a history of feeling invaded and become "scared" if people look different physically. I've seen many have moved on since the Chinese gold rush days but it is obvious that people still hold onto these rootsand like to preserve them.

          In terms of property investment, I've literally never heard a foreign Chinese calling anyone a racist. It all really comes from Asian Australians( or any ethnics growing up in Australia knowing the Australian culture). I don't think when someone is intentionally being racist towards a Chinese foreigner that they know what actually is bein spoken towards them … Unless they are well verse in the enish language and Australian slang.

          If protestors wants to show a clear message, they really should get those banners translated into mandarine and then use it against them for maximum effect.

        • @spn: when I was in Korea, Korean girls went after me and spoke Korean with me.

          When I was in Japan, the Jap girls went after.

          I speak neither languages but I didn't care. Lol

        • @rememberme: I would guess that this protest was aimed at getting the politicians' attention. It is an open secret that non-residents are buying up the real estate and are pushing up the prices. And Politicians are doing frig-all. Perhaps an Aust. dope like D.Trump might get their attention.

    • I get what you are saying but i know many people of asian descent that are way more aussie culturally than I am (i spent a lot of time abroad )

      Limited education just makes some people lash out at anything different. As OP points out figures paint a different picture, but it's easy not to read, look at them and just yell in a drunken stupor

      to answer OP question, they are anti foreign but go for the easiest, most obvious* targets…

      *that's why one famous guy made his scapegoats wear stars…

    • +11

      Ya know, this group pisses me off.

      What if I told you that you can be a foreigner AND Australian? Isn't this what they want? They want foreigners to be integrated in society, and 'be Australian'? Fair enough…

      Yet, they tell foreigners to GTFO ('if you aren't born here'). What do they REALLY want? - No non-white foreigners. Back to the White Australia Policy days.

      (Also, the most flag waving I see in Australia are Australian flags, mostly by what we call bogans (cmon, let's be honest)… I don't see any other flags anywhere near on a daily basis. Also I think you should see my sources and get informed, that a single race is NOT the majority of foreign buyers…)

        • +1

          Lol… I'm not talking about you. The stuff for you are in the brackets…

          Also I didn't get your last part.

        • +2

          You don't actually understand Australia, do you?

          "Get the (profanity) out of this country if you wont fly our flag here."

          I am not against the country but this chauvinistic view makes absolutely no sense here in Australia.

          Written in our very own constitution, we still have Queen Elizabeth II as ruling monarch, represented by the Governor-General. There is a notion of national pride here which does not make much sense here since Australia, as part of the Commonwealth of nations, should be looking up to the UK. We ourselves chose this over becoming a republic through referendum in 1999 (we chose to keep the queen rather than to have a president.)

          On one side we have a tendency to promote this blind, destructive notion of 'Australian Pride' but on the other, we choose to keep the queen as monarch and be part of the commonwealth + also promote multiculturalism. It begs the question, whether most Australians who tout this are merely confused or are uneducated in history and politics.

          It's not even a crime to desecrate the Australian flag (however much it is looked down upon).

        • +1

          Im not surprised by your username.

        • +2

          @Serapis: because the government view/policy is not always representing people's view. in reality we already have problem with the inflated housing price, the diminishing availability of baby formula/milk powder, the ownership of business in key areas, and perhaps many other things that not come to surface yet.
          this thing already happened in many other asian countries, but our government hasn't learning anything yet and has no policy to regulate this.
          it seems free trade market became the bitter medicine that we have to face!

      • +1

        According to the leader of this group…

        The son of a Russian refugee mother, Mr Folkes said he was not anti-Chinese. "I've had mixed reactions [to the flyers]," he said. "I've had a surprising amount of abuse from Chinese people saying 'You're racist'. I've made it pretty clear we're talking about Chinese nationals. We're not talking about Australians of Chinese heritage."

        Whether you believe him or no, who even knows. Those recent Reclaim Australia rallies had non-white speakers, which confused me. At least on the surface, they're protesting the fact that foreign nationals (in this case, Chinese) are pricing Australian ones out of the housing market.

