King Hazza:>> It's amazing how much the Liberals have lost the plot; Abbot, Vanstone and Morrison to count a few. I think it is now DEFINITELY time to look for a new party to vote for.<<

KH I am maxed out regarding my disenchanted with the quality on both sides, and the advent of the governing minorities such as the Greens and the joke independents leave me nowhere to go. I lost my footy team to an amalgamation twenty years ago, and I have not found a new home yet, the same has now occurred in politics, no body satisfies, I can't identify any of them anymore, the lodestone just swings wildly.

Dear Kactuz,

Tony Abbott like his mentor John Howard - is"most comfortable with a singular national identity and assimilationist policy." So don't worry
about anything the man may have indicated to the contrary in his attempt to gain political mileage.

As for comparing the Netherlands with Australia - it's a case of apples and oranges. The differences are enormous between the two regions. Firstly the Dutch have themselves to blame for their current situation because of its culture of permissiveness that has been synonymous with "closing one's eye to multiple transgression of the law." They've allowed the 1.2 million Muslims to become more and more assertive without any regard for Dutch law, Dutch values, and they
have not insisted on them becoming better integrated into Dutch society.

Now of course when faced with problems - they have done an about turn and are44 following the path that Australia has been on all along.
That is - they will insist that they learn the Dutch language (as we do with English), they learn Dutch values, and obey Dutch law. They will outlaw forced marriages and so on. In other words they will not allow Muslims to live in a parallel society doing whatever they wanted
as they've done previously. That is something that they should have insisted on right from the start.

In Australia, we've been way ahead of the Netherlands - and thus I really can't see that you can compare the two regions. I don't see that we shall encounter the problems that the Netherlands has - we've
been much wiser and smarter

Lexi,
Firstly, I must say that am concerned that Abbott has 'softened' on multiculturalism. I have never thought much of him, but he earned some points when he stopped Aus from getting an ETS. Now he seems to acknowledge human induced global warming by his own policy on Carbon tax. Now he is softening policy on MC, which was dieing quietly.

If he is chasing votes he is going the wrong way, there are far more votes in outright opposition to Carbon tax and MC.

I disagree with you that we are smarter and wiser than the Dutch. We let other cultures come here and inform them that they can carry on the same and that we will accomodate their culture.

We have bent to their wishes to discontinue nativity scenes at shopping malls at chirstmas and no Santa at pre schools and have special times for muslim women at community swimming pools. Girls in swimmers have been called whores.

All government departments have interpreters and information is available in up to 30 languages, even though English is our official language. We are paying for this. We even allow a prolification of shop signs in foreign languages to the extent that some streets look like downtown Saigon.

Then, of course, we simply turn a blind eye to forced marriages and the practice of FGM on little Aussie born girls. Only recently has it become known of the violent gangs of African origin in Melbourne and Sydney. Violence between differing ethnic groups such as Croats and Serbs and Sri Lankans and Tamils hardy make the news anymore. We have jailed 20 muslim blokes for planning terrorism and tolerate muslim gangs/thugs like was outside court the other day.

There is no doubt that MC divides us into seperate groups or tribes, when we really need to become one community, with an Australian identity, irrespective of heritage.

We need to dispence with the failed ideology of MC and insist on integration because we are heading in the same direction as many European countries, including Holland. We are not smarter and wiser at all.

Dear Banjo,

Newcomers, especially if they have come to Australia in linguistic or ethnically distinct groups have always had a hard time first. But past streams of migration gave Australia its reputation as a country of diverse peoples that is all the better for it.

International research has shown that some measure of assimilation is inevitable for any ethnic community. Furthermore assimilation is a two-way process. As an immigrant absorbs the culture of his host country, he is also giving off and surrendering some of his own imported heritage. As a result, a Greek or Italian (or any other ethnic origin) living in Australia for a long time is likely to gradually create a new identity, although they may not be aware of it. What the former immigrant still believes to be his ethnic identity may well be regarded as totally Australian by the residents of his country of origin.

An attempt to preserve migrant cultures in Australia was initiated two and a half decades ago, on 30 May 1978,
when the Report of the Review of Post-Arrival Programs and Services to Migrants was tabled in the Federal House of Representatives.
Commonly known as the Galbally Report, the document recommended, inter-alia, "that if our society develops multiculturalism through the broad concept of community education, it will gain much which has been lost to other nations."

This recommendation was based on the observation that "already our nation has been enriched by the artistic, intellectual, and other attributes of migrant cultures."

BTW - one simplified definition of multiculturalism states ...
"Multiculturalism involves living together with an awareness of cultural diversity." You obviously feel that everyone should conform to an "Australian Identity." However,
you don't seem to realise that our diversity is what makes us
who we are in today's Australia. You are living back in the irretrievable past with a fantasy of an Australia that no longer exists.

Lexi,
The multicultural experience started a little earlier than you acknowledge. It began under Whitlam and continued under Fraser

However you said; Commonly known as the Galbally Report, the document recommended, inter-alia, "that if our society develops multiculturalism through the broad concept of community education, it will gain much which has been lost to other nations."

This recommendation was based on the observation that "already our nation has been enriched by the artistic, intellectual, and other attributes of migrant cultures."

History since then has shown this has not been the case, both here and in other countries. For MC to work all ethnic groups must be tolerant of others and that has not happened.

While we have been most tolerant and did our bit to accomodate the various groups and gave millions in assistance, this has not been riciprocated as some groups are intolerant of us and of other ethnic groups. Some hold our laws and community standards in contempt, like the Lebs with their anti-social conduct, Some blatently break our laws, like those who practice FGM and the groups that fight each other in public places. I am sure the 60 or so girls that were racially pack raped feel 'enriched' by their experience.

This, and worse, has happened in other countries and some European countries are now belatedly waking up to the failure of MC. UK, Germany and now Holland have stated changing away from MC.

When it is obvious that we are going the wrong way the smart thing to do is stop, change course.

We should take note of history and other countries experiences and change to a policy of integration and not continue the seperatedness of multicultural ideology. We should desire a cohesive community.

Banjo is not as wrong as you would have it Lexi.
Any government more concerned with truth and honesty can confirm if they wish the following, but they can not say it is untrue.
Some Muslims do not want to assimilate.
Some live out most of their lives on our Social security.
They are over represented in our prisons and certain crimes.
Not because police pick on them, because it is their wanted lifestyle.
Apart from a very few Greeks and Macedonians in sporting confrontations, show me another migrant group will cells openly plotting war on the west in our country.
Sweden a host of European country's opened their arms, much wider than we ever did and had their fingers bitten off.
It is not Banjo and me who are wrong, the answers lay in the Muslim community , only they can reverse the defense at all costs mentality and stop us having reasons to fear and be concerned.