Racists Hit CQU

Stephanie Rose | Felix Culpa, C.Q.U. Student Newspaper | September 2001

PROMOTIONAL material produced by racist white supremacist organisation, The World Church of the Creator (WCOTC) [now the Church of the Creator], was found at CQU, the day after the Multicultural Fair.

A poster was pinned to a noticeboard in building 19, where many students pass through 24 hours a day.

The poster was a recruitment flyer, asking for people to “stand up and fight for the White race”.

The only contact details provided was a Rockhampton post office box.

Other material from the WCOTC was placed under car windscreen wipers on the day of the Multicultural Fair.

The WCOTC first hit headlines earlier this year when they began a hate campaign, placing stickers on the door of an indigenous organization in Rockhampton, but now it seems that the campaign has spread.

The CQU community is culturally and ethnically diverse and more than 90 different languages are spoken across CQU’s numerous campuses.

International students make up 38% of CQU’s total enrolment.

Director of CQU International, Gaye Pullyn, said that in Rockhampton alone, international students make up almost 10% of enrolments, but said that students had not reported sigthings of racist material to the international support centre.

“To date, nothing has been reported by international students to us,” Ms Pullyn said.

CQU’s Equity Office has refused to condemn the recruitment poster.

CQU Equity Office Acting Director Annette Chappell said the timing was not right for her department to comment on the issue.

“We have a new policy that is currently under construction, and we want to make sure that our policy aligns with and supports new state legislation,” she said.

While the new Queensland laws on racial and religious vilification took effect from June 7 this year, placing the poster in a university building actually breaches current university policy and procedures on racial issues.

CQU’s current Policy Statement on Racial Issues states “Racial Discrimination is defined as the negative differential treatment of individuals or groups on the basis of their race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin.”

The policy statement further defines using University facilities to recruit students or staff to racist organizations or groups as an example of racial discrimination and harassment.

The practice of racism is also illegal under the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act (1975), the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Act (1992), and is contrary to the CQU Act 1989 (S.125), and to the university’s equal opportunity policies for students and staff.

The WCOTC campaign has apparently extended to other parts of Central Queensland. Earlier this month, a CQ ...

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