        • +3

          Those recent Reclaim Australia rallies had non-white speakers

          Rather than reduce it to having "non-white speakers" just go on over to their website where they discuss introducing stricter laws for criminal "ethnic gangs" (as if anglo Australians aren't involved in organized crime) and considering "cultural compatibility" for immigration with general preference for Europeans, as well as completely stopping immigration from Muslim and third world countries. Funny enough they give immigration preference for Americans, ignoring that Americans are the second highest number of foreigners buying Australian property after China. Because that factoid sort of hurts their racist rhetoric.

          If that isn't enough, then they've made it extremely clear that they want to scrap section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, which makes it illegal to be publicly racist. Because, ya know, it infringes our freedom as Australians not to be able to put up racist signs and stuff. Freedom!

        • +1

          Ah, I saw that (profanity) on an SBS show I think it was having a go at African refugees.. He's an idiot.

      • -1

        The hypocrisy in this argument is that you don't want people to judge a book by its cover, but then you say "mostly by what we call bogans (cmon, let's be honest)".

    • +5

      Get the (profanity) out of this country if you wont fly our flag here.

      Get the (profanity) out of this country if you don't believe in freedom mate.

        • +1

          I second that. I don't even know how to speak my mother language as well. Just pure Engrish for me. When someone tells me to gtfo I imagine myself in total isolation not being able to communicate to anyone at all.

    • +1

      How about I put whatever the hell flag I want and you get the (profanity) out of this country. I sure as hell ain't going nowhere…

  • +5

    The way house prices are going I'm going to be 50 before I have enough saved for a house deposit and can finally move out of home. :S fml.

    • Same :S

    • +4

      No offence but if you are living at home would it not be easy to save for a deposit. If you are not paying rent then you can pretty much put all your income towards a deposit so it should be much easier to save than for people not living at home.

      • +16

        I am, but it seems house prices are increasing more per annum than I make in a year.

        • -4

          Of course I just meant you said you were saving for a deposit. If you save I'm sure you are get that down fairly quickly while living at home.

        • Can't you find a cheaper place to live, like how much are houses where you are?

        • @Jetship:

          where I am at the moment the median is 725k, going further out about 400+ little further out 350+, I can't really go any further as the business I am involved in, I need to be centrally located.

        • @t_c: Damn that sucks dude, my dad bought our house about 5 or 6 years ago for 180k 3b/1b on a 780sqm block we're an hour drive to Perth CBD so it isn't too bad. There's also a train line from here to perth so that's great!

        • @Jetship:

          Wellard or baldivis?

        • @SaberX: Mandurah :)

        • If you are talking in Syd and Mel over the last 2-3 years, then yes.

          Sydney has been flat for the 8 years or so prior to that.

          Real estate works in the cycle and just after every boom people complain, but don't forget booms only last for 2-3 years or so.

        • @domcc1: this 'boom' already looming for almost 5 years and government seems not care. even they plan to extend visitor visa for specific country for 10 years (?)

    • +7

      thats why you save up for a beaten down place 30km out of the city and climb the "property ladder", not many people can afford the average sydney house as a first home purchase.

      • +1

        That strategy may have worked well in the past, but I fear with the rate that prices are climbing by the time the first place is payed off, it's likely that I will be very well priced out of the market.

      • +13

        30km out of the city would put you in Liverpool, Engadine, Parramatta, Castle Hill or Mona Vale. A beaten down place in any of these locations will be $700,000.
        Go an extra 15km further and you can get some farmland that is being converted to new housing for …. $700,000 for a small house on a tiny plot.
        In both cases, enjoy your 60 to 90 minute one-way train commute to work each day (or longer if you sit in a car using Sydney's under-developed roadways). If you have kids, further reduce your ability to pay the mortgage (which is 8 times Sydney median annual income) by having one parent stay at home, or pay costs to have the kid cared for not only during business hours, but also during the 3 hours that both parents spend commuting - requiring after-daycare (or after-school) care.
        Times have changed.

