India, Oct. 26 -- In the wake of the alleged attack on independent MP Helen Haines, which has reignited debate about political violence, lawyer and advocate Mariam Veiszadeh urged Australians to pay closer attention to how hostility spreads through public life.
She called it trickle-down racism.
"Unlike trickle-down economics, it actually works," Ms Veiszadeh told an audience of hundreds at the Kaldor Centre Oration on Tuesday. Language used by politicians and commentators "trickles all the way down into boardrooms, into workplaces and classrooms and our social media feeds".
Ms Veiszadeh pointed to recent comments in parliament directed at minister Anne Aly, the first Muslim woman in Australia's parliament. A Liberal MP said in a policy ...