Told you so, Peachy. Never suggest they read. It agitates them no end.

About that report you recommended: one of them has promised he "will read it with interest". But, that's really quite unnecessary. He already knows you've cherry-picked the report to suit your argument.

"I know what you're up to...trying to turn them all into leftoids, eh?"
Oh shoot, someones onto me.. damn you FrankGol! you've just ruined everything!

Paul L, I do not for a minute believe that "EVERYONE has a right to come and live in Australia". But I do believe that people should have as much right to travel the world as, for instance, investment does.

I would actively oppose the application of someone who has a habit or a policy of doing things which are unacceptable in Australian society or law. On the other hand, applicants for visas and for asylum should be judged with a presumption of innocence.

I'm not opposed to quotas, skills assessments, or background checks on prospective migrants. I'm in favour of permitting people to move here who intend to set up profitable businesses or who have good prospects of finding gainful employment.

When this country had massive government-run regional development programs with a pressing need for manual workers in undeveloped regions, it made good policy sense to send immigrants to work on remote hydroelectric dams. This more-or-less guaranteed that the people who came here had poor prospects in "the old country" and were prepared to give up (almost) everything. At the time we were unashamed to select immigrants on the basis of their skin colour. Now we use different criteria altogether; our economy and hunger for workers has changed dramatically and we are attempting to reverse our historical racism.

I think you'll find that the majority of immigrants have extremely good manners and do assimilate into Australian society. Most of them have been assisted in that goal by the very policies you decry.

It is not the case that multicultural policy in Australia creates an "us and them" situation. An "us and them" situation exists a priori across national boundaries and those of colour and creed; if it didn't why on earth would we be having this discussion?

Multiculturalism is the radical proposition that we should recognise the humanity of people belonging to other cultures.

Anyone rejecting that proposition is a misanthrope or worse.

Xoddam,

You said “But I do believe that people should have as much right to travel the world as, for instance, investment does”
What a curious idea, we aren’t talking about travel by the way, we are talking about residency or citizenship.

We seem to be in almost complete agreement on the issues, including the actuality of migrants assimilating into our society.

I don’t agree with many of the posters who believe certain ethnic groups should be barred from living in this country.
The problem that we have with some of the groups mentioned in posts above is that they have been led to believe that we don’t care if they integrate or not. We weren’t selective about who migrated here. We didn’t differentiate between those who wanted to be Aussies, and those who migrated here because they knew that they could live in Australia but retain all of their old country culture and behaviours. This is the essence of the problem. Multiculturalism says your culture is just as relevant as a code of behaviour as ours is. So if you want to live in a cultural ghetto with limited interaction with Aussies, that’s OK.

You are absolutely right that the’ Us and Them’ situation predated multiculturalism. The problem with multiculturalism is that it has perpetuated this idea. By merely extending the idea of what it is to be Australian to cover anybody, which is what multiculturalism did, you haven’t actually closed the gap between ‘Us and Them’, you have just legitimized it.

Assimilation doesn’t mean that you don’t recognise the humanity of people belonging to other cultures. That’s preposterous. Assimilation merely makes new migrants aware that there are obligations and expectations which come along with your new found rights as an Australian citizen. The assumption that you want to be an Aussie, with all the connotations that brings, including secularism, rule of law, speaking English and an expectation of integration, should be a basic requirement.

None of this is disrespectful to any other culture because it should be expected of everybody, no matter their country of origin

Multiculturalism?
I resign myself to constant misinterpretation and contemptuous bullying by FrankGol:
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=6017

Tom Calma: "basic human rights" have nothing to do with multiculturalism.
MC wouldn't exist within a monocultural society.
But "basic human rights" would.

Diversity doesn't cause instability?
Diversity = difference.
Conflict *requires* difference.
Therefore, diversity creates conflict.
Sometimes mild, sometimes extreme, but always conflict.

"We need to uphold principles of multiculturalism that:
enshrine the freedom of all Australians to practice their culture and religion;
that provide equal access and opportunity for all Australians to participate fully in the country's economic, social, cultural and political life;
that highlight the responsibility of all Australians to commit to the democratic system and respect the rights of all individuals"

Excuse me, these aren't the "principles of multiculturalism".
They're the principles of liberalism and democracy.

Can Australians "practice their own culture" if it ceases to exist?

Rainier: "Only 18% of the world's population are white".
So? The percentage in Australia isn't, for the very reasons Dresdener pointed out: Whites built it.
I think you'll find a majority racial group in *every* country on Earth.
And, strange thing, each of those "racial" groups corresponds to a "cultural" group! How odd!

White urban ghettos? Ghettos for the majority?
Ironically, it's beginning to happen.
You *will* see ghettos of white people one day, seething with anger, plotting terrorist attacks.
What a future. Hooray for MC!

Logic: "the locals should be encouraged to understand legitimate customs of the new arrivals".
Why? Did I move into *their* country?
The only culture I *need* to understand is my own.

xoddam: "us and them" situation exists a priori across national boundaries and those of colour and creed.
Multiculturalism is the radical proposition that we should recognise the humanity of people belonging to other cultures.
Anyone rejecting that proposition is a misanthrope."

"Us and them" will exist as long as there are "people like me" and "people not like me", which of course will be forever!

MC perversely says you can be "us" and "them" simultaneously!
MC is "misanthropic" as it opposes human instincts.

So shockadelic, how do you explain south aftica before aparthied was disbanded?

You are amazingly ignorant and stupid and thats very rare.