        • I don't know about any of the other places, but median house price in Mona Vale is well above the 1m mark.

    • +1

      Just think, if you wait long enough and have to stay with your parents, you will eventually inherit their home (hopefully) :) :) :)

  • +20

    These guys aren't racist, wouldn't give them the prestige of having that title, they're just imbeciles.

    • +6

      I am Asian my self but what I believe is current residence and citizen no matter what nationality they have they all have the same right. but this stupid government must be careful with selling Australian lands to foreign investors this is destroying economy and it has caused rising prices in houses.

  • +24

    The group isn't anti-foreigner, they're just a white supremacist group. Within this context they're anti-[everything that isn't anglo]. Generally racist, xenophobic, economically ignorant, isolationist trash.

    • +2

      I agree, and thought this was obvious, especially with my sources…

      Looking at the votes so far, maybe people don't want to face the harsh truth.

    • -1

      anti-foreigner, they're just a white supremacist group
      racist, xenophobic, economically ignorant, isolationist trash.

      Is the current climate of social justice all just a ruse to use as many buzzwords as possible?

      • +1

        Is the current climate of racism to write off everything as 'social justice'?

        • -1

          Is the current climate of social justice to write off everything as 'racism'?

        • @chipstss: yeah, because limiting immigration except for Europeans and giving 'ethnic' criminals longer jail time isn't racist. In fact, they're so not racist that they want to remove the law which prohibits being publicly racist. Not because the shit they want to say in public is racist, but because, ya know.. freedom and all that, right?

          I love how you're actually trying to defend them by calling criticism 'social justice' lol.

        • -1

          I love how you're actually trying to defend them by calling criticism 'racism' lol.

        • +1

          @chipstss: criticism of what? openly racist policies that only allow immigration from Europe and North America? "Cultural compatibility" considered when applying for a visa? lengthier and harsher prison rates for 'ethnic' people? how they want to make public racism legal?

          You clearly know nothing about the group or their goals — you just see another Anglo and immediately take their side.

  • +4

    I have read somewhere that Chinese Govt does not allow its citizens to buy land on freehold basis. You can only get a 70 year lease of land in China. (Please someone correct me if I am wrong.)

    That seems to be the root cause of the problem. So seems like Chinese govt policies are creating problems for citizens of other countries. This needs to be taken up at the Govt level.

    • So…

      The Chinese can't buy land / don't want land in China -> Buy land / homes in Australia -> Competes and pisses off Australian locals -> Australian locals start anti-foreigner disruption, with all the other Asian flags?

      Sounds like other Asian nations are accidental victims of the Chinese government and racism.

    • That first part is correct. The second part… probably only partially. The chinese has been interested in buying up Australian land and property simply because they started to lose interest in the share market. They see the Chinese stock market as too risky and they were right… in July the stock market crashed and it was the biggest crash seen since 2007.

      The second reason was the devaluation of the Yuan. They want to move money out of China as soon as possible and have it all invested into something overseas.

      • -1

        Devaluation? It's been on the rise. From around 6-7RMB to Australian Dollar, it's close to $4.70 now. If anything, the Chinese government wants the RMB to fall, so they can make their exports more appealing. Currently, it's rising.

        • +2

          Devaluation is different from depreciation. The RMB is pegged to the US dollar, as the US dollar has appreciated to the AUD it has also had an equal affect with the RMB-AUD. A few weeks ago the Chinese Gov devalued their value against the USD which effectively makes it in a weaker position to ALL other currencies than before.

    • +3

      You can only get a 70 year lease of land in China. (Please someone correct me if I am wrong.)

      Yep you're right but shock, horror - lands in ACT are on 99 year lease.

    • +5

      70 year rule is on paper only, no one has held property anywhere near 70 years in China. The first waves of commercially developed real estate in China are barely 20 years old.

      Foreigners buying australian property isn't news, the chinese have only started in the recent years because they got rich so quick and owning oversea property is a status symbol for upper middle class chinese. Given Australia's low interest environment, and poor exchange rate Australia properties are a bargain to the chinese.

