Until recently the acronym DEI was unknown in Australia. Now it’s become one of those annoying Americanisms like vacation, SUV and soda which are steadily invading our language. Like ‘woke’, its meaning has been inverted by malicious actors seeking to confuse, divide and conquer.
DEI means diversity, equity and inclusion. Nasty, nasty words aren’t they? According to some, they have the ability to crash planes, cause wild fires and bring down entire societies. Of course there’s no evidence for any of this, but evidence is so 2024.
Never one to miss an opportunity to copy a bad American idea, Peter Dutton used his first major speech this year to attack ‘culture, diversity and inclusion’ advisers in the Australian public service, presumably as a softening-up attack on the public service in general, in the vein of the hi-tech vandalism Elon Musk is currently undertaking in the USA.
As per Gina Rinehart’s script, a ‘bloated’ public service is the problem, never bloated billionaires.
Back to the dark ages
It seems wealthy, able-bodied, heterosexual white people are so threatened by the tiny gains made by people who aren’t exactly like them in recent years that they need to destroy the entire idea of responding to historical and other inequities, which began in earnest with the American civil rights act of 1964.
The problem for business people and politicians arguing that diversity is somehow damaging is that science suggests the complete opposite. That well-known hotbed of radical woke leftards, Forbes magazine, has repeatedly quoted long term research from McKinsey and elsewhere that shows significant financial advantages to companies that pursue equality of representation in terms of gender, ethnicity and other markers.
The effect is even more pronounced when extended to boards of directors, for example companies in the top quartile for board-gender diversity are 27 per cent more likely to outperform financially than those in the bottom quartile. Companies in the top quartile for ethnically diverse boards are 13 per cent more likely to outperform than those in the bottom group.
This doesn’t just apply to America – the database for these long term studies was built from 1,265 companies acting across 23 countries. Beyond dollars and cents, the research also shows much better environmental and social impacts associated with companies that have better DEI scores.
Lessons from history and the natural world
It’s worth remembering that many of the most significant people in history, even Western history, were not white hetereosexual men who called themselves Christians.
The pioneering computer scientist and codebreaker Alan Turing did more than most to help the Allies win World War Two. Would a gay man like him have any chance of a government job in Trump’s America, if he was open about his sexuality?
Black women including the mathematician Katherine Johnson were crucially important in getting humanity to the moon. Would she get a job in an organisation led by Nazis and Nazi apologists?
Someone like the great British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who had motor neurone disease, wouldn’t have been able to work from home or access the support tools he needed under new rules proposed for American government workplaces.
Diversity in the natural world is always associated with greater vigour, and better resistance to disease and other threats, and humanity is no different. Those who advocate racial ‘purity’, violence and cruelty as an approach to life will always be defeated ultimately by those who draw from a wider pool. That’s the true law of the jungle.
The fact is that the money-worshipping, sexist, racist cultists of our era are fundamentally unmoored from reality. Ignoring the rules of physics and the lessons of evolution and history don’t make these things go away, they just hasten your own demise. The only question is how many others they will take with them.
Diversity is strength.
Originally from Canberra, David Lowe is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and photographer with particular interests in the environment and politics. He’s known for his campaigning work with Cloudcatcher Media.
David DEI is not being discriminate to THE LGBTQI COMMUNITIES in fact your more likely to be employed
If you identify as such…look at the States as a prime example of DEI gone completely made …one young man who topped his class with a 💯 mark was told too white not Gay so come back in 6 years as a air traffic controller….now this is not fiction it actually happened…or The Biden administration
Who handed over over a 100 billion to DEI handouts
To countries all over the world.. like a Ecuador drag
Queen company who were given 8 million to entertain
Kids .. or a Californian Jail given 5 million to aid Prisoners in having Sex changes..this is not American or Australian Taxpayer’s expectations of where the funds
Should be distributed to ..No More ..ever since the
The Plebiscite for SSM was voted in ..the Rights of the
LGBTQI COMMUNITIES has headed north ever since .
Pride month who and what other communities are afforded such privileges ? Like my mate who refuses to acknowledge a Pride day ..was sacked ! Seriously..
What about our defence forces do they get a Appreciation month ? No ..enough !
More conspiracy fake information from barrow. Where did you get the air traffic controller story, sounds like sky after dark crap? And your mate sacked for not recognising pride day, more mythical nonsense. Stop promoting cancel culture, you know, everything you don’t like.
New York Post ..Mr Rod ..Sky after Dark ?
Oh you mean like the ABC ..Mr Heston
Thinks they have agendas..mythical nonsense
Of course ..!
