Sniggid - I note you refer to my contributions as rubbish! you flatter me - It is obvious that to have formed an opinion about my body of work you must have read it - I thank you from the bottom of my black heart.

The fact you think what I write is rubbish is of no consequence really - I suspect that you are not alone.

Some on else has said it but post was Australia has been built largely by those who spoke poor english - but that is a minor point - this present beat up about values and committing to Australia is a nonsense - it is about fostering patriotism (and we all know how bad that is ) - and the patriotism is sought as a rear gaurd action to bolster the governemnts stocks on a false war - that may develop into a real one if we dont pull our heads in.

There may come a time when terrorism really is a threat - based on the West's constant interference in the affairs of others - then you can all tell me that you told me so -

Right now this debate just gives people a cloak of legitimacy when all they really want to do is bag out foreigners.

The capacity to speak english is a measure of nothing - a test for commitment to values is a joke - if I was a self respecting terrorist I would study hard and sign up to any code of conduct if only to get nearer my target - it is more of a test of patience than anything

It always amazes me when people strongly criticise the hijabs of Muslim women.
Does it really matter to us what they wear?

I mean, look at the tattoos, multiple facial piercings (and other parts of body)and the pink and green hair some Westerners walk around in.

Why is one acceptable and not the other?

It doesn't disturb me at all what people wear or how they present themselves.
People can stroll around with buckets on their heads if they like.

I do have to agree though, that in some occupations, completely covering the face is not a good idea.
For example, teachers working with young children do use a lot of facial expressions.
So I have to agree that covering the face is not always acceptable.

"There are no advantages for people like me who can say proudly that it was families like mine that made this country into what is today."

You gotta be kidding! Where to start?

A quater of the nation today is immigrant.
A large percentage of the population has always consisted of 'new' Australians.
We have a very peaceful co-existence despite this.

"What it is today" is precisely what you're complaining about.

T800, you ask if I’m aware that the definition of Multiculturalism has changed three times since it's original inception? Answer: it’s changed more times than three and the reason is that sensible people have engaged in reasonable debate about it. That’s democracy.

You ask if I’m aware that “most people” do not know what the current definition is? Answer: I can only speak about those on this forum who seem not to know – that’s why I posted the government’s current definition. (Hamlet thinks that because he doesn’t know, then most people don’t. He assumes they share his ignorance.)

You ask if I’m aware that the values in the definition happen to be the Australian ones I deny people have to adhere to due to their cultural differences. Answer on Australian values; yes; and on denial of legal obligations to adhere to these values: no, read the definition again; you’re not attacking multiculturalism.

Hamlet, you say that no one specifically asked the voters if they consented to 'multiculturalism'. Since it’s been successive government policy since the mid 1970s, and both major parties support it, you must have been asleep. You conclude: “You have to ask yourself why multiculturalism is opposed by so many people”. Indeed I do when I read this forum; but outside this, what’s the actual evidence? Why has no government ever lost office because of a groundswell of dissent against multiculturalism?

You say that so many of the incoming groups have claimed that Australia did not have a culture before these cultural groups arrived. That’s a figment of your paranoid imagination.

You ask how I would feel if I were told that my 'culture' either did not exist or was so worthless that it required an influx of cultures from other places to give it value. Answer: pretty bad, but since that’s not the case under multiculturalism it’s not relevant.

Some people (you say 1.5%) may have asked for Sharia law to be enshrined in Australian law. But it’s hardly likely to happen without a solid majority in support. So why are you beating the fear drums?

Frank Gol, remember One Nation? There was a groundswell against multicult there mate. Jail time for its leaders when they threatened the status quo with their popularity. We are dictator democracy.

Notice the backgrounds of the London bombers?
Notice the backgrounds of the riotous youth in Paris?

A serious criminal problem isolated to ethnic imports thanks to stupid immigration policies.

Frankgol,

Maybe you didn't get around to watching the SBS show 'Vox Populi" on Sunday nights, with the constant stream of people being interviewed who claimed that Australia really didn't have a culture prior to multiculturalism?

Or listening to those Radio National Saturday and Sunday afternoon shows with the same message?

Back in the 1970s and 1980s I worked in a organisation that meant I had extensive contact with immigrant migrant groups, through places like multicultural resource centres, and the same message was clear.

In the early 1990s the government office where I worked had a poster celebrating 'diversity'. I consisted of many small portraits and images of people from various cultures. But there was something missing, and that was any image from the Australia that I grew up in. So I did something to celebrate my culture, I got a small unobtrusive picture, a notable picture, of one wounded Australian soldier, who could not walk unassisted, being aided by another wounded digger, who had been blinded. You get the idea. I put that picture on the poster, so small you could barely see it, it looked in place from the photographic perspective,

Well, within minutes that picture had been removed from the montage, as it didn't celebrate enough 'diversity', because it celebrated a culture from before multiculturalism. That poster, and the action of its defenders, told me that the Australia that I knew didn't exist, its absence was palpable. It had to be denied.

And you wonder why I am not in favour of multiculturalism? It is because it attempts to deny my existence.