David if immigrants become Australians first,then they can't use their ethicity as leverage to gain advantage.We would be then infringing on their rights to be viewed as disadvantaged.

It does make you wonder who the real offenders of racial discrimination are.

Amen Arjay....

a lot of what goes on in the name of 'MultiCulturalism' is in reality the politics of discriminatory social advancement.

Banjo said: (other_thread)

[The concept of MC was foisted upon us by Grazzby, Whitlam and Fraser and has been used by politicians to give money, and jobs, to ethnic 'furhers' in exchange for votes.]

...and this is the real problem. All communities see the world in terms of their own community. This is not a problem for a homogenous community, who tend to see themselves in relation to the world, rather than introspectivly comparing groups within.

So, we have 'Ethnic Councils' which are 'promoted' as 'serving the needs of Ethnic groups' or.. another way of looking at them is "Lobbying for social advantage for ethnic communities" such as...seeking to influence immigration policy to make it easier for the loudest ethnic voices to obtain familiy re-union privileges. Possibly extending them to 'polygamous' families. This actually WAS the case, (Refer Kaysar Trads situation) but apparently (they told me) it has been since tightened.

Ethnic councils may also seek to influence foreign policy in ways which advance ethnic interests over the mainstream ones. Then there is the whining about the need for 'ethnic community centres' which are tacked onto the 'Cronulla' deal, and portrayed as being a solution.

Ethnic Migration has always been about, and will always be about some kind of political angle. Labor probably favours 'ethnic' migration, the Coalition probably favors 'British' ?

But one thing is sure, our 'nobility' (the rich and well placed) will continue taking the line of least resistance in the fulfillment of an economic agenda.

PROBLEM:-Lack of Training/Education resulted in a skills shortage.
SOLUTION:-Bring in Skilled migrants.

PROBLEM:-IT workers cost too much in Australia. (code for the CEO wants his performance bonus this year)
SOLUTION: Outsource 300 IT jobs to India and then claim "We can't find enough trained people here" but in the next public realtions breath say "We need a competitive advantage" duh

Graham,
'I'm proud of my English, Scottish, Irish, Cornish, Italian (I think), Dutch heritage - does that make me a multiple racist? '
No- a better description would be a new-age trendy.

Gerogiou & his little cliche of likeminded pretenders ought to be forthright enough to leave the protective cover of the Liberal party & stand as independents.
If they did, I think their political careers would come to an abrupt halt.

Arjay,
So whats your ethnicity? ("Australian" is not an ethnicity, its a nationality)

You have difficulty understanding this because:

You can avoid spending time with people whom you were trained to mistrust.

If you should need to move, you can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which you can afford and in which you would want to live.

You can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that you will not be followed or harassed.

When you are told about our national heritage or about "civilization," you are shown that people of your color made it what it is.

You can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person's voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.

You can arrange to protect your children most of the time from people who might not like them.

You can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to your race.

You are never asked to speak for all the people of your racial group.

You can criticize the government and talk about how much you fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.

If you declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn't a racial issue at hand, your race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.

You can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.

If your day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it had racial overtones.

You can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of your race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.

You can be sure that if you need legal or medical help, your race will not work against me.

If you have low credibility as a leader you can be sure that your race is not the problem.

But you say you don't have an ethnicity?

Dear Ranier....
nice to hear something from the heart ! (at last)

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Gal 3.28

Cheers mate.

"nice to hear something from [Rainers] heart ! (at last)"

WHAT HEART?

That isn’t a heart, it's a black (sorry,colourless) hole!