The author laments the fact that we’re somehow wedded to inferior values and an inferior identity which have nothing to do with modernity. The author seems to suggest that if we are to ask visitors and migrants to sign on to our values we should present an identity that isn’t clad in a footie jumper.

In a desperate search for our values and identity Natasha gets support from author Ryan Heath who dared to challenge the orthodoxy with his polemical book. In the book, we are cast as thong-wearing, sports-loving peasants who lead stodgy lives. ‘Move over you dullards it’s time for the paltripolitan’ is the theme of his book. Apparently Australia (and the world?) is ready for dynamic leaders who have tried every known chemical stimulant and are permanently hooked up to an i-Pod and a mobile phone. Do these values offer salvation for the world? Hardly. Consider that bookmakers had to change their traditional odds to reflect the TAB dividends because these bright young things couldn’t work out that 9/4 came out to $2:25 plus your $1 stake. Their ascension had better not be reliant on a spelling test or we’ll never get to see this brand new Australia ruled by the Oz gang of ’83.

All countries should project an image and they should articulate their values. If alternatives are on offer they should be better not inferior.

All new comers to OZ must swear to eat meat pies, wear things, singlets, shorts and love sport,sport,sport.
That's us alright!

The above statement is no sillier than the article.

Agreed, mickijo, I reckon all arrivals coming out of Melbourne airport should wear things, especially in winter. The alternative doesn't bear thinking about.

I think it’s all quite amusing .
The political correctness crusaders let their pc monster out of the cage to change the way we think .
Now it’s changing course & the crusaders are crying , ‘ This isn’t the Australia we wanted ! ‘

Thankfully those who trivalise,and mock the importance of showing some allegience to Australia are being ignored by the majority of Australians.The old meat pies ,grog, football and images of ignorant ockers is far from the norm.It isn't about loyality tests,it is about telling people in simple language what is expected of them in terms of obeying the rule of law,and showing respect for those who live here.We have many migrants who failed the most basic rules of common decency and we need to improve standards.

If Australia is such an ignorant,racist place,why aren't all the above knockers including Natasha living in a country which can better cater for their needs?Perhaps Natasha needs to visit France and experience the lawlessness and hundreds of no go areas before she writes another word.France is stuffed.Just watch their gradual demise as they compromise their way to more decadence.

with loyalty tests we're on the way to dull conformity.

no question about it. the metaphorically blind loyals of the moderate to far left have demonstrated that unfortunate fact many times over by their steadfast refusal to acknowledge reality.

Arjay

Thanks for your post. Interesting that in Britain, people are no longer allowed to ask for black coffee!

Cheers
Kay

It's a pleasure Kay.Ordinary people are now paying attention and understanding the hidden agendas of the loopy left.This is the first step to better Govt.John Howard is not leading the way.He just listens to what the public thinks and says.

I just wish we had a better opposition since there are many areas that The Coalition need to be taken to task on.They have become too complacent.

More disciplined attitudes to wanting to raise standards of behaviour,allegience to Aust,rejection of PC agendas and higher standards of ethics have caught Labor,the Democrats and The Geens on the back foot.They will have to play catch up.

The left wing Educrats no longer have the monopoly on determining the attitudes and direction that this country will take.They are out of their comfort and power zones of the recent past.Moderate,hard working ordinary folk are having their say and the trendy lattee sipping chardonnay set can hold hands with Germaine Greer or Margaret Whitlam and skip off into oblivion.

The left wing Educrats no longer have the monopoly on determining the attitudes and direction that this country will take.

Arjay ol mate, Name the educrats you speak of and how they had such a determining power over the attitudes. While you're at it, name a prominent Left wing think tank that regularly gets media coverage.

Yes Howard echo's pollster results and tries to make them appear to be his own policy innovations, but you won't find educrats standing there next to him determining attitudes. You will however find his spin doctors working out how to dog whistle and weasle word and craft non core promises during elections. (like the interest rate promises)

You make some good points but then shoot them down with your favourite chants about Lefties (without saying who they are).

I know its highly fashionable in right wing/centrist raves to do this but it starting to sound like a broken record.

What say you really?

Christ some of you people write a lot of rubbish, our values as you call them are whatever happens in the US give or take 2 yrs,Australians love to conform they dont like or want to think, cause if they did they may find out what lies they have been told.
You only have to watch the mindless morons on TV to realise that,dont rise above the crowd, dont disagree with the govt, and most of all dont rock the boat, thats Aussie values and if anyone thinks that the average Aussie is not racist,I would say they are talking out there backside,I worked in Pubs clubs ect for 5 or 6 yrs and my friends you dont have to dig to far to find it.
As for the Right wingers boys your record and lies put you out of the game

"We have many migrants who failed the most basic rules of common decency and we need to improve standards."

