RACE WAR TIME BOMB screams the front page of the Herald Sun newspaper of 19 May. It is a story about Asian gang warfare in Melbourne. Quoting a leaked police report the Herald Sun reports that police fear "…gang violence could soon erupt into open warfare on Melbourne’s streets" and that "it is only a matter of time before someone is murdered".

See:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/secret-police-report-exposes-gang-fears-as-open-warfare-erupts/story-e6frf7jo-1225868879397

The report was leaked shortly after Premier John Brumby denied there was a gang warfare problem in Melbourne.

The ABC quotes Deputy Commissioner Sir Ken Jones as saying the document should never have been made public in the Herald Sun newspaper.

See:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/20/2904463.htm

I disagree with Jones. This is exactly the sort of information the public needs to know if it is to assess the performance of the state government. I deplore the political correctness that prevents some elements of the media from dealing with the issue of ethnic gangs openly and honestly.

What of Brumby's comment that he has seen no gangs in Broadmeadows? I can only assume Brumby is trying to prove Tony Abbott right. Politicians sometimes dissemble when confronted.

But should the Herald Sun have led with what many would regard as an inflammatory headline? Does the story deserve such prominence?

On page 11 of the same newspaper is a story titled:

ASIANS OUTCLASS ANGLOS

See:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/non-anglo-saxon-students-snap-up-most-places-at-new-selective-school/story-e6frf7jo-1225868916786

"STUDENTS from non-Anglo Saxon backgrounds have snapped up most places at Melbourne's newest public selective school - and aspiration is the key.

"Children from Indian, Sri Lankan and Chinese families dominate classes at Nossal High in Berwick, which has just opened with 200 year 9 students."

In some ways this is a more significant story than the one about Asian gangs. It shows what good quality immigrants we are getting.

If I had been the editor of the Herald Sun I would have led with this latter story. It would have been blazoned across the front page.

The Asian Gangs story would have started on page 3. But I would definitely have run it.

STEVEN.. unless one believes in the inherent superiority of those ethnic minority races.. that story YELLS heaps about our unbelievably degraded culture (Anglo) We have allowed communist/politically correct idiots to dictate to us how to manage children, and how they have RIGHTS (whenever you hear the word 'rights' run a mile because it's usually Watermelon speaking (green outside red inside)

We have become so obsessed with accepting everyone elses culture we have neglected out own to the point of clear weakness.

I don't believe Anglo children are less intelligent than any other, but the 'me me me/now now now' culture we have been submerged in is clearly taking it's toll..and it's a negative one.

Time to think about OUR culture for a change before it slips away out of our reach.

ALGOREisRICH

You are missing the point.

So did the Herald Sun.

Asian immigrants and their children are NOT a random sample of Asians. They are SELECTED. Australia sets the bar quite high for immigrants.

The fact that migrants and their descendants of any ethnicity out-perform native born Australians is an indication that the selection process is working. We should be worried if migrants and migrant families FAILED to outperform native-born Australians.

In the interests of full disclosure I am an immigrant. The bar was set lower when I arrived 14 years ago. I think many posters here will regard my presence in Australia as proof that the bar was set too low back then.

Sorry Steven, you are going a little overboard with the genetic reasoning here mate.

I agree that many first generation ethnic kids are leaving old Ozie kids for dead, but it has every thing to do with application, & little to do with IQ.

These kids still get the same number of lousy teachers our old kids get, but they do something about it. They get coaching, studdy longer hours, & get the results they deserve for the effort they put in.

Our kids are going to have to lift their game, if they dont want to be servant class to a better educated ethnic population in the future.

The modern, feminised assessment methods, using assignments, rather than examinations play into the hands of the diligent, student, rather than the bright but lazy ones, who could & did excel in earlier times, despite their sloth.

Yes, our kids have much to fear, from both ends of the immigrant population in the future.

Sorry, I don’t buy your analysis Steven.
I don’t think any immigration “selection process” had much to do with their outperformance.


