This time Russell has used Twitter to spread his opinion of Australia's off shore immigration detention centres on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and the men who are being held there. I will let Russell's tweets speak for themselves so I have copied those below. His tweets about Manus Island came almost immediately after he was photographed holidaying in Mexico with a young woman who he referred to on Twitter as his assistant.
This is not the first time Russell has criticised Australia's immigration policies in particular towards New Zealanders. In 2015 while promoting his movie The Water Diviner he raised the issue while doing interviews in Britain. In a newspaper article titled, "Russell Crowe never applied for Australian citizenship, says Immigration Department" published in The Sydney Morning Herald in March 2015 "Russell boasted Australia had denied him citizenship in the country where he and his family lived. This time the British media reported he had applied twice for citizenship and been denied. The Australian Immigration Department stepped in and said they had no record of Russell Crowe applying for Australian citizenship or a permanent visa..." In another article titled "Russell Crowe never applied for Australian citizenship." in the New Zealand Herald and published around the same time Russell is quoted as saying "Australian immigration rules were unreasonable (for New Zealanders)".... "No matter how long you'd been in the country, if you weren't in Australia for the majority of 2000 to 2002 - when I was particularly busy filming overseas - you can't become a citizen." He also probably never applied for permanent residency in Australia for tax purposes.
As an Australian I am angry at the way Russell went about this and his disloyalty to Australia and Australians whom he considers himself one of. I am also angry for all genuine refugees and immigrants who have come to Australia through the front door, taking citizenship and making a life for themselves here. Every year thousands come under a range of categories including students, refugees and family reunion. They often come to a country where English is not their first language, their qualifications are often not recognised, they come from a range of traumatic backgrounds, without financial resources, take jobs others will not do and live in a strange country without the support of a family and community. After years of hard work and without a lot of fuss they willingly make a new life for themselves and their family, take permanent residency and/or citizenship and all it entails with its rights and responsibilities.
In America it seems every man, woman and their dog have a celebrity gossip webpage and the associated social media pages are eager to distribute any publicity and make a living out of celebrity gossip. So off the Russell Crowe Twitter followers and the celebrity webpages went to make over some 3000 comments on Twitter to the attached posts and hundreds of shares of articles based on those posts. Many fans and followers made comments (in particular those loyal fans who blindly support anything Russell Crowe tweets in hope of getting a response and becoming part of the in gang on social media) took the word of Russell Crowe as the absolute inclusive truth, making ill informed comments about something they don't know anything about and could do nothing about. Then there were many Australians, some supporters but also many trying to support their government and venting their anger at Russell for not putting Australians in need first.
The Huffington Post and Mashable Australia lead the gossip webpages supporting Russell's tweets and half truths through a lack of research or just plain laziness. The articles were circulated and shared hundreds of times. They wrote the Australian government wanted to close the current facility and cut off water and other supplies. They failed to mention the men were being moved to another facility. However, they refused to move for security reasons. The Huffington Post wrote "Meanwhile, 600 asylum seekers still on Manus Island continued to face horrific conditions, faced by threats of violence, dehydration, starvation, no medicine, disease and heat". The Huffington Post did not write that many had been declared not refugees or asylum seekers and were being moved to another facility called Hillside Haus, not just abandoned into the community to fend for themselves.
Russell constantly declares he is an Australian and Australia is his adopted home, a home where he has never chosen to taken citizenship, vote or for the most part of his life, work. He is part owner of an Australian rugby league club which to his credit employs Australians and does some good work in the local communities. Russell's estranged wife is Australian and his children were born here and are Australian. It is well documented that Australia is his sanctuary, a place where he can live an ordinary life away from the celebrity Hollywood life in America.
I personally have always known Russell isn't particularly fond of Australia and Australians except for a few close friends and the fans at his rugby club who pay memberships. I have followed Russell closely on Twitter for many years and I have always known this through some of his comments about Australia, his lack of support for Australian sporting teams and his low tolerance for Australians and their comments and their ability to speak their mind. The only exception seems to be the Irwins and Australia Zoo.
I see why Russell may have empathy with the men in detention on Manus Island. Like the men he left his home in New Zealand with his family as a young child to come to Australia for a better life. Over the years Russell has criticised Australia and their immigration policies, particularly towards New Zealanders as he did not take his opportunity to gain Australian citizenship because he was off in America making movies and millions of dollars and did not complete the residency period. Those residency requirements changed and he was no longer eligible or was not prepared to the do the time to get citizenship. Russell like the men in the off shore detention centre left their families leaving their women and children to go somewhere else. While Russell was able to return to Australia, he left his wife and children alone for long periods of time which media sources say eventually lead to the breakdown of his marriage.
As many commented on Twitter those men in the detention centre would have taken thousands of dollars away from their families to pay people smugglers along the way. They also ignored several safe countries until they got to their destination Australia. One comment I read put it nicely that while Manus Island is good enough for 40 000 people who live there it doesn't seem good enough for those men in detention. There is tension between the Manus Islanders and the men due to alleged bad behaviour by the men in the local community. I certainly understand why the local community doesn't want them there.
It is easy to criticise others and Russell and his followers have in the majority condemned the Australian government and their people on something they can do nothing about. The reality is and many will disagree with me that not everyone who gets on a boat and travels to a country without the appropriate documentation is a genuine refugee. The Australian government has an obligation to put the protection of their residents and citizens first and decide that. Australia has settled some 50 odd refugees in the United States. So one has to ask why has it been so difficult for the other men in detention not to get refugee status. The majority of those who condemn the Australian government and their people are not owning a problem and trying fix it also. Even though the Australia government is trying to negotiate with the United States to resettle 1250 people I didn't see Russell Crowe or his supporters putting pressure on the American government to speed up the process to take them. But then America is where he works and makes his money. And we all know he shouldn't bite the hand that feeds him in particular when he needs a visa to work and American consumers to buy his work.
Reference
Lieu, J. 2017, "Russell Crowe says Australia 'looks like *ssholes' when it comes to refugees" 6 November, 2017, published at mashable.com.
Cooper, L. 2017, "Russell Crowe Hits Back At Criticism Over His Housing Offer To Manus Asylum Seekers". 5 November, 2017, published at HuffPost Australia.
Chang, C, 2017, "Russell Crowe stands by Manus Island offer amid criticism" 6 November, 2017, published at news.com.au.
Hunter, F, 2017, 'F---ing disgraceful' : Russell Crowe unloads on Manus Island crisis' 2 November, 2017, published in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Quinn, K, 2015, "Russell Crowe never applied for Australian citizenship, says Immigration Department" 25 March, 2015, published in The Sydney Morning Herald.
"Russell Crowe never applied for Australian citizenship." published in The New Zealand Herald 26 March, 2015.
