My goodness Pericles, you still have such a way with words :) haven't lost your touch. I'll place you now on the 'rehabilitated' list after your wierd spin on the abuse of animals thread :)

I won't bore you with my take on Daniel. You can google just as well as I can.

Let me tackle the closest thing to topic you raised though. No, its 'Australia first/Ethnicity second.' and firmly so. But within the socio/cultural framework that emerged as Australia became a nation.

i.e. that which existed up to the end of WWII. Those invited to share the national bounty after this , should come here to be 'Australians'. Not Greeks in Australia. Just as I don't try to be a "Scot" or "English" person here.
I make sure I know about such things as the Armenian Genocide and I trust that the Armenian manager at my gym will come to know about such things as "First Fleet" "Lambing Flat" and "Eureka Stockade".

TOPIC..... (TONY JOINS THE GREENS.)
Tony, that you have responded to the miserable picture of an Australia spiraling ever downward by joining the GREENS... is a mystery great indeed. When I read that my head almost exploded.

For me, (and probably a large proportion of Australians)any party led by a practicing homosexual is 'out' (No apology either). The other morally relative policies they promote are in my view the contributing factor to the very problem you seek to rectify.

I could understand you forming an Australian Nationalism group, but the Greens ? the mind boggles.

Thankyou for your article and your courage in the past 5 years in speaking out and questioning, Tony.

Many years ago I watched a series called the Long Search on TV about religion. It looked at various religions and religious practice around the world. In the concluding episode, the narrator wrapped up by saying that if he had all the truly good and religious people of different faiths in the world in the same room, he would expect to hear a deep reverential silence and respect for each other. I think you would fit right in - strong, tolerant, and courageous. Well done.

Tony thanks for sharing your story, sadly you have some ungracious respondants. I note that you have been critical of both major political parties, but your aim was to show a negative evolution in Australia as awhole.

Banks are a good example of where unfortunate change has happened; greed being a strong driving force. When I was young, Banks provided services for very little cost; now there seem to be new costs being added onto costs, to the detriment of clients.

BOAZ_David complains about the Greens and their leader Bob Brown. I bet he hasn't met Bob Brown, an inspirational man who has been awarded Internationally. Bob Brown is a strong advocate for peace. Apart from educating Australians about environmental matters for many years, the Greens have a proud history of being concerned about social justice issues.

The other day I was listening to the radio and comments were being made about adolescents not being driven by their hormones; the issue is that their brains have not developed to allow for mature decision making. Their brains are wired to make very self centred decisions; whereas, comments were made that a mature person makes decisions which take into account how a decision will impact on other people as well as themselves. A driving imperitive in the community at present is economic rationalism which does not take into account the rights or wrongs of decisions made.

Tony’s view, in every word of this missive, relates how he is feels uncomfortable with every aspect of his life experiences.

I am sure it must be that catholic influence from his father’s side which has resulted in the Jesuit practice of self-flagellation and guilt.

What a whine.

What a moan.

What a waste of hyper-space.

As for the closure comment

“Though the last 10 years have been mostly a time of moral decline in Australia”

I wonder if this is just the sour grapes which have accompanied his demise from the comforts of a public tenure?

Certainly, anyone who hankers after being identified as a “Green” probably thinks the same.

As for Morals, IMHO, “Morals” are what people choose to take on and not what a social hierarchy imposes upon us from above.

That probably sits uncomfortably with those who demand they inflict their dogma on the rest of us, like the Greens and the other groups of opinionated ranters but the truth is “imposed morality” is no morality at all, it is merely a response based on ignorance or fear and in this respect, many Christian Creeds / denominations stand to be measured as corrupt as any Muslim terrorist group.

Col... I find it rather ironic that Tony .... on the one hand complaining about 'moral decline' would join the Greens, who are probably at the cutting edge of that moral decline, and are led by a sexual deviate.

The promotion of homosexual behaviour as 'normal' over the years, is now being followed up with both Nambla and Paedophile Political parties, (Netherlands) using the same arguments to justify their own immorality.

They rely on 'social icons' (Walt Whitman for one) and Psychologists and 'research' and 'surveys' and 'activisim'.

I can pretty much predict with reasonable confidence that soon we will encounter a new word "PaedoPhobia" and it will be used to marginalize those who oppose such practices.

Then, there will be the 'outings' where prominent people in the media or arts who have or are suspected of having had 'naughty liasons' with underage children, are NAMED and shamed..NOT for what they did, but that they did not have the courage to out themselves and live true to what they 'are'. (sound familiar ?)

I've been watching this kind of thing unfold since the 60s, blow by blow. I just feel a bit sad that so many Aussies have been sucked into this 'its ok' mindset for homosexual behavior.

What that success of the gay lobby shows, is that people ARE shapable, and that my rants about social/cultural change being driven by opinion leaders in the Media, Arts and Education are in fact spot on. (besides being based on sound anthropological research anyway)

So, Tony has picked the wrong horse for this race.

David Boaz,

Your abuse here of a fine and brave man is disgusting. In a free country as Australia still is, people's sexuality is their own business. I won't debate with you further on this thread. Have a nice day.