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This thesis uses the theory of abjection to understand differentiations in non-heterosexual identity performances in two distinct spaces - the 2005 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (SGLMG) parade and its associated press coverage, and latrinalia (graffiti found inside public toilets). At the same time, this thesis also presents evidence for a new concept of neo-normativity, where the stereotypical is normalised, both internally and externally, and actively reproduced. Neo-normativity, in turn, succeeds in explaining the many abjected relationships that between non-heterosexual communities and the stereotypical and quintessentialised performances. At the 2005 SGLMG parade such quintessentialised (or neo-normalised) performances were treated with both contempt - for being stereotypical and narrowly representative of the very diversity of non-heterosexual communities - as well as a tool for attracting commercial sponsorships which have growingly become an integral part to the continued survival of the annual parade. On a different level, another expression of abject was also revealed when these neo-normalised performances are persistently criticised by academics, news reporting and official photography for being stereotypical and non-representative which in itself are both a recognition as well as an ejection of the non-normative aspects of non-heterosexualities. Such an expression of abject was also evident in latrinalia found in several public toilet facilities throughout Greater Sydney were the interplay of desire and ejection were played out in a more covert manner, all the while highlighting the marginality of non-heterosexualities in these presumably heteronormative spaces. This application of abject theory emphasises neo-normative performances as permanently peripheral, a marginality of which makes these performances (and identities) intrinsically Queer.

Reforms to planning processes in Australia have been prefaced by assertions about what 'the public' wants from a planning system. The reforms involve a familiar mix of streamlining privatism centralisation and curtailed public consultation. Despite a demonstrable lack of local government or public consultation on the reforms in New South Wales they were justified by the then Planning Minister Frank Sartor as enacting the broader community's desires about how the planning system should be reformed. In this paper claims about public opinion collected from media releases forums discussion papers ministerial documents and legislation are analysed. Seven sets of planning principles provided the thematic framework for the analysis in this. The advocates of planning reforms in NSW and the reform proposal documents offer a good deal of rhetoric about strategic planning political integrity transparency and fast tracked development. However little evidence has been offered to demonstrate public desires for these. Scant attention has been paid to planning expertise and community consultation. There is some rhetoric about environmental sustainability and community development but nothing by way of new processes and principles that would substantively advance those virtues. Voices of dissent assert that the community would prefer social sustainability environmental equity and community consultation over and above development facilitation; but these counter assertions about public desires are similarly without empirical substance.

Contemporary anti-Muslim sentiment in Australia is reproduced through a racialization that includes well rehearsed stereotypes of Islam, perceptions of threat and inferiority, as well as fantasies that the Other (in this case Australian Muslims) do not belong, or are absent. These are not old or colour-based racisms, but they do manifest certain characteristics that allow us to conceive a racialization process in relation to Muslims. Three sets of findings show how constructions of Islam are important means through which racism is reproduced. First, public opinion surveys reveal the extent of Islamaphobia in Australia and the links between threat perception and constructions of alien-ness and Otherness. The second data set is from a content analysis of the racialized pathologies of Muslims and their spaces. The third is from an examination of the undercurrents of Islamaphobia and national cultural selectivity in the politics of responding to asylum seekers. Negative media treatment is strongly linked to antipathetic government dispositions. This negativity has material impacts upon Australian Muslims. It sponsors a more widespread Islamaphobia, (mis)informs opposition to mosque development and ever more restrictive asylum seeker policies, and lies behind arson attacks and racist violence. Ultimately, the racialization of Islam corrupts belonging and citizenship for Muslim Australians.

