It’s not okay!

I have just spent three weeks travelling in Europe from Lisbon to remote parts of Lapland.

What an amazing journey through history, architecture and the experiences of such entirely different cultures.

The only jarring note on the trip was the fact that the only news from Australia through BBC worldwide and CNN was about the assaults and a death of Indians in our country.

I felt deeply ashamed and compelled to start my 2010 blogs with some comments – as I see it, successful sustainable businesses need to operate in a fair and just society – if we as a community are not prepared to stand up and express our concern about these racial attacks where might this end?

Apart from the damage to our social fabric, what about the effect on the business of education in Australia? Why would families continue to send their student children here, when so many other countries beckon?

Why would our greatly valued and value adding migrants continue to come to Australia? Most are trying to get away from age-old discrimination, why come half way around the world if your family is not guaranteed of a better, fairer, safer life?

This news coverage by the way did not include any comments by business, political or community leaders condemning these attacks. On returning here I did note the comments made by Peter Cosgrove, an acknowledgment that there are elements of racial, religious discrimination in our community.

I agree totally with his sentiments, while most Australians believe in a fair go and our legal system generally supports this hypothesis it might also be reasonable to say that all of us do have some deep prejudices, they may be unconscious but most of us have them. Some of us may be smart enough to acknowledge that we do have them and in so doing do not let them stand in the way of employing the best people, socialising with the people we like and respect. But there are signs in Australia that unless we stand up and say no to this treatment of Indians or any other ethnic groups we may be heading down historically dangerous tracks.

As the saying goes bad things happen when good people say nothing and history attests to that.

So back to the business angle. We know that the most successful businesses are based on the best people and that harassment and bullying in the workforce are unacceptable and dangerous; equally outside business – we need to speak up against harassment and bullying.

While we may never rid our community of bigotry and prejudices entirely, we have to do what we can to eliminate unfair and prejudicial treatment of any law abiding racial and religious groups.

All rights of course come with responsibilities and we as a community should expect that all citizens and newcomers to our country are prepared to obey our laws and contribute to a harmonious and safe environment.

With Australia Day just behind us it’s a time to think about our values. I cherish the belief that all Australian citizens and visitors who abide by Australian law have the right to safety, respect and freedom of expression.

To read more Marcia Griffin expert advice, click here.

Marcia’s latest book, High Heeled Success (pictured left), is a frank account of building a business from a solitary sales person to a multi-million dollar business with 4700 sales consultants around Australia and New Zealand. Contact Marcia to purchase. Marcia’s latest venture is skin care company griffin+row.