Hi Belly... agreed :)

Foxy.. I appreciate the point you made about what the Attourney General said...

I read that also.

If you were a passionate member of that faith,
and looked around.. don't you think that
identifying political opportunities might
be something which would cross your mind?

"Silma Ihram, an Anglo-Australian convert
to Islam and one of the pioneers of Muslim
education in Australia, believes it is time
the issue of multiple partners is
debated in Australia."

This information about her might add to the debate here...

http://www.silmapol.blogspot.com/ she is also a political candidate.

Perhaps she wants to change the Law which the attourney General referred to?

Regarding National Socialist ideas.. this might prove informative

http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/orgs/american/adl/skinhead-international/skins-australia.html

This also
http://www.jewishmag.com/48mag/nazis/nazis.htm

I guess, I see merit in evaluating firstly the 'ideas'
on which a political or religious position is based,
and then examining how this might impact on our society,
and then making rules which can
protect us from such things..

I would struggle also to accept anyone of 'Communist' belief as an immigrant.

foxy,
"Therefore I didn't see a problem. If you break the laws, you are going to be punished. Thats it End of problem. Polygamy is not allowed in Australia. If you don't like it - migrate to a country that allows it- or suffer the consequences of breaking our laws."

Thats good in theory, but there are instances where the laws are broken and the government turns a blind eye. FGM is a glaring example. Dispite all states making it unlawfull, it is still being carried out here and some girls are being sent overseas to be 'done'.

There is evidence freely available at hospitals of girls having suffered FGM. One Sydney hospital treats some 50 patients a year for post FGM problems. Yet not one instance of the parents being charged.
The last letter I received from the NSW Health Minister related to this was that they are carrying out an education programme and there are CULTURAL ISSUES. The education has now been going for about 14 years and still Aussie born girls are having pieces of flesh cut off them illegally. And the Government is concerned about cultural issues!

So the Government turns a blind eye and few others are concerned. Is it not the same with polygamy?

Dear Banjo,

Of course it's the same with polygamy.
I suppose my previous post was rather narrow.
But I simply don't know what the answers are.
It's a complicated issue - isn't it?
"You can lead a horse to water..."

What do you do with people who are determined
to have it their way - break our laws etcetera.
You can't place them all in jail.
Deport them?

Would careful screening prior
to accepting them into the country -
really work? (I assume that gets done anyway).
In any case, they can always lie through their teeth
if they're that determined to get into
the country.

If you or Polycarp can think of an
answer, I'd like to read it.

foxy,
Specificly, in relation to FGM, I see no reason that the Governments should not enforce the laws. It is a barbaric practice and Aussie girls should not be subject to it. We should deem it intolerable.

Polygamy is a kettle of fish. If a person willingly enters into it, I don't see a problem any different than somebody keeping a mistress or a man friend. However if a person feels compelled for any reason, such as religion, they should be able to opt out and the original spouse should also have a veto right. It may work in countries where the male is lord and master and the wife is totally subservient but i cannot see it formally happening here to any great extent. The problem I see now is that (say) a man has a legal wife and has another wife or two, sanctioned by his religion but not legal, his children from the latter two wives are kept by the taxpayer on single mothers benefits. If we made polygamy legal surely we could find ways of ensuring that he pays for all his kids. Perhaps someone will come up with good reasons against polygamy. Fancy letting the two go shoping together and they could gang up on the bloke. Then there is the prospect of two mothers-inlaw, interesting prospect! And the costs.

On the original question of this thread, All three groups are eligible because of our non-discriminarty immigration policies. I notice Belly is not keen to allow Nazis in and Polycarp is not so keen on Communists either. I think we should have discriminatry immigration so we can choose who we allow in. For example if a group utterly refuses to integrate and is contemptious of our laws then we should stop allowing them to come, in our own best interests.

Dear Banjo,

Thanks for responding so quickly.

You've given me plenty to think about.

I'm still not sure about discrimination
against certain groups.
How do you decide which group?

It may be only a small minority
within any one group
that breaks our laws.

I think that their community leaders
should also be called to account.
Especially the ones wielding influence.

I'll have to think about that one...

foxy,
Further to the immigration matter. I don't think we can discriminate on political issues. We once had a referendum on outlawing the Communist party and the vote was no and that set a precedent in relation to the validity of all political parties. Fair enough.

We can discriminate on cultural grounds and the Minister or cabinet be the decission maker. The one I would recomend to be excluded from further entry are those the are contemptous of us, our society and laws.

For example, If the Croats and the Serbs cannot hold a social soccer match without riots and fighting that results in gunshots at buildings and cars burnt, etc. We do not need their old world hatreds and if they don't stop then stop allowing them in. Similarly, the Lebanese Muslims don't get on with anyone, even other Muslims, and hold our laws in contempt, appalling social conduct. We could stop further entry of them. We do not have these problems generally from other Muslims. Those groups the continually flout our laws in relation to cockfighting should also be stopped. Those groups that continue to carry out FGM should also be prevented from further entry.

There may well be others but that will do for starters. The aim being to encourage an harmonious society in line with our basic culture.