Dear Bazz,

What makes you think that it was only people
on the "Left" who were booing? From what was
shown on the news - there were people from all
political persuasions who were part of the
crowd outside the Sydney Town Hall. You have
to realise that at present people are unhappy.
From all walks of life and all political peruasions.
And that is something that all political parties
have to deal with at the next election.
BTW: - let us not forget that some 100,000 Australians
turned out in the Melbourne CBD (of all political
persuasions) to pay tribute to Sir Robert Menzies
after he died at age 83. This provides an indication
of the respect with which he was held by so many.

Dear O Sung Wu,

I totally agree with you - Bob Hawke is a class act.
But he's not alone. There were many there at the
Memorial Service from all walks of life and politics,
who paid their respects - including the PM.

Oh come on Foxy, do you really believe the gathering was anywhere within
cooee of a 50% crowd ?

Re the immigrants, I am sure many would be fine, but to sort out the chaff is
just too much to expect us to do.
Incidentally, I was at a talk this morning on microbiology, and the speaker
stated that many of the untreatable bacteria have come from the middle east with
the surge of people from the troubles. The hospitals are looking at isolation wards but
are afraid of the PC backlash.

There are more problems than just a few hundred terrorists.

Foxy,
What utter garbage you write. The illegal entrants deserve alienation because they are shonks who gate crash our country. They deserve no respect. The best method of dealing with them is what the current government is doing, taking the incentive away from attempting to come. Isn't it great that the boats have stopped coming?

I think it is greatly exaggerated that muslims are being abused in the streets. Muslims playing the victim! I think it a rare occurance and what do they expect anyway, as they slaughter their own and others. One side seems no better than the other. So much for the 'religion of peace'.

The sooner we stop muslim immigration the better life will be for future Aussies.

Foxy, I wasn't talking about the illegals, Australia's population has expanded by two million in ten years, we're already seeing apartment developments where the residents are all Chinese and proposals for exclusive, purpose built Asian enclaves such as Paranville in Hobart.
The massive and rapid demographic change in our cities is one among many shocks which have rattled the traditional Australian population.
I mean, it's literally shocking to walk down the main street of your suburb some days or to get on a train and not see a single White face.
This is from Paris but you get the drift, replace the Africans with Chinese and that's what you see at my local station at 7PM:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-HItjgOdmo
We're mean and small because multiracialism is killing altruism, breaking down trust between neighbours and trust in the state/authorities, the more mixed a society becomes the less people go out, they don't invest, give to charity or volunteer as much, it's been observed in all Western countries.
http://american3rdposition.com/?p=11819

Foxy, there are no doubt some worthy candidates for permanent residency within our detention centres but what percentage? The experience of one well educated (and therefore open to assimilation and highly unlikely prone to Muslim extremism) is not justification to open the flood gates or fast-track the process for queue jumpers.

Although Dr Muderis claims he was only referred to as a number I find that very hard to believe. I simply don't believe our Australian detention staff are that cold hearted. And Dr Muderis' claims there were several doctors and highly skilled detainees, that is simply hearsay and not solid evidence. Does he say anything about the outcome for these 13 doctors, did he feel the desire to stay in touch and support their applications?

I don't like the long detention process or children being locked up any more than you do but the suggestion these people are open to the idea of being "educated and rehabilitated, attending classes about Australian history, culture and lifestyle and how to assimilate into their new country's society" defies the reality that most are uneducated, unskilled and unwilling to assimilate. Regretfully it takes two to build a win-win outcome and a lot of these people are not willing to give up their old way of thinking.

I don't see how talking 'Team Australia' and encouraging vigilance is specifically anti-Muslim or why the Muslims take it that way. I don't see that as a valid example of 'the contradictions.' The sad fact is, the terrorist potential is within the Muslim community. The Muslims need to disassociate themselves from the extremists, openly and frequently.

There is no excuse for yabbos abusing anyone and again sadly because of the difference in appearance not only Muslims, but anyone with ethnicity are likely targets for ignorant racist and shameful behaviour, but that is not something created by this Government... yabbos (and racism) are unfortunately deeply engrained in Australian society and have been as far back as it goes.

I am sticking by my opinions and am extremely
disappointed to read some of the commentary
in this discussion. Dr Muderis writes about
what he experienced. He does not sensationalise
anything. And he was simply a number at curtin.

I gave Dr Muderis as only one example of an asylum
seeker. There are many others - and they do outnumber
the ones who hear about in the media and from our
current politicians. Every human being deserves something
better than having their lives dismissed in a flood of
simplistic rhetoric, posturing and crass political
point-scoring.

This is a problem that will not go away. These are people
who end up on the fringes of Australian society. As stated
earlier the fundamentalists feed of their isolation to
create even greater divisions in our community.
It's sad for us all. I prefer to think that decision-
makers of all political persuasions and the people who do
their bidding could come up with smarter solutions than
what we currently have.

I get it. You guys don't agree. No surprises there.

As for what the percentage of "booers" where well
Dear Bazz, I can't prove it was 50 percent of the
crowd. And you can't prove that it wasn't. So what's
your point?