Andrew,

you state, and apparently agree yourself, that: "whether people like it or not, it is a simple fact that Australia has and will continue to have very high levels of migration."

I have two simple questions:

1 Why?

2 How Many?

Please give specific reasons and justifications for current levels of immigration and tell us all what population you think should be a maximum.

I am astounded that you, and presumably the Democrats, support high levels of immigration.

As I see it, we have a easter egg economy; mineral/agriculture exports on the outside and hollow in the middle.

A nation of manicure artists and brickies will not survive peak oil!!

Hi Colinsett, Froggie here. I’m sorry I didn’t respond to your post regarding “Future Dilemmas”. I’ve been very busy lately. Thank you for the link, I downloaded the Executive Summary- it makes interesting reading.
It seems that most posters are against high immigration and multiculturalism.
It does seem a shame that politicians are not listening. I think that here is a very good source of votes, far out-weighing the number that can be gained by appealing to the multiculturalists. Maybe there is room for another new party!
Personally, I think multiculturalism is not the same as welcoming people from other cultures and have them integrate into Australia. Multiculturalism appears to create separateness, and seems divisive to me. We do not need “foreign enclaves”, and there is no reason why immigrants should not integrate into the general community, if they are helped to do so.
I agree that immigrants should make every effort to adapt to Australian ways, rather than the other way round. Although, they can also add some interesting perspectives in food, music, art etc.
Unfortunately, immigrants do tend to cluster in specific areas, maybe it is a defensive thing, or seeking mutual support. It is the same everywhere in the world. It is not easy to emigrate to another country and another culture.
As long as they are not in numbers that would swamp the Australian way of life, and especially not put the Australian environment at risk, I think it is good to have some immigration, if only to balance the outflow of people seeking an “overseas experience”.
Still, I think Australians, if they are to have a real democracy, should be able to vote on how much immigration they want, and from which countries.
What about a referendum?
I think it is a subject sufficiently important for that, since it has such a big potential to change Australia in so many ways…

@jolanda



Was Australia called Australia when only the Aborigines were living here?

I too think that Aborigines have been dealt an injustice and I wonder whether Aboriginal people actually call themselves Australian and whether they actually want to be referred to as Australians given what Australia has done to them?.

If you go back in time you will find that there have been a lot of similar injustices done in a lot of Countries, it was just the way things were done, unfortunately things haven’t really changed much.

Problem is that you cannot turn back time. Common sense should tell us to make sure that we protect the future.

That does not mean that what happened to the Aboriginal people should be ignored. There should understanding and validation of the Aboriginals plight, help and support to assist Aboriginal people recover emotionally and psychologically from the damage that has been done to their culture and their lifestyle. It’s not what happened over 200 years ago that is now the problem, the problem is what continues to be permitted to happen to Aboriginal people out of fear that they might become better educated, get their act together and stand up and demand their land back.

Now Australia also risks being dealt an injustice. Some might think that they deserve it but I can’t help but wonder if Australia is taken over by another culture or race, do you really think that they will hand Australia back to the Aborigines?

Immigration and multiculturalism worked well right up until we started bringing in larger amounts of cultures that clashed with the Western culture and that were not prepared to assimilate.

We seriously need to keep our eye on the balance especially given that the Westerners are not having lots of babies. Majority Rules!

You may not like it,but you have racist beliefs Jolanda.Thats a fact!
I've notice that people like you always throwin the "Aboriginal family member" that you've got (which many whites can say), and that you understand them, blah blah, as if that doesn't make you racist.
I've heard it all before.

Boaz, I applaud you,

I think Cronulla was an extremely significant turning point. Already the discpicable "race card," the armour of "multiculturalism," is losing its viability.

In due time, along the path of re-affirming WHO we are, I predict the "race card" will do its belated 180 degree turn.

Of the 3 paths open to take when confronting the abyss of alienation, only that taken in Europe's Enlightnment is viable, for only critical reason and democracy have ever had a chance of providing the balance us discordant humans need.

Now although it was Europe that first hit on such a manner of living together, they really only erected the conditions requisite of democracy, for the latter is a universal principle of humanity, not Europe.

And as you say, we need now more than ever to re-affirm these roots, if only because they are not roots that are a particular "custom," but rather more about a procedure to live by, a process that IS beyond culture.

But sadly some of those "identities" still intensly rooted in their dogmatic ethno-soils--all those fearful of the transformative threat at democracy's heart, of its uprooting effect, of its calling-into-question the grounds of their very being--look upon this as a "white" way of living, when it is really a human way (they have trouble removing their ethno-shaded glasses).

Re-affirming our heritage then will be problematic, for many racists (e.g. Hizbut-tahir) will misunderstand it as the hegemony of a particular ethnicicty's customs, when really it is nothing more than an open-ended process held together by critical debate for its grounding. But nothing is more frightening to the fundamentalist dogmatist than critical thought.

WE PEOPLE, WE CAN COPE WITH CHANGE. But others cannot

Andrew Bartlett,

Careful with what you say, you might be taken for a "new racist"*

* “A curious feature of the new racism is that it is very difficult to attack. This is because its advocates speak in terms that are remarkably similar to those of postmodernists and the New Left. They speak about the need to preserve identity, difference, traditions and culture. They also speak about the need to maintain standards of equality, fair play and so on. Who can disagree with any of this? Only rarely is anything unambiguously racist said (at least in public). Instead a characteristic of the ‘new racism’ is to speak in a kind of code. Words such as ‘special treatment,’ ‘Asian ghetto’ and ‘Aboriginal Industry’ carry with them connotations which the true believer can recognise, but which allow plausible deniability of racist views on the part of the speaker” (Robert van Kriekan et al, “Sociology: Themes & Perspectives,” 2nd ed, Longman: Australia, 2000, p.542).

This was a first-year sociology text in 2002 at least at USYD and ANU.

If you bump into the authors one day can you ask them, given that it doesn't manifest, how it is they're able to discern it?

Did we miss this one?

"Pauline Hanson had alot of valid points as things are not fair. She saw problems in the amount of Asians coming in especially given the way the Education System is set up as it rewards high marks and the Asian culture is to study and get high marks. The Aussie culture is to take it easy and Australians see learning almost as a punishment. The amount of Asians in selective schools and taking the highest places and Scholarships in Universities is excessive and something needs to be done about it. It is grossly unfair. There is no need for Selective Schools." (Jolanda, 27-Jan-2006)

50 exclamation marks!

I promise to never confuse racism with white supremacy ever again!

(Note to programmers: Lots of explanation marks are sometimes necessary.)