Having met a good many of these Asian students, and their parents.I can testify that the parents come from a very diverse range of backgrounds
(many have lowly careers and poor academic backgrounds –one wonders how they got over such a "high" entry bar!)

The one thing they have in common , is being hell bent on getting their kids the best academic education.
They invariable start by targeting opportunity class placement, then selective school placement & then a good university.
To do so they subject their kids to intensive tutoring ,and usually ignore such non-essentials as sport.

While their Anglo counterparts are happy enough to see their kids excel in the local sports comp,
and/or have swallowed the PC line that they shouldn’t push their kids ,should let them choose their own course.

And, “In the interests of full disclosure” I have three kids in (a Sydney) selective school, and have visited many others.

stevenlmeyer, "It shows what good quality immigrants we are getting."

Not necessarily, there have been numerous complaints that some cultural groups have their children coached specifically for entrance exams. Coaching colleges boast of their ability to get high percentages of students into elite schools by concentrating on the test itself.

Also, is it desirable to be forced by parents to over-achieve academically and not have a more rounded education and childhood? During our children's primary and secondary education they had many Asian friends who unfortunately could not attend recreational camps or take part in sport because they had to study.

You also need to have a think about how many of the students are actually Australian by birth although they might identify as coming from a household where English is not identified as the first language.

When I said "good quality" I did not mean in a "genetic" sense.

I meant these were people who were determined that their kids would have a better life than they did. Largely they have done this by emphasising the importance of education.

We should be worried if migrant families were not doing this sort of thing.

A variety of factors Hasbeen. Oz kids lifting their game? Many I work with have lifted their game "on their own", coming from many Australian parents who have not blackmailed, pressured, stressed, or pushed their kids into achieving a 'chosen' profession; as do many parents of other newer cultures living in Australia. Witnessed it in quite a few colleagues during conversations with them, meeting their kids and friends of my kids.

Whether these kids work and/or continue to work in the professions chosen by their parents should be taken into consideration regarding your opinion 'Oz kids lifting their game'.

I would rather a health professional of 'sound mind' treating my family and self as opposed to a health professional with revenge anger and frustration in the back of their mind, as a result of their abusive newly arrived immigrant parents having forced their kids to study and qualify designated degrees and work in 'enforced' professions.

One group of my daughter's friends [including herself] are Apprentices doing well after completing Year 12. Her other friends are attending University, most have chosen careers that directly assist the public, and most are mapping out plans after their completed Apprenticeships to open businesses. I chatted to one friend [22 years] of my daughter's last night who is saving hard to open a business [minus parental support]. Excellent References were obtained from the employer as a result of four years solid work, genuine passion, respect and loyalty. PASSION! It is either naturally present or missing!

The majority of Australian born kids I know, through friends of mine, do qualify and are now well into their early 20's working in their "chosen" professions, thriving and happy.

Australians born here. Another family of Builders, with their kids qualified in their early 20's, other families where their kids are studying medicine, health, teaching, forensics [mentioned the other night in a posting]: Australian born kids.

The majority of "our" Australian kids do not need to "lift their game".

We are U, perhaps it's the boys who I am thinking about, but if our kids want the top uni courses, they will have to do better. So many are not getting near their potential.

My eldset daughter, the least academically talented of my kids applied her self, & got an OP 2, & the chioce of courses.

The youngest opted for the easier subjects, but topped them, & got an OP 5, & went for an easy option at uni too. Slack, but smart.

My son, by far the most talented academically, did not work hard enough, got an OP 7, & missed out on selection for pilot training, because his physics marks were not good enough. He is doing great, & making more money than the other 2 combined, but did miss his first choice.

If our kids want to get into the top courses, many of them will have to work harder at school. It's a competitive world, when you start looking at uni entrance.

They do need better advice at school, too. I recently met a girl who wanted to be a physiotherapists. The school guidance people had got her a couple of weeks work experience in that department, at the local hospital. Great. What was not great was they had not told her she needed an OP 2 minimum to get into physio at uni. Even worse, they had not told her that with the subject mix she had taken in year 12 she had no chance of getting that OP