Abandoning Australians in India is a consequence of our ‘othering’ | Antoun Issa

When we fail to see those who don't fit the Aussie stereotype as Australian, it's all the easier to abandon them when they need help

You don't look Australian," someone once said to me in a bar overseas, elaborating when quizzed that the typical Aussie look was of blond surfers".

I couldn't fault this man for forming that perception. I haven't looked Australian my entire life. Because there is a look that is distinctly Australian, one we have long internalised as well as projected to the world. I was taught that in the schoolyard. The Aussies" were the kids with white skin with easy-to-sound Anglo names that could be transformed into slang like Jonno".