Banjo

I arrived with my family in January 1976. 31 years ago. My brothers, sister and I started school 3 weeks later. I went to form 6 in Melbourne, I was 17 years and you would think us kids would be quite adaptable, especially as we had traveled a lot.

Believe me if I tell you that my first years in Australia were deeply traumatic. Not only for me, but for my younger siblings as well. Welcoming? I ate weird food, I did weird things. I spoke weird. My form teacher informed me that 'no way was I going to be able to pass my HSC.' My education would have been lacking. (I did pass, my previous education couldn't have been that lacking!)

My previous experience of starting school was in multicultural, multiracial societies in South America. My strangeness was more apparent there. I am 'white'. So, please don't pass it off as a teenagers are cruel thing. That happens all over the world.

In my class in Melbourne was 1 Chinese Australian. FOURTH generation. I remember someone asking him where his 'home' was. I was really surprised and asked him aren't you Australian? His response was that he gets that all the time. People assumed that he was not.

In those days the Greeks were suspect. I had one Greek Australian friend (2nd generation) who told me about his confusion about his identity. In Australia he was a Greek. In Greece, he was an Australian. Were did he belong? I wonder if the Lebanese Aussies feel like that?

Australia is an immigrant country. Not a country with a long standing hundreds of years monoculture. Australia is the best country in the world, it is a vibrant young nation. Its citizens come from all over the world and have diverse cultures, cultures, NOT nationalities. Go to a citizenship ceremony, there you will see people do not come here to destroy anything. Do we have to hide our heritage to proof that?

Yivonn,

Oh, yes, "Australia is an immigrant country" which makes putting citizenship test offered looking as next usual racist exercise this English colony deploys in variety of forms during all her history.

"What we need to address is Integration. Integration as I understand it means that you feel part of Society as a whole. Why do some citizens, yes Citizens, feel rejected by, or outside of our society? Why do some feel like victims?" -because they are being treated like a ... please, feel free to fill a gap yourself: moderator had already explained the possible using of the sharp words in this forum.

And what do you intend to say of "Society"? Are you a member of the particular clubs rabbi Hutnik jr., for instance, was not allowed in?

You can NOT have community when you are governed by CULTURE. MulticulturalISM is governing by cultural needs. My culture needs such and such. My culture demands such and such and we are X% of the population. Do you want to be elected or reelected. Then feed our demands. Please people Multiculturalism has nothing to do with many cultures other than to have weaponized that diversity to divide society into cultural enclaves and not have a continuous homogeneous mind set independent of culture. Who is going to recognize a Hindu person who promotes himself as being Hindu as Australian. Who is going to recognize a person of Chinese heritage as Australian if they promote themselves a Chinese. If only the White and Aboriginals promote themselves as Australian it will be common place to view any other persons by race or "culture". If a person of Scottish heritage persistently promotes himself as being Scottish you don't say to yourself, there goes an Australian. This is the reality of multiculturalism and why it is an abhorrent practice for governing or qualifying societal requirements on the whole.

aqvarivs

That's exactly what used to be commonplace 20 years ago and is rearing its ugly head, 'white' people and aboriginals did and now again, see themselves as the Australians. The rest of us are Chinese, Lebs, etc. Not as an Australian who happens to be Chinese, or Lebanese. Especially if you are not caucasian you stand out.

Do we want to go back to that time when non-Anglo new Australians felt a kindred spirit, because we understood what it means to pledge allegiance to Australia, but always remain suspect unless we can deny we had a previous life? Our children embarrassed and rejecting of us, their parents, because we are not 'Aussie'?

I recently had my own son say to me 'me and my mate were the only Aussies there, everybody else was ...(Asian I think)'This is what the current media and political climate is doing. I was shocked. Seeing my son was born of 1 new immigrant and 1 foreigner, I had to point out that the 'non' Aussies probably had similar claims to Aussienis as he did.

During the Cronulla riots there were 'whites' running around with MY flag around their shoulders beating up on others. I am livid about that kind of desecration. Racist gang violence tarted up to be about love for one's country. What absolute crap.

And on clubs celebrating other cultures, you are welcome. Get rid of that Anglo chip on your shoulder and celebrate what your fellow citizens have to offer or organise an English club. I'll visit, I miss the English pub atmosphere with apple cider on tap while debating the pros and cons of a hereditary class or the old British Empire that I got to know when living in GB.

We ARE united because we are Australians. We love this country because it is free. If a person is free to announce his Catholic faith in high political office, a Hindu shouldn't have to keep his Hinduism secret. Wouldn't you as a voter rather know?

"Do we want to go back to that time when non-Anglo new Australians felt a kindred spirit, because we understood what it means to pledge allegiance to Australia, but always remain suspect unless we can deny we had a previous life?" -so, had something changed since "that time"?

Espesially, for not-linked to the UK biologically?

Yvonne,
It appears that you arrived here about 3-4 years after multiculturalism was imposed on us and the public did not have say in it. Many people had their back up because we had no say and many "cultures" were demanding their rights and slice of the pie under MC. It was expected that people of the host country,us, comply and accomadate these "cultures". Australians had no culture anyway, it was said.

Therfore you cannot compare the situation before MC was introduced and by your description, Mc did not make it any easier for you.

Now the community is saying 'We have had enough of this MC. It hasn't worked and the community is more divided than ever'

No one I know expects migrants to denounce their heritage or forget it, or hide it. What is expected is that migrants leave behind any hatreds they had for others and to respect our laws and social standards, Other than that they can live where and how they please.

Our laws and social standards must be the basis of the society. It would be totally stupid to allow new arrivals to have 'carte blanch' of their cultures. Can you just see things like poligomy, dog meat and dolphins,whales being consumed, FGM common place, cockfights and bullfights held every Saturday, firearms carried openly in public.

So standards have to be in place and we,the host country, set those standards.

In any case, MC has been dumped in favour of integration and that has to be a vast improvement in community cohesion.