Rod and his friends never stole any cookies. They’re just chewing on their tongues. That’s all. No need to call mum. We all know it was really you that stole the cookies all along. You’re just trying to frame them. You must have figured out a way to steal the cookies while you were still at school. It’s totally you not them. And that’s the story they will stick to. Pure as the driven snow.
We don’t have dei policies on australia, a pure American term like Washington post: bozos bowing down to trump. Mr Heston who’s he?
Hmm where did you get all the data and numbers from? Could you prove the story about the young white guy ? Or all others? I doubt it. And the the pride day sacking too. I could understand if he was a Neo Nazi like Musk ..I think you got ducked into the lies from far right media. Nothing is true .
North Coas’st independent news, my ass!
I’d like this paper to be balanced in its views.
How about you try to write an article from the middle. It can’t be that hard!
This was an opinion piece. Why don’t you write an opinion from the middle with facts like this article pointed out?
The Echo would be the first to admit it is left leaning
and by all accounts conservative free ! At least they are willing to listen to other view points and post responses
They may be quite critical of the Article content !
The Echo is Greens political party leaning. That is not necessarily the same thing as left leaning.
I see Liz ..not necessarily left learning ?
So Right leaning ? Please..
Loved this well said speech David.
Feel lucky to have people who speak such sense and truth in our media as their aren’t many these days.
I was listening to Elon explaining how they were being forced to include a percentage of DEI in the workforce for Space X. As he said, colour , race or religion or sexuality isn’t whats important. Educated people in whatever job they are applying for is what matters. So if a company is forced to put in people whom don’t have the right qualifications, then yes, you may very well have planes dropping out of the sky or medical staff that maybe don’t have to have the same pass rate on exams because of their skin colour.
As long as humanity keeps living to a label, black, white, trans or whatever we will continue to have a problem. We aren’t our sexuality, our race, our skin colours, we are all just human beings. Can we not just be humans and cut all the crap out and live and get jobs on the merit of oneself as a human and not by being or trying to be seen or be different. It would seem the youth in particular are more confused now than they’ve ever been.
Well put, David Lowe. Where or what is driving the bloated billionaires and newfound Czars is beyond me (or not quite). Their egos are so huge and self interest so huge that they don’t understand that the rest of the world struggles to make it anywhere. Trump and Musk are solipsists – not narcissists. They will push, shove, abuse and attack anyone wanting to get up just because they can. What the next four years will be like is anyone’s guess. Nightmare !
As always David, you speak a lot of sense. Unfortunately I feel that you’re shouting into the void right now. The right wing culture warriors have very much taken over the asylum and shout down anyone who opposes them
Well said David! I went to the film, The Widow Clicquot today. It told the story of a woman who carried on the management of her husband’s vineyard after his death. Developing new methods of creating champagne, still used today, she was the brains and determination behind today’s Veuve Clicquot empire. Now there is a testament to DEI.
I’d recommend it!
You have heard of the Tower of Babble ?
Say what you like, Australia’s ‘White Australia Policy ‘ was the most successful migration operation in history and the only one that hasn’t led to civil-war.
That is history and of course is not PC , so we now have open slather and teeter on the verge of Race War.
Cheers, G”)
Mainly when it’s very strategically stirred up by largely white Anglo Saxons..
Yes but look at much society has improved since we got rid of it and it’s white supremist views. I suppose your viewpoint represents the Reinhardt noalition make australia great again view. Women would know their place and once married couldn’t work etc.
I presume that if the CCP or Putin or Israel, flooded their people into this country, got them all elected until they controlled the parliament, and started changing all the laws, and your way of life, to benefit themselves at your expense, you would suddenly change your mind about ethnic restrictions? Or would you be “…as long as they do it legally, it’s ok for them to take over our……their country!”?
The point is Christian ,
They already have , it will take some a little time to notice.
Cheers, G”)
Look quite often I don’t like the home grown ones who get elected! Or the ones the home grown ones elect. How do i make sure this doesn’t happen?
You should always try before you buy. Go get temporary residency in that country with the good leadership. You know the one. See what it’s like before you make any permanent discussions.
If that doesn’t work out, Elon should have some extra planets with extra governments to chose from at some stage. But I doubt that will be any better.
I think you may just be stuck advocating your nonsense politics, right where you are. I’ve heard that buying yourself some ruby slippers can help.
I think you may have totally missed the point! But that’s not unusual.
Israel? Very dark there, Christian, going down that rabbit hole. I suppose it represents where your opinions are formulated.
Ken,
Can you explain your comment that “Australia’s ‘White Australia Policy ‘ was the most successful migration operation in history and the only one that hasn’t led to civil-war.” You appear to be saying that all other migration operations in history have led to civil war. Obviously not the case.
Furthermore, the Frontier Wars, and related massacres, continued during the early twentieth century. Therefore, civil war during the “White Australia Policy”.