Foxy,

“Your premise that only the Celtic/Anglo-Saxons contributed to this country is false and very sad.”

Wrong. Your are overlooking the fact that Anglo-Saxons – British in particular – settled the country in the first place, long before Lithuanians or anyone else came here. I have nothing against Lithuanians, by the way, whose culture is not alien to ours - white Caucasian etc; same values. Don't try to put yourself in the same group as Africans and non-Western cultures. And don't asperse that I am anti people who's language is not English.

Most of all, don't play the 'victim' by by choosing to be 'offended'. Offence is self-inflicted.

“Outside Australia's indigenous people, we are all immigrants or descendants of immigrants”. No. Seventy five percent of us were born in Australia. I am not an immigrant, neither are you. Playing silly buggers with language does not change facts.

“Vietnamese and Chinese” immigrants have indeed settled in and assimilated. However, their “contributions” have been no more important than those of the native-born, and they have benefited out of all proportion to their 'contributions', which entail only working and paying taxes – nothing world shattering or unusual.

I don't suppose you wish to talk about the 'growing number' of immigrants who are not fitting in very well at all, and causing are problems!

Finally, I am not surprised that you cannot define 'fair go', but chose to suggest that anyone else who cannot is lacking intelligence.

Ttbn,

The funny thing about the notion of ' a fair go' in relation to democratic elections, is that it suggests that anybody, any citizen, can put their hand up and run for election, with the person, regardless of where they might have been born - or in the case of the Senate, their party ticket - who gains the most votes after preferences, wins the seat.

If Tony Abbott or Lucy Guchuhi or Susan Lea or Penny Wong want to contest the next election, let them go for it. No citizen should be barred from standing for election on racial or birth-place or ethnic grounds. And everybody who migrates to Australia should have a chance to become a citizen. That's what is meant by 'fair go' but you seem be temporarily unaware of that.

Joe

Dear ttbn,

The British may have settled the country but it was
thanks to the contribution of immigrants and refugees
that put an end to the fact that Australia was considered
a cultural "backwater" internationally.
For the best of the arts, sciences,
and just about everything else one had to go overseas.
It was the immigrants and refugees
that put an end to this state of
affairs - until no longer did most of the world think of
Australia as a place where 'kangaroos hopped around the
streets' and where the 'down under' label was a label
for backwardness. Australian culture won world recognition
thanks to immigration.

In the design arts Harry Seidler helped define modern
architecture in Australia. The Australian contemporary craft
movement in ceramics, textiles, and woodwork reflected the
work of Japanese, Chinese potters, Hungarian weavers, Danish
wood workers who migrated to Australia.

Modern Australian fashion has been defined by Chinese silks,
Italian suiting and tailoring, and Japanese design. We have
our Indonesian sarongs, Indian saris, Middle-Eastern kaftans,
I forgot to mention - Japanese thongs.

Australia's international standing in medicine and the sciences
reflects the outstanding contributions of its migrants and
refugees.

Our Olympic Australian successes, the fame of our artists, our
actors, singers, models, our music, our sportsmen and
women, all come from different backgrounds.

Edourd Boronovsky established the country's first ballet school
The Boronovsky Ballet Company which provided the foundation
for modern ballet in Australia and subsequently used as a basis
for the first National Australian Ballet Company - The
Australian Ballet established in 1962.

I could go on and on.

As for a "fair go?" It's meaning is obvious - a person
can expect to be taken just as they are - meaning everybody
is treated with equal respect. It means to give somebody a
reasonable chance at something - to treat them fairly.
Why do you find that so difficult to understand. I can't make
it any clearer for you.

ttbn you most likely have a distorted view of the reality of what was the origins of Australia as a country, and what it is today. True, in 1901 the small non Aboriginal population of around 4 million. of which about 680k (18%) were born in the "Mother Country", and of the colonial bred the majority identified with a high degree of Britishness, evident by Australia's fervent support for Britain in WWI, and later WWII. That is not to say that the 120K of other foreign place of birth Australians, at the time, did not make a significant contribution both culturally and economically to Australia. A large proportion of those who sat in the First National Parliament were born overseas. Interesting that four of the six men who served as Prime Minister from federation to WWI were born overseas, regardless, all made an equally significant contribution to Australia's early development as a nation.
Following WWII and the influx of a new breed of migrant from non British, and later non European backgrounds, there has been a shift away from the identification with Britain, and a stronger identification with other cultures. Today very few Australian would identify with any kind of Britishness and relate to a more multicultural society.

I would say it was the ideology/attitude of people that come here that made this country great rather than where they come from. Unlike many today they were and are extremely grateful for the opportunities. Many fled communism (a sister of secularism) or other dictatorships. They certainly were prepared to leave the putried aspects of where they came from unlike a percentage of some fleeing Islam today. Many today who have even been given great opportunity and have been successful now poop on the people who gave them the opportunity.

Dear runner,

Being forced to leave one's homeland due to the fear
of persecution or death is extremely difficult and
something that hopefully none of us will ever experience.

However, using arguments that many of "them"
who have been given great opportunities (really?),
and have been successful, now, as you
claim - "poop" on the people who gave them the opportunity
is divisive.

Please supply us with evidence as to who you are talking about
and how exactly did they succeed because of the opportunities
they were given and how exactly are they "pooping" today on
the people who gave them those opportunities.