Excellent article by Prof. Aitkin. Australia should provide seats in the federal parliament for the Australian diaspora from North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific as has been done by Italy, Croatia and the Republic of Macedonia. The voice of the Australian diaspora needs to be heard and valued in national, parliamentary and public policy debates. Australia must make its diaspora a greater priority and allocate funding for high impact projects. The Australian diaspora is an under valued and under utilised asset which can bring many benefits to Australia's social, economic and environmental well being. It can also contribute to Australia's soft power and influence in the world.

On the issue of citizenship, the United Macedonian Diasporas views citizenship as a key a component of multiculturalism allowing migrants to be formally recognised as equal citizens with a strong voice in foreign and public policy formulation and implementation. This status enables all citizens to contribute to, and benefit from, the social and economic capital they co-create in Australian public and diplomatic life. Macedonian community organisations are increasingly involved in citizen diplomacy working to improve Australia's place in the world and building closer relations between Australia and the Republic of Macedonia.

I'll leave the issue of representation for those living elsewhere aside for the moment and take up another aspect of this article.

I was to be a member of a political party many years ago. The tricks used by those high in the political and administrative parts of the party to ignore the input from the party members left me wondering why I'd want to spend time and money attending conferences, meetings, handing out how to vote cards etc. I could not see any viable way to get around that other than to wait around till they'd moved on and I could become part of the problem, not an option I was interested in so I got out.

Leaders who only showed up to conferences when they were due to make a speech demonstrated their interest in the party process. I never came across any obvious branch stacking but heard enough of it from other quarters to see why many would lose interest in party membership.

I suspect that low membership of political parties has a lot to do with disfunctional party processes designed to support the power of those who get to "leadership" positions rather than providing a means for people to make a meaningful contribution.

R0bert

One of the reasons we have trouble defining ourselves positively is that so many academics and commentators seem intent on defining us negatively. We are racist or unconcerned about human rights or unwelcoming to asylum seekers or shallow consumers of American culture or obese or drunks or problem gamblers. The list goes on.

Australia is in fact one of the most peaceful, tolerant, positive places on earth. Perfect? No. Issues still to be resolved? Yes. Better than most? Yes.

While I'm not necessarily in favour of seeking an "Australian identity", especially given the danger that such a thing might turn into an unchanging myth against which we are all expected to measure ourselves, I'd be grateful if those who fill the public space with their opinions started acknowledging the great strengths of this nation.

I despise that term "Team Aust" or Bunnings referring to their staff as "team members".There is nothing team about it since the staff are treated as slaves and get paid a pittance for their toil.

By 'treated as slaves', I take it you mean that they are penned up at night, branded with their owners' monikers and faced with the constant threat of death if they don't perform well enough or (heaven forbid) show disloyalty by grumbling about their employers. That's what slavery is all about.

When I worked in retail, I thought of myself as an employee, not a slave. And I was glad there were people willing to take a risk by investing in a business that gave me a job, because that meant I didn't have to take a risk. I was free to turn up, do my job and go home, knowing there would be money in my pocket at the end of the week. Even better, I knew that if I was unhappy with the amount of money, I had worked hard enough and proven my worth well enough that I could aspire to a better position elsewhere. Which is what I did.

RJ:

...Bunnings: Slave labour; and no buoyancy foam. Irresponsible and un-Australian!