With the rash of European countries rushing to ban burqas the comments in July from the conservative government in England were refreshing and reassuring.

The immigration minister Damian Green called such a move as ''rather un-British'' and running contrary to conventions of a ''tolerant and mutually respectful society''.

My fondness for our flag, already waning with my republican sentiments, had been quite battered after the images from Cronulla of it draped around the shoulders of booze soaked idiots.

Damian Green's comments caused me to look with a new appreciation and some reflection to the top left corner of our 'colours'.

I wondered at the time why it wasn't 'rather un-Australian' to contemplate a European style ban here and that perhaps the links to the 'old country', as tenuous as they have become, might be worth holding on to a little longer.

The recent comments by the National's leader Warren Truss that "Generally speaking, as a matter of principle, I believe people should be able to wear what they choose, so long as that does not in any way disadvantage the rights and privileges of other Australians," have given me cause to think we are heading in the right direction.

I do agree with Tony Abbott the many Australians would “find the burqa a particularly confronting form of attire”, and I too “very much wish that fewer Australians would choose it". But banning it speaks of a European sensibility that in my opinion is a echo of what led to one of the great human tragedies of modern times.

The statements by both Mr Green and Mr Truss may be old news by next Australia Day but I hope they are remembered by some and that like me, when our flag is run up the pole, will cause us to stand a little straighter with a renewed appreciation of its history and a pride in our values as a nation.

I dont like it.
It is a religious uniform of oppression and submission.

The logic behind it, that men cannot resist the "uncovered meat", as it was so crassly put by one of their leaders, is so offensive to men and so obviously ridiculous that any reasonable person could do nothing but dismiss it.
It is an authoritarian symbol of control and possession and like all other marital and religious artifacts of domination it should be removed from our society.

Having said that, it is not up to me or the government to stop the wearing of the Burqa. It is up the the individual and their beliefs and they are the ones who must make the change.
To force our views onto anyone is the same as what we would accuse islamists (and other godbotherers) of doing to us.

It will be interesting to compare the results of the ban in Europe as opposed to the refusal to ban it in the UK (although, strangely the UK has easily the lion's share of Islamist extremists on its shores, so it might be hard to gauge).

The one definite advantage of banning the burqa is that it makes the country that implemented it seem far less an appealing place to move to for fundamentalists abroad- which in itself is a gigantic benefit to the secular residents already there.

As for the UK- strangely enough, observed by most mainland Europeans who visit both the UK and Australia will tell us that we are culturally more like mainland Europe than like the British.

There is always strong social pressure on
people to conform in our society. We expect
people to wear a matching pair of shoes,
to keep their lawns mowed, to refrain
from picking their noses in public, to
show up on time for appointments and so on.
Those who don't conform to those and similar
conventions are considered peculiar and
eccentric. But they're not considered immoral
or depraved, nor do we ban their behaviour or
treat them as criminals.

A man who walks down the street wearing nothing
on the upper half of his body is violating a
convention; a man who walks down the street wearing
nothing on the lower half of his body is violating
one of our most important mores, the requirement
that people cover their genitals, and buttocks in
public.

Theft, drug abuse, murder, rape, desecration of the
national flag, and contemptuous use of religious
symbols all bring strong social reactions. People
believe that their mores are crucial for the maintenance
of a decent and orderly society.

Times change and what was frowned upon previously becomes
acceptable in our society today. Long hair for men and
youths was once acceptable and then - considered offensive.
By the early 1970s however, long hair on males had
become quite normal. In today's society people are allowed a
much wider personal choice in their hair, and choice
of clothing.

The choice of wearing a burqa should be left up to the
individual to make. It may be confronting to some people,
simply because it is not the norm in this country.
However, we have accepted other religious dress -
Buddhists, Hassidic Jews, Sisters of Mercy, Greek Orthodox,
Russian Orthodox garbs, all of whom are "different."
With time, the burqa will also become acceptable if we learn
to look beyond the burqa to the person wearing it.

Some may look at the statue of Michelangelo's "David" and
only see nudity. While others manage to look beyond the
nudity and see the work of art that the statue really is.

So now we have a Britain where an Anglo Saxon's application for a job at a council is refused, because they "have not filled their quota for Islamics, & africans yet"

You only to look at how long they left the last government in power, with it's tendency to convert the place to a police state to see a country that has slit it's wrists, after cutting it's throat, just to make sure.

Did you hear the one about the nurse who was fined 250 GB pounds, for putting her garbage bin out an hour early? No it's not a joke, it really happens, & the fact that she had to start a double shift before the permitted time is no excuse in that home of democracy.

Don't start quoting the UK if you are talking about justice today, or ever again, most probably.

Dear mikk,

Agreed, thank you.

Dear King Hazza,

You wrote; “As for the UK- strangely enough, observed by most mainland Europeans who visit both the UK and Australia will tell us that we are culturally more like mainland Europe than like the British.”

Not my experience but would be happy to look at any material you have.

Although I'm going to have to concede the Brits at least had an inquiry into their involvement in the Iraq war but there seems little chance of us doing the same nor I venture any European country.

Dear Foxy,

Again agreed. I was wondering if you had an opinion about something being 'un-British'. Perhaps it is my upbringing but I was surprised how much the notion resonated with me. It still would seem to have some currency.

Dear Hasbeen,

Did you hear the one about the State government who has agreed to hand over police files including the contents of officer's diaries to a multinational corporation building a de-sal plant? Who would you suggest I use to quote about justice?