Australians, of course, are born with an innate sense of decency you just don't find in foreigners.

What's more, "John Howard is not leading the way. He just listens to what the public thinks and says." Couldn't agree more, Arjay. It's politics taken to the lowest common denominator, something the left has been complaining about since 1996.

Don't judge ALL Australians by those who live in cities.Country folk are a different breed and live a life that is not based on shallowness.
Snout, country folk would also make sure their things matched their thongs.

The reality is bennie and rainer,ordinary Aussies are not right wing or stupid.We are moderates.You lot are so far to the left that you need a GPS system just to find the location of your own front door.Don't you love bennie's insinuation that John Howard is pandering to the popular ignorant masses.How arrogrant is that statement?The Educrats have the monopoly on all things of value?
They live in a sheltered cocoon and most don't venture outside the comfort zone of the intravenous monetary drip.Both our armed services and Education systems need a big shake up.

In case you don't get it,you lost your way decades ago and common sense of ordinary folk will now hopefully,be the order of the day.

Ha, well, I wonder if this these loyalty tests are in the Govt book of: "101 ways to make an extra buck on the side."

I read somewhere that quite a few Australian born Australians wouldn't even pass this test.

Fees for doing the test, of course.
Fees for proving that you can speak English.
If you fail, there will be a chance to be educated- for a fee.

Nice little pocket fillers, I'd say.

Some say that it will prevent terrorism.
I can't see how tests would prevent terrorism or crime. How? People who can terrorise won't have problems lying or corrupting the system. Terrorists would be very motivated to 'get in' and won't fail the tests. They'd even be willing to pay an extra few bobs for passing.

Am I wrong to believe that money has something to do with it?

mickijo,

Always thought country people were more sensible and practical in their dress than us city folks.

Australian values are whatever Howard and his brownshirts say they are.
If its pollies pay packets, must pay top dollar (Howard, Sept 9), if its uncooperative Telstra directors (Sept 25) then moderation is in order.

If they're white african farmers, of course Australia is a compassionate country, let them in. If they're black african farmers, join the back of the most distant queue or face indefinate and crazy-making detention.

If unknown people, possibly muslim terrorists who apparently trained in Florida, blow up offices in Manhattan, its terrorism. If we blow up hospitals in Iraq or Afghanistan, its collateral damage.

The point is not that RightThink is brain dead or that it routinely shouts down other views, its that RightThinkers forget that the slogans coming out of their mouths change with the season. Frictionless 'good german' amnesia, thats the Australian values Howard and his ilk promote, all the better to usher in their millenialist christian dystopia

"Common sense of ordinary folk will now hopefully, be the order of the day".

A little commonsense would go a long way. It could help us avoid the demonisation of refugees ("those kind of people");

corporate welfare - propping up multimillion dollar companies when jobs are threatened (it helps if your brother is the PM);

the highest taxing government in recent history;

leading Australia into other countries' wars with no parliamentary debate;

the disregarding of basic concepts such as habeus corpus and basic worker's rights;

the tacit approval, then denial, of UN sanctions-busting (AWB);

telling other countries what they can & can't do with their own land (PNG);

and our moral standards being set by Phillip Ruddock and Amanda Vanstone. It's official - our PM is a liar but "ordinary folk" (you haven't been listening to George W recently by any chance?) still vote for him.

Try explaining all this to would-be immigrants. Just hope they already know a little English, because the government has put the squeeze on ESL programs.

A government of populism, hubris and born-to-rule pragmatism, Arjay.

So Arjay, how do you come to the conclusion (for all Australians) that you are all moderates? Have you conducted your own poll?
Or is this your egalitarian imagination declaring who and what 'ordinary' (whatever this means) Australians again, cos you said it, it must be true etcetera.

I know rainer because John Howard is in power since he just reflects the common sense values of the sane majority.That is not to say we agree with all of the Coalition policies.I'm deeply suspicious of Multi- national globalisation and our reduction of tarrifs that destroys our industries.Not even China does this.

You have to look at the total mosaic of the flower before judgement is passed.It is never a black and white solution,however the left have been the selective petal pluckers of facts to support twisted agendas to the detriment of our society for too long.They do not appreciate the beauty and intricacy of the democratic blossom.

White men are not the perpetrators of all things evil and the US is not the evil empire hell bent on enslaving the entire planet.There are far greater evils such as Muslim Facism and the rising power of the Chinese totalitarian state that are of a greater concern to our democratic freedoms.