Foxxy, you seem confused, sorry I wasn’t clear enough.
I’ve never denied there are some racists here, or idealists, and every shade of every colour in between.
You equate opinions and very dubious statistics as “FACT”, I don’t.
They reflect a certain outlook, or rather a mixture of outlooks, yet due to the herd-like nature of society and academia, they tend to be “socially correct” that’s the nature of the beast. It all swings on what questions you ask, how you phrase them, what numbers you collect, how and from where you collect them, and what you do with the raw data afterwards, it’s all far too complex and assumption based to be reliable.
It doesn’t change the basic facts though, the real ones, that as humans we ALL have an innate xenophobia, and it can and does express itself in racism, yet isn’t necessarily the same thing. Cats and kittens? Cont’-

Cont’-
I balk every time I see people crying racism in situations where it’s only the normal expression of our inbuilt uncertainties, written large because it’s so widespread.
Just look at the numbers quoted, Oz has a population in excess of twenty-four odd million, are you seriously telling me there are 2.4 million KKK types here? SERIOUSLY?
Offhand I’d say you’d be lucky to find a few thousand, though even one is a disgrace.
As for education, we totally agree, yet if only it WAS that way. As far as I have seen, it’s more a case of them pushing the current PC victim mentality, the guilt express, not a variety of outlooks. Teaching kids only one view is NOT challenging them to think, it’s just same old/same old, only the view has changed. I would get out on the streets, (I’ve done it before on education matters, more than once) in support of a program such as you suggest, fair dinkum! I took great pains to ensure my own kids got more than just the standard view, in many ways, and engaged them in discussions as often as possible, with as many different people as possible, THAT’S how to make them think!
I am a great proponent of education, it can solve so many things, just for starters. I spent every year of my kids education on councils and committees, plus gardening and maintenance, plus occasional shifts as a teachers aide and cooking classes, at one point I was doing such at three different schools, lol

Dear AustinP,

You asked me the question:

"...Does that mean that to be in opposition to the
Government of the day somehow reduces one's
intellectual capability?..."

That depends doesn't it, on what it is that you're
opposing. If you oppose everything simply on
Party lines, and against the National Interest,
then perhaps your intellectual capability should be
questioned as should your loyalty to the people you're
supposedly representing.

You further asked me:

"Does that mean that when little Johnny was PM,
most Labor members were idiots?"

Not at all. They only opposed things that practically
all decent, thinking Australians opposed at the time.
Things that lost the Liberals the election and
little Johnny his seat of Bennelong. Making him
only the second PM to lose his seat.

Hope this clear things up for you.

Banjo I should have explained more for you to fairly assess whether I am fully responsible for this ignorance of Noel Pearson.

I got to Aussie 3 years ago, applied to be a foster parent, took ages before training came up. In the meantime I hung out with my teens who were 14 and 15 at the time and since very little had shared me with 80 other foster kids.

I got to know many local teens and their parents and in that time I had to learn about local slang and learnt how they feel about other cultures, mostly the Lebs but certainly the aboriginals came up often. There is really shocking racism where I am and considering what I do shock is not a common emotion.

Okay then kids started arriving, under fives, 28 of them in the next 26 months. Loved it but they weren’t interested in politics and stuff, around 6 of them here at any one time. Great fun but impossible to do anything else or think about anything else.

Yes I asked in the other thread lots why are the Lebs different here and you never told me, Antonios’s post seemed to give a clear indication that they arrived in quite a hostile country and if people feel rejected they often return the feeling.

I can’t get away from the kids, they are little and need me more than most kids would need a grown up.

So lately it has been quiet in my house, only a few kids and I have had time to finally learn some stuff but give me some time to catch up Banjo or help me.

I did discover that very few here have opinions on children, even the political aspect of foster children so no point with opening another thread.

Yes they outwardly call girls sluts, and immigrants worse things.

Still can’t comment on wasps, don’t get it.

STJ – you’re right, would be heaps better if everyone was asked.

The Pied Piper

"Antonios was seeing what solutions might be around" NO Antonios was working overtime and had no free time!
1. The problem with migrants, race discrimination and xenophobia is a huge problem for any country with migrants or with two or more ethnic or religious groups.
2. In australia we have a huge number of migrants from all corners of our planet. Comparing to the number of migrants with the race discrimination and xenophobia we are going well.
3. While we are from the less racist countries on the world of cause the the huge number of migrants we have a big problem from race discrimination and xenophobia. which we must solve, to avoid future bigger problems.
4. This kind of problems can not solve with law and order but with FULL SUPPORT to ethnic groups which have the less acceptance, which have the biggest problems in our society. Muslims and especialy Muslim Lebanese have huge problems in Australia. One in two Sydney people believe that Lebanese do not belong to Australia. We kill them mentaly, we have pushed them in the corner, we isolated them!
6. If you read my discussion with Banjo, not only on this thread I try to convince him to support Lebanese people. OUR TOP PRIORITY SHOULD BE TO SUPPORT LEBANESE PEOPLE, I AM READY FOR A COMMITTEE WHICH WILL PROMOTE THE FRIENDCHIP WITH AUSTRALIAN LEBANESE PEOPLE.
They need urgently our support.
6. Generaly we must promote to the maximum degree the understanding and cooperation between australian ethnic and religious groups, we must biuld bridges between them. The primary schools is the best place to start.
7. We should protect australians from race discrimination and care for fair go and equal opportuniies. It is disappointed that according to human rights comission of UN from 2001 to 2005 no one victim of race discrimination found his/her right in the court.
8. It is very bad to see political parties or leaders to use xenophobia to atract voters or supporters. unfortunatly the mass media is not friendly to migrants
Antonios Symeonakis
Adelaide

Come Foxy, with great respect that lunatic you quoted, and from 1982 is not represenative.
AS is a bit different.
Look mate AS please explain this to me.
How can your posts be so very different?
Sometimes word perfect and no over use of the caps key.
Then hard to see what you are thinking about.
Do you understand what a social activists think live and breath?
That I regard a true racist as truly evil?
But that I understand SOME minoritys are much worse racists than others?
If one in ten are racist, only being bared from the forum stops me highlighting, some migrant groups are over represented.
Maybe in fact while small in over all numbers filling a great deal of the one in ten you quote.
You bloke are not reprsenative of your people.
And you willingly find fault with mine, true we have faults but no more or less than ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.