"""
one has to wonder, at what point do we become no longer Australia
"""

What exactly is Australia in your eyes, rehctub?

Well said, Yuyutsu. They need reminding this is a free country after all. As long as you eat meat pies and follow the footy and cricket that is!

"""
I am a citizen of Australia and like every other citizen I have a right to try to change the laws to suit myself. As long as it is done in a democratic way there is absolutely nothing wrong in trying to change the laws to suit myself.
"""

Hit the nail the squarely on the head, david f. Problem is; those that consider them selves the true Aussies hate having to accept others that think and live differently than them. I've put up with it for 50 years and I was born here to immigrant parents, so it's just as much my country as any Aussies, but they don't see it that way!

I've traveled and lived in more parts of this country than most Aussies, I helped build its infrastructure, as did my father. I even lived and schooled with the native inhabitants for over three years. Yet I still don't feel I'm accepted as an Aussie in the eyes of those like, rehctub. The funny thing is, it's only my real name that gives it away, otherwise they'd never know, LOL. Fools the lot of them!

JOM pure twaddle, not true as well.
Banjo, ease up bloke! yes Muslims are a problem, our author may very well not know the difference.
And be a sured the Liberal Party, even the red necks, did I say that? Nationals are most unlikely to be offended by this group and the courts ruling.
Let us not be unwise enough to link this issue with the Muslim one.
And let us not link past generations of Migrants, who helped us build this country with this multi cultures thing.
Are we a nation of bigots? or is it just uninformed few?
I hope the latter.
That head gear is not a maybe, its is demanded by the faith they live and breath .
Are we saying in this country only some faiths should be practiced.
Are we that bigoted?
Now picture the helmet on top of that woven head dress.
As big as a very big water melon!
The head gear will be of more use than a helmet if truth be known.
If the thread and a couple of contributors wants to slander non-Aussies you can take to 25 percent of us, born all over the world.
Be careful! very careful! research will show we all, mostly are from migrant stock.

One problem is Australia is too much like my home country, the US. They have the same thumpy, ugly rock music and 'country' music with whiny voices. Baby talk such as footy, brekky and the like comes from adult mouths. The Age of the Dinosaurs is still on as this thread illustrates. The school system is segregated by class with fancy private schools funded in part by taxpayer money leaving the public schools neglected - this while there's talk of a fair go. Politicians spend much time arguing about a few boat people while the US has millions of illegal aliens and still operates. The above is in the great Australian tradition of the whinge.

However, meat pies are great as is my lovely Aussie wife. Howard got the gun control that they should have in the US. The Queensland beaches are beautiful, and the people are generally friendly - at least to me who doesn't look Aboriginal or Middle Eastern. There is also Graham Young & olo. In Australia there is an almost rigid party discipline so corporate interests contribute to the party. In the US legislators are freer to vote independently so corporate interests contribute to individual politicians. Retail is more expensive than wholesale so here we are.

I remember a few years ago visiting Canberra
and going to a session of "Question Time" in
Parliament. Part of my attire was a very elegant
hat (or so I thought) that I wore with pride.
Anyway, I was told to remove the hat by the
security guard. He told it was not allowed -
"unless what I was wearing was for 'religious
reasons'." I said - "ok it is."
The guard smiled and told me again - "Take it off."
And I was forced to comply.

The hat by the way was small, did not hide my face,
or obstruct anyone's view. So there you are.
"Religious Reasons," are acceptable even in our
houses of parliament.

david f,
I do not think you have any chance of stopping government funds going to private schools, but you are welcome to try. I recall, in the 60s, a huge and protracted debate about this issue. It culminated in the private school kids all being sent to government schools in the town of Goulburn, NSW, which demonstrated that the existance of private schools saved the government heaps and that alone warranted government subsidy. Suggest you google 'Catholic schools strike' or similar. I doubt the polies will want to visit the issue again.

Jay of Melbourne,
I do not care if you are a white supremist or not, but you have not addressed what you mean by saying we are a MC country. I say we are a multi-racial country that tolerates some aspects of some other cultures. Certainly we are open enough to allow people from many countries to integrate easily. But there are many cultural practices we do not allow, either by law or social standards.

The only thing I have ever had to do with private schools, is to help a state school football team to thrash their football team.

However I can not see how anyone can promote the use of tax payer funds to educate some kids & not other kids. Surely every kid should be entitled to the same government spend on their education.

This is even more the case when one considers that those sending their kids to private schools are funding much of the education of those who are not.

Those against equal funding of all kids education are to me immoral class warfare fools, or the teachers union spruikers. Neither have a legitimate leg to stand on.