Response to David_BOAZ who writes:

"why suddenly do we have 'ethnic' councils? The more I think about this the more disturbing it gets."

As I knew nothing about ethnic councils, but do enjoy discussion with DB, I decided to look at their website. It says:

"Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria (ECCV) was established in 1974 as a voluntary community based organisation and is now a broadly based, state-wide, peak advocacy body representing ethnic and multicultural communities in Victoria ... ECCV has been a key player in building Victoria as a successful, harmonious and multicultural community. ECCV advocates and lobbies all levels of government on behalf of multicultural communities in areas like access and equity, aged care services, migration services, discrimination, community harmony, employment, education and training, health and community services, law and justice, and arts and culture. ECCV's role includes supporting, consulting, liaising with and providing information to Victoria’s ethnic communities. ECCV delivers policy projects for key partners in areas like multicultural policy, aged care programs and skilled migration strategies."

I do not find this disturbing. And a non-government association can call itself anything it likes. It's a free country. Passing a law to ban or limit free association is objectionable.

If the British Australian Community (BAC), Royal Society of St George or the Royal Caledonian Society of Melbourne wanted to join the ECCV one doubts it would be a problem? Perhaps they are already members? In fact on the BAC website (http://www.geocities.com/endeavour_uksa/) it says "In modern multicultural Australia, it is okay to take pride in your ethnic heritage. Australians of Anglo-Celtic background have a lot to be proud of ..."

Indeed!

May I add that all immigrants to this country are complicit in past and present suffering of the indigenous peoples. They reaping the benefits of (near) genocide, just like a crime boss who gets others to do the dirty work, and cleans up the profits.

Can I lodge a complaint against those who extend the accusation of racism to those who oppose the stimulation mass immigration. My understanding of racism is in terms of racial segregation and ethnic subordination to white domination. A lot of what we identify with racism actually happended overseas (apartheid, racial segregation in the U.S occured with pre existing minorities) and not in Australia. People seem to link objections to mass immigration with racism, which makes the term quite misleading.

The values Peter refers to are seriously misguided.

For starters since when did Australia practice democracy? When did it start? If it did then when did it stop as what we have today is nothing like democracy. In a democratic country you have a choice of elected representatives. Do you call a choice between 2 Party sponsored candidates democracy? I don't.

Do you call a country where the PM makes constant decisions that the public rejects democratic? I don't.

As to mateship, that's another Australian lie. Mateship does exist but it disappears as soon as a male meets a female they are attracted to. Mates are nothing at that time. As they are whenever there is an alternative to hanging out with "the boys".

The mateship Howard refers to constantly is really the culture of covering each other's back sides, nothing to do with honesty or integrity, just back up whatever a "mate" has done regardless of the ethics or morality.

And country? Don't we all know what patriotism is don't we? The last haven of scoundrels. In other words patriotism is simply another political tool to push people into groups they don't really agree with. Wrap yourself in a flag and win an election. Absolute deceit.

The values that do define a country are those that exist within family groups, regardles of background. Those values if held flow through to a higher level in which politicians should reflect what the public want and do. Pity about democracy really isn't it?

A nation of twenty million people without a dominant ancestry needs an inclusive national story?

HARDLY!

What we need is a decent education and skills. Ancestry and an inclusive national story is irrelevant in a world of cutthroat global corporations looking to buy up and inflate all the assets Howard can muster thereby trapping Australians into market led slavery and a legal powerlessness to change that fate.

We need to remove Kong Howard as Prime Minister in November 2007. We need to remove Morris Iemma and Frank Sartor in March 2006. And other politicians whose addiction to greed makes them no longer fit to govern.

These politicians are not clever. They just following a subtle but blunt US led feudalism that is sweeping this planet. Whether we like it or not they have everything to gain from this and we have everything to lose.

Just substitute Australia for 'America' in the following Editorial. Why this country can't afford John Howard will become clearer. Clearer even than falling house prices and rising interest rates.

Killing Off the American Future September 16, 2006

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/16/opinion/16sat3.html?ex=1158552000&en=9a1fec531226d57b&ei=5087%0A

America’s domination of the global information economy did not come about by accident. It flowed directly from policies that allowed the largest generation in the nation’s history broad access to a first-rate college education regardless of ability to pay. By subsidizing public universities to keep tuition low, and providing federal tuition aid to poor and working-class students, this country vaulted tens of millions of people into the middle class while building the best-educated work force in the world.

Unless America renews its commitment to the higher education policies that made the country great, we could soon find ourselves at the mercy of an increasingly competitive global economy. And if we let ourselves hit bottom, it could take generations for us to dig ourselves out.

Continued ...

Continuing ...

John Howard:

We love your face and we love your erudite style

But you cost us so much we don't want you back for 'while.

Morris Iemma and Frank Sartor:

They appear frenetically interested in finegling Botany Bay foreshore and Cook Cove, Cook's River Foreshore out of Public hands and into a corrupt Euro/Mafia style floating Casino complex. Their interest is in not EDUCATING NSW citizens amid the current stark skills crisis. No, because educated people do NOT make bigger dupes and better gamblers.

A March 2007 reelection of NSW Labor will spell the end of decency in this once great state. All the social problems now safely swept under Public Service carpets in preparation for the election are busting to get out and make their share of the profits in Dodge City, Sydney NSW.

Australia: LOWER THEIR SIGHTS TO INCREASE OUR CHANCES.

Dear KAEP...you have some good points. I wish I had greater economic knowledge so I could speak with more authority on that area, but alas, I just kick 'reasonable punts' at the goals usually.
I know one thing though, we are truly in dire straits in many areas where a dose of Labor 'social service' injected into the Coalition 'Fiscal responsibility' would do more good than harm.

Response to David L:

On the "British Australian Community", and speaking from the 2nd stanza of "My Country" by Dorothea McKella, I have to say they are as 'racist' as Peters Ethnic mob, and for the same reasons. Just that they have 'stiffer' upper lips :)
If they stand for the kind of interests advanced by the British in New Zealand, particularly by "One of the best governors of the British Empire" aged 35.. a man named Grey, who made all the 'correct' official signals, but, being a military man as well as an administrative, he subtly tightened deadlines, and pressured the Ngapuhi Maoris who apprently used sophisticated 'Trench Warfare' successfully against the Poms, to out manourver them for a final decisive showdown. (The treaty of Waitangi was a deceitful document, with key words differnt in the Maori and English version).
They never did 'win'. Everyone just stopped fighting. The Maori still have their dignity, and my 6'4" son in law has a big bold tatoo on his forearm 'Ngapuhi' :) I'm proud of their achievement against the English, but not of their massacre of other Maori.

Pride in ethnicity always has racist overtones. Ethno centric lobby groups, are racist by nature. (even combined ones)
P.S. Look very closely at the Ethnic Council's goals and you will see 'racism' in them .