      • +6

        Probably also a way to hide or convert black money into legal money.

        • that's what the foreign corruptors doing in singapore, usa and now australia. they know they won't be safe in their own country, so they will send their kids to study overseas. becoming permanent resident or citizen and buy house to move into when law enforcer want to take them to jail

        • +1

          Recently attended a committal hearing for a money laundering case involving a young Chinese couple and a city apartment. I'd say you're right.

    • +12

      Can Australians buy Chinese property as easily as Chinese can buy property here? If not, then it's not very fair.

      • +5

        I agree. Non-Australians should be bound by the same limitations that we have in their country. Eg. No Chinese national can own more than 49% of an Australian business here. No Thai can buy land, etc. Seems grossly unfair that foreign people can have these liberties in our country but we have major limitations in theirs.

        • +1

          Not that I disagree with the concept of "fairness" but how would you propose to enforce and penalize that? Will need to get everybody reeducated on more than 50 different property laws.

        • +1

          @lolbbq:

          One world government can take care of that!

        • +1

          @DeafMutePretender: That would but great but unfortunately people prefer to think as individuals instead of a species.

      • -1

        When asking this, did you ever ask yourself 'Do Australians want to buy Chinese property?' If the answer is no, your question / statement is invalid.

      • +2

        I only visit China for a few weeks in a year (for the past 11 years), but the quick answer is :

        It is possible for individual Australians to purchase apartments in China.

        I visited an apartment yesterday owned by a European couple who no longer live in China.

        I have also visited other non-Chinese people who were renting an apartment from another (non-Chinese) foreigner had purchased the property but no longer lived in China.

      • tell that to australian our government. i don't want to buy property in china!!

  • +6

    the group is racist, the main guy is nick folkes

    known for:

    http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/race-hate-flyer-distributed-in-syd…
    https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/06/01/prot-j01.html

    and more widely known as the star of one of the living with the enemy episodes on SBS, where he is a blatant racist but claims "i am not racist".

    • +11

      he is a blatant racist but claims "i am not racist".

      I would have more respect for right-wing racists if they had the intellectual honesty to just say "Yes I am a racist"

      If they look like a duck, acts like a duck and quacks like a duck, then they're probably ducks. And quacks.

      • +2

        If they look like a duck, acts like a duck and quacks like a duck, then they're probably ducks. And quacks.

        Hahahaha take my like!

      • If they look like a duck, acts like a duck and quacks like a duck, then they're probably ducks. And quacks.

        Peaking duck, anyone?

    • interestingly, his wife is japanese and an immigrant

  • +12

    However if they've done their research, they would know that it Asian nationals make up a small group of buyers:
    Top 9: China, USA, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, UK, Netherlands, NZ, Hong Kong, Germany"
    most which aren't even in the top 10

    Not that I really care enough to weigh in on the topic, but your theory is a little shakey here. You say that Asian nationals make up a small group of buyers, but going from your quoted article of the top 11 countries…

    • There are 5 Asian countries in the top 11 countries by investment.
    • The total of these countries' investments comes to $21109M, or $21.1B
    • Compare this to the non-Asian countries' investments of $15126M, or $15.1B
    • So going on the data from the top 11 investing countries, Asian countries invest 58% of the total $36.2B

    Not a 'small group of buyers', I think
    Also take into account that China doubled its investing from the previous year, as did Singapore and Hong Kong (though all-round, most countries saw quite a bit of growth, the Netherlands increase seven-fold).

    So Asian nationals actually seem to make up the majority of foreign investors. Is this grounds for race-targeted xenophobia? Of course not. The protesters likely have a bit of confirmation bias going on (among other things) and think the numbers are higher than they are. But yeah, just FYI.

    • +1

      Ok, so I may have got my wording wrong.

      Nearly 60% of investments are from Asian nations.

      Buy why is South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam in the picture? Even some middle Eastern countries… It seems like these Asian countries were been included just for the sake of being Asian.

      • i think this also varies by location. asian buyers i feel tend to target specific areas. ie more of the high end. so it can seem like people also looking in the same area, that the asians are everywhere. cause in some places they are. the 5% maybe overall is small, but it may be interesting if this is more location specific.

