Thank you Meg, absolutely lovely article.
It is not white guilt to believe that all people, regardless of their origins, should be treated with courtesy and respect.
It is not politically correct to withold judging someone until you know them.
It is not un-Australian to have compassion for terrified people fleeing persecution.
It is merely civilised.

Davo wrote "But hey, it is all about the white guilt factor ain't it".

Your one of a few here in this forum that repetitively refers to white guilt. Tell me, why the fixation?

I really like the relatively open border policy we have with New Zealand. I think we should extend the program to other willing and likeminded nations so long as they reciprocate. Europe, the USA, Malaysia, Singapore etc.

It would be great to travel and work abroad without all the red tape. It would just be a matter of grab your credit card and passport and off you go to work where ever the wages are good and the entertainment pleasant. And in the process the people of the world might move a little closer to understanding eachother.

We have a bilateral trade agreement with the USA which lets most goods move unhindered between the two places. Capital is mobile so why can't workers do the same?

We certainly live in crazy times. When we feel under threat, all kinds of crazy stuff seems to come out of some people's mouths. Sure the world is a somewhat unstable place at times these days. Does making degrading remarks about people of other races, religions or oipinions make our world safer?

I think this article may serve to help us think about our reactions to the issues of immigration debate and ask ourselves why we think this way. There are some dangerous people in the world today, but hasn't this long been the case? Maybe it is the first time terror is hitting home? To many countries terror is not new. Australia is also clearly not the only country with people wanting to come here, and spare a thought for those third world countries trying to cope with far greater numbers of refugees than us. (As someone pointed out).

Cheers

Terje, wouldn't it be nice to be able to do that, however with all the scaremongering on "terror" we would need security checks, health checks, the list goes on. As a born and bred Aussie, I don't mind Meg's comments at all, after all we are a free country, some born and bred Aussie's don't particularly like our racist component, against Aboriginal people, or migrants. I agree we should learn to get along with each other, but the "redneck" element will always be with us, but so to will the other side of compassion and tolerance for our fellow man. Those like Col Rouge, being a Tory, probably thinks Meg will vote against the government, which is why he wants her to go home. Meg has every right to voice her concern, as does every Australian citizen. What is needed is, if anyone disagrees with Meg{and I don't} is to present a contary point of view, those without a contary arguement, can only say "if you don't like it leave", and by the way Col, John{Bonsai} Howard does not speak for me, or at least 51% of the population at the present moment, if you check the latest opinion polls, so either come up with an arguement, or pull your head in....Bonsai is a little bush.

The reason why you are so readily accepted as an "Australian" Ms Meg, is because you are white, come from a nearly identical culture, and you are an attractive female.

You are implying that the attitudes of Kiwis towards non white immigrants is so different, that you are surprised at the utterences of Australians towards people of different races or cultures who Australians do not accept. That's funny, I have been reading that NZ is experiencing the same attitudes towards immigrants themselves, while traditional Maoris are even demanding ethnic homelands with racial aparteid separatism.

So please, drop the facade of hurt innocence, it is a pose which is as transparent as a sheet of glass.

Fifty years ago, trendy lefties supported Bolshevism, which promised to build a class blind, utopian society. But no country ever attained that ideal. Today's trendy lefties now have a new "ism", Multiculturalism. This promises to create a race blind, utopian society.

Unfortunately, the events in France, Britain, Spain, Thailand, Afghanistan, Iraq and numerous other countries are proving their fairyland thinking is once again wrong.

It is a cultural universal that people prefer to live amongst people of their own race and culture, people with whom they feel kinship and with whom they feel safe with. In addition, all humans make disparaging remarks about people from different cultures who are invading their people's territory. No race, ethnicity or culture is immune to those sentiments.

Why do you think that white people should be different?