Sladeb
please don't worry about knee jerk attacks on you, we all get it and in most cases give a bit also.
Clearly you have a good background to discuss this type of issue, so I encourage you to continue and to flesh out some of your ideas. Don't waste time on responding to attacks too much :) If you can refer us to more detailed explanation of your 'systems' approach where the impact of particular variables are factored in, (such as a spreadsheet) it would be in our interests for you to share it.

Bucko,

very well presented/argued post mate. I don't agree with the increasing immigration for refugees without some very clear 'filters' myself, but in principle I think you made a very good point. Your reference to the studies mentioned shows a careful attention to detail and a committment to the issue. Well done !

To Others, great work :) the variety of perspective is quite enriching, and indicative of most of us needing to go further into our own positions and come up with strong arguments for them.

To me, the most important step on all of this is that we are actually talking about it and grasping the nettle.

Its worth mentioning in the interests of truth in history, that a major plank in One Nations immigration policy was 'population' based not 'race' based. When the ABC broadcast the story about the launch of this policy on the 6.00pm news, they edited out any reference to actual policy (from the afternoon version of the same story) and simply said "The One Nation spokesperson on Immigration is in serious conflict with the Government Minister" .. how informative was that ?

At least here, we can express our viewpoints and not be selectively edited. My own views on immigration are pretty well documented here, so I can't add anything now.
Keep well all.

Amel. Everybody is a racist; we have to be, its part of our survival instinct. There is nothing wrong with believing that you are better, so long as you don’t do anything illegal or immoral.

If there were two people and you had to choose only one to take with you; one was of your own culture/race and one was not and everything else was equal, you would choose your own. Why? Because that’s just the way it is, because blood is thicker than water and nobody would expect you to do otherwise, that is your obligation and right. That’s not racism, that’s favoritism and/or Freedom of Choice.

David Latimer. Why is it White Supremacy to believe that it is unfair to administer a system of education that provides superior educational opportunities on the basis of an academic competition? Those that are not in optimal learning environments and are from disadvantaged homes/schools, or don’t have the money to pay for the tuition and coaching cannot fairly compete no matter how much potential they have.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame Asians - they are motivated and ambitious and they are not going to sit and wait. This is not a race issue, it wouldn’t matter if it was the Australians, Lebanese, Spanish etc, I would still think it equally wrong if one group was so over-represented in Selective Schools and the system of selection was so grossly unfair and it was obvious why! I blame the Government who has set up and supports a Selective System that compliments the Asian culture and gives them unfair advantage while lying to the public about the impact and effects of coaching.

If it is White Supremacy to bring up issues that you find unfair and if it is racism to have an opinion on issues to do with another culture then, what can I say?.

Thank God I live in the Western World; otherwise for sure my family would have been ‘dealt with’ even more harshly than my family has already been for being outspoken about our rights

One problem I have with immigration is that it seems to displace people. The UK has higher immigration recently and the few recent English immigrants I meet (btw where do they go?, not Sydney!) have come here because of too much immigration in the UK. NZ attracts immigrants that promply relocate here or displaces those who feel a loss of identity. Then Sydney and Melbourne people relocate to QLD because of the rapid changes and associated stress of population growth and again a loss of indentity in our major cities.

It does seems that immigration creates immigration. Immigrants never go where they are needed, they go where people where happy with the way things were. People starved of population growth who support growth never get it because they offer nothing that attracts.

Lets solve that problem.

Meanwhile I agree that we will have continued immigration, because it IS part of our culture. Australians, I do not believe, will reject it outright unless they feel some sort of control over how, who and where. Australians are about the fairest people on earth until they are treated unfairly themselves.

Also we need to get rid of the term "multicultural". Damaging. You can still have diversity and fairness without giving equal rights to small populations. Like our senate innit, *wink* *wink*

Although almost getting off-topic, David's "Selective schools are for bright and promising students" is worth comment due to immigrant-intake rates increasing pressure on schooling.
Malcolm Fraser, during his tenure as Minister for Education prior to the Whitlam governments, was grilled by the ABC on the matter of selective schools. After waffling on, he concluded that someone has to be the hewer of wood and drawer of water.
That attitude continues to this day unchanged, unfortunately, because choosing that someone is still based more on parental income than it is on student potential.
And there are other types of selective schools: those which promote the development of religious/cultural exclusion of their attendees from the rough and tumble of interaction with the rest of our mostly happily cohesive and very polyglot society. That is to the detriment of both sides.
Such schools potentially degrade society by development of "them and us" attitudes. That, rather than provide opportunity for mutual absorption of better aspects of cultures, and for the less desirable to wither. They may very well be greeding grounds of cultural disharmony, as society suffers further constraints from population pressure.

Jolanda,

I don't find you racist.

To me you seem a polite, interesting and open minded person.

Congratulations Senator Bartlett, I concur with Professor Aitken. This is one of the most cogent essays I have read on line in the past few months. It's unfortunate that some of your most crucial points regarding immigration and population are hijacked by the looney left aka the Greens.

This would make an interesting feature article subject for The Oz or SMH as it has currency and relevance.