  • +16

    Remember ladies and gentlemen: For every Chinese (or other foreigner) buying a house, there is a (most probably Australian) person selling it to them. Be mad at the Chinese. Be mad at the Australian "traitor". Be mad at the real estate industry. Be mad at the State and Federal governments. Be mad at the baby boomers.

    • +2

      What seems to be happening lately because of the influx of Asians into the housing market, houses are being sold to Asians BY Asians.

      • Is a house being sold by an Asian to another Asian at public auction a problem?

    • +8

      Don't forget when the Chinese sells the property to check the dishwasher is working…

      • +2

        lol.

        But it's sad to think that some people believe that only foreigners sell property with broken dishwashers…

    • +1

      the government consists mainly of old people. they know their time to enjoy this worldly life is short. and they don't give a damn about their kids future generation (blame it to our individualism culture; already 18 years old and want to live away from parent and now their time to get revenge on us)

  • -4

    What is topic here? Australian and foreigner? Then auction who is selling house might be Australian who can get more money thanks to hardworking foreigner. So pull up your pant , work hard and win auction no mater where u from. By the way Australia not running by Australian it running by hardworkers. Most of job opportunity are made by foreigners if they did not invest this country never could develop faster. I think Asian culture =drink nil,smoke nil, party less= buy property Australian culture opposite drink,smoke party and end up no money when go auction.. So complaining abt foreigners as they can not get cheaper price.

    • +11

      I think Asian culture =drink nil,smoke nil, party less= buy property Australian culture opposite drink,smoke party and end up no money when go auction..

      There's another very big difference in culture: Asians save money, Australians (and Westerners) don't much. Australians buy depreciating goods from Harvey Norman… financed with credit (and paying interest for the privilege)!

      I guess it's all about short-term and long-term views and with a short-sighted prime minister like Tones Abbott being elected, perhaps he might be a reflection on those who voted for him?

      • +8

        Australians (and Westerners) don't much

        I think Asian culture =drink nil,smoke nil, party less= buy property

        Wealthy Asians save money, Poor Asians cant
        Wealthy Aussies save money Poor Aussies cant

        Without overall statistics generalisations based on biased agenda's, mean, you are being as absolutely silly as the group the OP is complaining about.

        • That's a cop out

          Wealthy people are wealthy because of good saving habits

          A person with 100k income and shitty saving habits will be less wealthy than a person on 50k and good saving habits after a few years

        • +2

          If you have any familiarity with economic data around the world, you'll know that statistically Chinese save more than other cultures. Whether this is true across all Asian cultures, I'm not sure.

          "Chinese also save far more than others, with an average household savings rate of 38 percent in 2010, compared with just 3.9 percent for Americans and 2.8 percent for Japanese, according to figures compiled by Bloomberg Businessweek magazine, using statistics from the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, along with other data."

          https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/getting-ch…

          It's both a cultural trait passed down over many generations, but also a reflection on the lack of a social safety net in China.

          Note that Japan used to have the highest savings rate amongst developed OECD countries. But the lack of saving in Japan is likely due to the fact they've effectively had deflation (a massive disincentive to save - a dollar will be worth less tomorrow than today so you might as well spend it) and also they have a rapidly ageing population (retired people tend to spend their savings since they have limited income coming in). The US addiction to consumer debt, particularly prior to the financial crisis, is pretty well documented.

        • @hayne: Chinese maybe so

          The point was DMP was making was about Asians" and not all Asians are from China.

          You have made a DMP's generalisation into a specific, and that changes the argument

          @echelon6

          Likewise in many countries $50K isnt poor. Maybe not wealthy but not poor.

          My point was that to say all Asians save money isnt true as many Asians are poor. Those who live in say Japan/ Singapore/ Hong Kong would be far better off than many in say Cambodia, Myanmar, Bangladesh Laos, Philippines, North Korea etc

          So saying Asians save while Aussie don't much isnt true, its a generalisation.

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