alias_sqbr

Yes... I think the argument (not here, branching out now) that "We shouldn't say 'people of colour', we don't need that term, they're Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people" overlooks a huge spectrum of Australian race differences and issues. Asian immigrants/descendants of, refugees, people with Middle Eastern or African heritage or origin, we have very large populations here of not-white people who aren't Indigenous/ATSI (I've seen both terms used by the people concerned, I don't think there's a 'consensus' as such?)

So if we do need a term to talk about race in general, and in particular the different between being white and not being white in Australia, it's not surprising we use an American borrowing to fill the gap.