Jolanda is so right, 'racism', the favourite word of Racists, is flung around at the slightest sign of a complaint against anyone who is not white.
It is bad attitude, arrogance,misbehaviour that gets people really mad.Everyone but the Racist got over racism years ago.
It is those who consider they are above the law,whatever culture they come from,who need to be stamped on .
I would love to see a list of all politicians' childrens schools. How many of them attend state schools and how many of them attend private schools. That would make for interesting reading.

Hello to all - and what a great article. I'd like to offer my own experience. For prodding thought and comment, and perhaps some research by someone eager to find out what happened in a little microcosm.
I drive a government bus, and have driven all over Sydney - and this includes many school busses. My guess is that you can get a good idea about how a school is going from bus drivers' experience of the students (and occassionally of the teachers).
I used to pick up students from Macquarie Boys Technology High School in North Parramatta. The kids were amongst the worst behaved that I have ever come across. The teacher(s) sent down to try to keep things safe had given up. I developed my own strategy, which after some time worked (and it did not include yelling at them or putting anyone off the bus).
I transferred to drive in another area. My colleagues who had to still deal with these kids eventually decided to send down to that school only those drivers from the ethnic group which was causing the greatest trouble, which I have never heard of in nearly 20 years in this job. ( I had told many of my colleagues of my strategy, but I don't know if any of them tried it.)
As I live in the area served by that school, I also came across some parents who had to deal with students from that school, and all of them were scathing of their behaviour.
That school has now closed. It's not as if no children are growing up in that area. Almost no-one wanted to send their son there. I wouldn't have sent a dog there.

camo's story - and the basis of this discussion thread - is very similar to why Narwee Boys High School, the Alma mater of the NSW Premier,(southern (and almost, western Sydney) was 'closed'

The fact that the school site was then sold off to developers is also indicative of said premier's party's modus operandi, however, the point is:

1. School attracts certain ethnic group who do not behave

2. Other groups feel excluded

3. steps 1 & 2 keep repeating with no government intervention

4. Said ethnic group community offer to 'buy out' site along with an offer from established Christian school looking to branch out

5. Said government assesses school closure safest way out

6. Local community loses school, sees community hall PAID FOR BY THE LOCAL COMMUNITY demolished and school replaced with medium to high density housing estate.

This "multiculturalism" that Australia claims to have: it's a bit of a farce, don't you think? Multiculturalism seems to really just be about easing other cultures into a dominant culture by destroying what makes them unique, while letting them keep their most superficial qualities. With that in mind, it's a really superficial kind of multiculturalism that destroys more culture than it fosters.

"If we want multiple cultures to flourish, really flourish according to their own, then each culture needs to be given geographical space and ideological autonomy rather than be interspersed."

http://www.anus.com/tribes/au/entry/56/Senior_minister_calls_for_cult

While we're talking about behaviour, rather than ethnic group, I'd like to add that the other school which is highest on the worst behaviour list is Waverley College. The predominently celtic-anglo students are terrible to eachother, and thoughtless towards others, from my observation. But the Catholic sense of solidarity means that students keep being sent there.
K, the trouble with letting ethnic groups have ideological autonomy (presumably over their community) is that this frequently clashes with universal human rights, and in practice means that the old men of the community get to lord it over everyone else in their community. At times this means only that the community gets a bit stuffy. But sometimes the consequences are much more serious, and people's lives are at stake.
Multiculturalism must be subservient to Universal human rights (and not the Islamic version).

Well from these comments Sydney seems like a fairly nasty place. Melb from my experience has no where near the level of racial segregation in schools. High schools serving well off communities do well and often out perform modest fee private schools and have long waiting lists. High schools in poorer areas often end up with a marginal school population with many of the better off residents sending their kids to the modest fee private/Catholic schools-more like aspirational flight than white flight. Many of the comments above are obviously from very unhappy people who live in areas with high ethnic populations and lower incomes. In a way these people are justified in feeling ripped off. The politicians that make the migration decisions never live in these areas and never send their kids to marginalised state schools.