The welfare and future of asylum seekers in Australia have been very contentious contemporary issues. Findings based on content analysis of media releases in 2001 and 2002 reveal the unrelentingly negative way in which the federal government portrayed asylum seekers. While the government's negative tenor was constant during the study period, the specific terms of reference altered, from 'threat' through 'other', to 'illegality' and to 'burden'. The negative construction of asylum seekers was clearly mutable. Analysis of newspaper reporting during the same period indicates that the media largely adopted the negativity and specific references of the government. The media dependence upon government statements and spokespersons in part explains this relation. The findings generally support the 'propaganda model' that holds a pessimistic view of the news media's critical abilities. However, the media departed somewhat slightly from the government's unchanging stance following some key events and revelations. Clearly, there is scope for disrupting the flow of negative constructions from government to media, and ultimately to audiences.

The modern Olympic Games have always been an international event: a celebration of sporting competition between athletes from many nations. In an era marked by the quickening pace of global integration of the world's economic and cultural systems, the Olympics can also be thought of as a globalised 'hallmark event'. Certainly, the Games have economic, cultural and political dimensions that mirror the various processes of globalisation. The impacts of the Games on its host city are similar to the impacts of globalisation processes. In this chapter we discuss the analogies between the Olympics, as a hallmark event, and the local impacts of economic globalisation. We position the Olympics business - not the sporting aspects, but the bidding and development processes - as an example of economic globalisation. By extension, the responses of localities and local authorities to the impacts of globalisation might be expected to be the same as for an Olympic event. Lessons on how a local community can best capitalise on an Olympic event might be derived, therefore, from examining the broader case of economic globalisation and its impact upon localities. We begin by sketching the major impacts of economic globalisation upon localities, with particular attention to the institutional changes that are commonly associated with localities' efforts to adjust to global economic integration.

The first part of this chapter examines Carrington's place within Newcastle, its separation from the rest of the city, its reputation, and its internal differentiation. The second part of this chapter considers the collective memory of Carrington as a stigmatised and dangerous industrial and maritime space with its own internal social and spatial divisions.

Newcastle is a city redolent with images. Perhaps the most dominant of these is of a male industrial working environment deriving from the days of the 'coally seaport', while other aspects of its identity, such as the female and the Aboriginal, are suppressed and obscured (Dunn et al., 1995). Another recurrent image is of profound community, of solidaritty. This is evident in the 'Our Town' epithet applied to numerous local businesses. 5uch an image is portrayed in the cartoon by Eggleston, where the SS Newcastle is under siege from economic, political and physical forces, where the (all male) inhabitants, clinging together in adversity, are ignored by the Canberra rescue service. Such imagery is demonstrative of community but it is largely negative. The community is parochial, defensive and whinging, complaining of discrimination against it by 'them', the authorities in Sydney and Canberra, yet expecting 'them' to be a saviour when in distress. It is aJso a commrmity which is partial andd exclusionary, consisting solely of the Anglo males in their sinking industrial ship (Dunn, 1992).

There is a general dearth of concrete evidence as to the extent of racism in Australia. This paper reports on research into the extent and distribution of intolerant attitudes in Australia, as well as data on the reported experience of racism. A telephone survey of residents throughout the states of Queensland and NSW generated a completed sample of 5056. The constructs of racism that were tested included: tolerance of cultural difference, perceptions on the extent of racism, tolerance of specific groups, ideology of nation, perceptions of Anglo-Celt cultural privilege, and racialism, including separatism and hierarchy. Findings suggest a substantive degree of racism in Australia. Anti-Muslim sentiment is very strong. There is a persistence of intolerance against Asian-, Indigenous and Jewish Australians. Most Australians recognise the problem of racism, yet less than half recognise the cultural privileges that racism accords. Racist attitudes are positively associated with age, non-tertiary education, and to a slightly lesser extent with those who do not speak a language other than English, the Australia-born, and with males. About 15 percent of Australians have experienced racism within institutional settings like the workplace and in education. About one-quarter of Australians report the experience of ‘everyday racisms’. Reporting experiences of racism was higher among indigenous Australians, those speaking a language other than English, those born overseas (excluding UK and NZ), and males. While racism is quite prevalent in Australian society its manifestation is everywhere different. Locally sensitive antiracism initiatives are required to engage the racisms within Australian society.