Oh dear, I think I agree just a little bit with BD. Hold the attack on the "muslim-appearing" youths though. Botheration summed it up well - having people from different backgrounds isnt so much the problem, as importing their prejudices. BD has said something similar, although been a little more wide-sweeping. Interesting that he condemns diversity, yet has an asian wife.

Immigration is what our nation as it stands is based on, so its not a bad thing as such, and can be quite a strength. However, immigration policy shouldnt just accept everyone and anyone. Over the years we have developed a culture that sees us as fairly unique, and different even from other white cultures (given that we all love pom-bashing so much, old arguements about being too english-based dont hold that much water). We need to make sure that our pretty good culture, is maintained as much as possible. There is always room for improvement, but we should guard against degradation of what we have.

Now we have a weak livered labour government,

we can look forward to having more of this 3rd world trash reaching

our sunny shores.

Maybe super radical leftoid Garrett can pen a different version of his song the The Beds are Burning.

"How can we sleep while our Melbournes Burning"

Cop it sweet Australia you have allowed this to happen.
Immigration of blacks with the IQ of a deck chair let into our society with centrelink payments has got to be the stupidest idea since allowing arabs from Lebanon to come here.

Let common sense prevail it is not to late to deport these people back to thier crappy poor desolate countries

AFRICANS, We dont want you because you are to stupid to see a good thing when your on it. So piss off!

Hello? The Australian electorate has just voted out a government that traded for more than a decade on xenophobia. Those refugees who have been most reluctantly admitted, during that tenure, have had support services that might have assisted their integration removed gradually under an administration hostile to 'multiculturalism'.

Stuff like English language lessons and cultural awareness programs. The Sudanese and Somali guys who were working here a while back had an average of about 6 weeks of that kind of preparation before being sent out to the Australian bush to work in an abattoir. Most managed quite well, but all have now moved on to WA and the resources boom.

As I've said before, I think our migrant intake should be restricted on environmental grounds to refugees - a corollary of which is that we should make every effort to integrate them and their cultures (as opposed to assimilation).

So-called 'race' should not be any kind of factor, nor should religion - unless of course the observance of that religion precludes prospective immigrants abiding by Australian laws.

It's people who are obsessed about the 'racial' aspects of Australian society who are the problem, not those of disparate sociocultural backgrounds who have have been forced by circumstance to become Australians. We need to curtail the increase of Australia's population - but not for 'racial' reasons.

The weakness in nearly all exponents of multiculturalism (and I'm one)
is that they stress the advantages and therefore one doesn't realise that there are also disadvantages. Society has to work at this and needs to be not only multicultural but also monocultural; it needs to have shared values.

You just don't bring together people of different cultures, they shake hands and live happily ever after. It's a delicate process.

Every group that has come to Australia has faced a lot of intolerance and the Sudanese are the last group to come in so they are copping the intolerance now. I don't blame anybody in Australia who says that migration should cease. It's always been the case. When you've got problems -'Get rid of the wogs.' Then we'll be free.

What has to be done - is education. People have to stop scapegoating.
We have to work through these problems - and I'm sure that we will.
Afterall - today's Australia is made up of so many different ethnic backgrounds, speaking different languages at home, including Scottish,
Gaelic and Welsh and we also have over 80 different religions.
When we talk about the preservations of a race. Which race?

There's also the cost involved. The main cost of taking refugees is not the air fare but the cost of resettling them, giving them unemployment benefits, language services and so forth. However there is merit in diversity - and we should persevere with it. Our society will be the better for it.

SCOTTY CHILDLIKE AND SPITEFUL BUT THANKS ANYWAY.
I have grave doubts we can except more Muslim migrants or that we should, from within that group bigotry is emerging, only some but far too many are bigoted.
The primitive bigotry of religion gone mad will not allowe integration.
Some idiot is using the wests freedoms as payment for an experiment that hopes ten generations of living together will bring about a better world.
Tell me why we alone seem to make an effort in the west while those we seek to help often turn on us?

CG... interesting comments :)

just a mild point of clarification though.

I'm not against 'diversity'...I'm against the following:

1/ Uncontrolled diversity.
2/ Disproportionate diversity.
3/ Encouraging diversity on dogmatic grounds.
4/ Actively promoting diversity among cultural groups with public funds. (such funding should be aimed at assimilation)

I totally welcome people of diverse backgrounds BUT.... (there's always one of them isn't there :)

I say this:

a) Welcome to those who share our VALUES. (no matter what their ethnicity)
b) Welcome to those who may not at this point share our values but are happy to make a committment to LEARNING them..and passing them on to their children.
c) Rejection absolutely, any group who's values or religious foundation are aimed at undermining ours on a political level.

On point "c" I don't consider Hindu's or Buddhists or Bahais or Zoroastrians to have specific 'aims' to undermine our values or to seek to attain sovereignty in the name of their religious ideals of our country, but based on the unambiguous and clear statements of a religion you are well aware of by now (when I refer to it) it is clear that this is a serious issue with that group.

In sociological terms, the 'right racial mix' would be (in my view) a large predominance of the anglo/celt/norther Euro shared values group, and then.. a mix of various others.. Asians, africans, southern Euro's.. Indians etc.. but with no one of these groups gaining a disproporionate representation from the others.

Only in this way will 'our culture' be enriched by the things we learn (by osmosis, not weight of numbers or political power) from them through social interaction and intermarriage.

PS. agreeing withe me is not the end of the world as we know it :) (only for CJ it's that)