I too have 6 convict forebears and a number of free settler forebears, including a great, great, great grandfather in the first ship of Irish to pay for their transport and it wasn't until the 1900's when my grandfather from free settler stock married my grandmother, whose grandparents had been married by Samuel Marsden, the flogging parson, that the 2 lines became entwined. All these convict and free settler forebears were never in trouble with the Australian law and became respected citizens. I married a German immigrant who paid to come to Australia - not an assisted immigrant. He arrived in Australia in 1950 before Australia was officially taking German citizens. As soon as possible he became an Australian and swore an oath of allegiance to our Queen.
We are both concerned that new immigrants to Australia, regardless of race and religion, are not coming to Australia to become Australians.
It is an attitude problem.
We fly the Australian flag regularly on one of our two flag poles. When we have special visitors, examples being France and South Korea, I fly the flag of that nation on our second flag pole.

A few years ago all the excitement was about the Asian Triads. I wonder what ever happened to them?

If Australian society has a problem with it's youth, it's more a gang problem than a religious one. The violent subculture we are seeing has more to do with US "Gangstas" than some sort of religious crusade (pardon the expression) to overthrow society as we know it.

The majority of the perpetrators have never been to the birthplace of their ancestors and don't even understand what the questions are, let alone have any answers. They are typical of any bunch of angry, rejected and disenfranchised thugs with too much time on their hands.

If the Government(s) were really serious about dealing with this issue, they could do much more. Meanwhile, it's obviously in somebody's interest to keep this thing bubbling away.

I expect it's more expedient to keep treating the symptoms than spending money on the cause.

What Clifton wrote about can be summed in one word: hormones.

He watched two youths doing what youths-who-have-nothing-better-to do under the effects of testosterone: a test-fight. It is common among mammals do it as part of competing for their social position with other adolescents - the only difference is that humans use more words and less their nails and developing horns.

There is no reason to take the content of their discussion seriously - they have not really thought about it, but just picked the slogans up like parrots. If they could not pick up the issue of nationalism or religion - well, they would have found something else to quarrel about.

Eventually they will grow up.

It is interesting that the teenagers all came out in force and wore Australian Flags as capes, painted them on their faces, had hat flags, flags flags flags as drag queens say "from asshole to breakfast and back again".

We should have known that if you tell teenagers not to do something, they'll do it in spite of you. That is their job. So this is their rebellion. Quite funny in a way. I can see the funny side to it.

If you get too upset from how teenagers behave, they'll drive us all to utter insanity if we can't laugh. Nothing much has changed. I was a real horror as an 18 year old. This was after we returned from Dallas, Texas.I actually hitch hiked around the Soviet Union in spite of my father, an active National Party member. I think he had a stroke over that one...

With the middle eastern thing, this is different.

None of the Italian, Maltese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Irish or New Zealander immigrants have ever insulted our convict ancestors, provoked nasty riots, played victim politics to stupendous lows, insulted all women, insulted other minority groups, and claimed legitimacy to this land over our ancestors, all in one week.

And bugger, we quibble over our own flag.

Puzzling evidence.

Oh, how nice of the author to paint those who love their national flag as thugs. This is nothing short of an insult from a person who probably sits around the table at a cafe, drinking imported chardonnay while having a Fabian chinwag.

I personally would like to see the flag changed. I personally see the flag as material, not as reflective of who I am. I would never ban people from waving their national flag though.

And if the immigrants find it offensive - move out!

Amazing, saintfletcher - with all that life experience, you still can't spot a nutcase.

I think the biggest problem facing Australian Muslims is how to get rid of Hilaly and the other nutters without seeming to lose face, or offending the various factions within the Australian Islamic community.

Certainly, it would be great if that disparate community could exert some control over its loony theocracy and its thuggishly wayward youth. However, this assumes that Muslims are more cohesive as a religious community than, for example, Christians as they have divided themselves since Jesus supposedly walked the cursed dirt of Palestine.

Would anybody like to nominate a singular Christian leader for Australia? Should it be Cardinal Pell, Archbishop Aspinall, Fred Nile, Brian Houston, or Tony Abbott?

Anyway, as I've said before, I reckon our current flag's a dog. It should be replaced by something that's more symbolic of contemporary Australia than the current collage of obscure British heraldry.