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.