Tony lavis,
you're either high at the moment, or you're a moron at the best of times. what on earth havs my statement got to do with racism. Actually quite an odd accusation to someone as opposed to racism as myself. On the other hand it's been quite a while since some idiot has brought up that stupid term on OLO.

>><<I won't be responding to your racist crap...>>

Then later (in the same post) he adds:

<<If they're taken in as refugees they become full Australian citizens... no more right to handouts than ...BOGAN COMMUNITIES do...>>

Typical!<<

Sorry for offending you, SPQR. I wasn't aware that bogans were considered a distinct race these days. Let's see.. bo-gan. Sounds sort of celtic to me. Are bogans regarded as being some distinct offshoot of Irish or Scottish settlers where you're from? That would be my best guess but I could be miles off.. educate me.

Where I'm from they're just d!ckheads who drink too much, smoke too much, think too little, sponge off the taxpayer and hoon around in unroadworthy sh!tboxes.

I didn't know there were any racial overtones to the word bogan. Once again, I apologise to you and any ethnic bogans who may have been offended by my insensitivity.

>>And Tony, I think you'll find --if you care to look-- they get a few extracts on account of being "refugees" --like specially reserved university places.<<

I sincerely doubt they get any uni places 'specially reserved'. Quite possibly there are scholarships specifically directed at refugees but that is not the same as a 'reserved' place at uni. There are lot of uni's in this country and a lot of scholarships. I don't think any Australian govt. scholarships should preference refugees but private scholarships are a different matter. One of my friends at uni attended on a Masonic scholarship - only available to Masons or their blood relatives. Unfair and discriminatory? Yes. But the Masons are a private organisation and it's up to them to decide who they give they scholarships to. Same applies to refugee advocacy groups that hand out scholarships to refugees.

Cheers,

Tony

>>what on earth havs my statement got to do with racism. Actually quite an odd accusation to someone as opposed to racism as myself<<

According to your posts you think that a persons race is a crucial determining factor in how well they will resettle in this country. How is that not racist? Are you simple?

>>An Illegal entrant is one who arrives without a proper valid visa.<<

Oh I get it... we're splitting hairs. Well, if that's what amuses you.

An illegal immigrant is somebody who is in the country without a valid visa (what is a proper valid visa?). You can enter legally with a valid visa but if you stay longer than your visa allows... Hey Presto! You're an illegal immigrant.

So one comes in with a valid visa and the other doesn't. They're still both on our soil illegally. Without our welcome. They flout our laws and make a mockery of border protection. But the ones who come in boats get caught and shipped off to PNG, while the ones who come in planes waltz through customs and disappear a few weeks later. So they make a REAL mockery of our border protection. These are the real 'economic refugees': no other thought than lining their own back pockets. When do you think one these crooks last filed a tax return? How many of these crooks do you think are in legitimate business in the first place?

>>Maybe more could be done to capture more illegal immigrants.<<

I daresay it could. Maybe if we stopped wasting so much attention and money on so inconsequential a problem as illegal boat arrivals and regained a sense of perspective that would be a start.

Cheers,

Tony

Tony,

<< Sorry for offending you...>>
The emotion was more one of amusement. Illegal immigration advocates usually shoot themselves in the foot, and you were true to type.

<< Where I am re just d!ckheads who drink too much...>>
I think we both know it is a term of abuse commonly applied by those on your side to practically anyone who challenges their support for illegal immigration.

<<I sincerely doubt they get any uni places 'specially reserved'>>
I don't if you have given it enough consideration to have a genuine doubt. It wasn't on your cue cards so you so you didn't know about it. There are universities --and major ones at that -- that see being a "refugee" as special grounds for admission.

Tony,
I have responded to you as I considered you to be misinformed. Now you are arguing like a fool.

I have never mentioned a race or where a person comes from.

You said. "Oh I get it... we're splitting hairs. Well, if that's what amuses you". You should Know that all non-citizens require a valid visa to enter Australia, that is our law. That is why, and the only reason, we can detain illegal entrants, no matter how they arrive.

You also said, "An illegal immigrant is somebody who is in the country without a valid visa (what is a proper valid visa?). You can enter legally with a valid visa but if you stay longer than your visa allows... Hey Presto! You're an illegal immigrant". Now you are starting to get the picture and you will find that applies in most countries. If one stays longer than his visa allows he is breaking the law.

You said also. "I daresay it could. Maybe if we stopped wasting so much attention and money on so inconsequential a problem as illegal boat arrivals and regained a sense of perspective that would be a start".

So you consider 50,000 illegals and the billions of dollars spent as inconsequential? Looks like you are not just misinformed but a genuine fool as well. There are thousands of genuine refugees far more deserving than the shonks that turn up here without valid visas.

I love a sunburnt country, A land of ?

Life, used to be so simple then, when ?

I would love to see a political and popular movement of 'Australia for Australians'. Closest try, One Nation? But too narrow, and too xenophobic, perhaps. In the right direction? Maybe.

I hate to think of Oz going the way of Hong Kong, Tokyo or Shanghai, etc. Is that what we want; can that be a popular 'dream'?
Big, bigger, biggest? Is that the only future? Or, can we Choose, can we Dare, to be Different?
No stopping the clock; no turning back; caught in the whirlwind, and only one way to go? With the inevitable, the inexorable, flow?

If I had a choice I would lock the door and throw away the key; take some breathing space; say to myself, 'what the heck, do we really Have to do what everyone else is doing, just Because They're doing it?' Why can't we choose a different model; do our own thing, our own way? (Instead of just accepting that we will get run over by the 'steamroller' if we even 'think' about looking for a different 'tack'? Fear, trepidation, oh, shock, horror?)

We've (Oz) got a lot going for us, but we could lose all that's really important to us, as a nation, as a people, if we just 'go along' with the 'bigger is better' model.
I say 'fie' on that model; 'we' can do better, and without the boulder around our neck, of the 'bigger' - if we can do as others have done before us, and ask ourselves 'what can we do best?' - and then, do it.

What say you?