SR,

You seem to be a little muddle headed, as I never referred to the letter at all, and I find that specific unusual cases are irrelevant in defining a general problem.

As for the stats, I still look forward to your contribution as you ignore your own advice to put up or shut up. I find it interesting that of all the links, you focus on the one concerning refugees from prior to the Krudd/Juliar disaster. That most of those in the country greater than 5 years had been in the country as much as 10yrs, and for 83% to still be receiving welfare is a serious financial drain.

As for the recent flood of economic migrants, the unemployment rate is closer to 90% and the stats I have provided have not been disputed. If you want ABS stats, you can do the hard yards, or at least provide anything that makes your case.

Paul,

Who does all this word-changing? The changes don't seem to have reached any dictionaries. 'Racism' can never be applied to discrimination against a religion. Call it discrimination by all means, but it ain't racism.

Dear Shadow Minister,

Tut, tut.

“Finally, having trawled through the ABS stats about a year ago what I saw pretty much agrees with what CB stated.”

It wasn't Cory that was stating the supposed facts of the case but rather the author of the email sent to Cory. So I'm confused, are you agreeing with the author then?

I linked to ABS data in my response so the url is there for you to use. Let's see anything you might have from your extensive trawling.

Looking at the earlier policies of the
governments of this country is
not any sort of political activism or zealotry.
It's simply trying to understand where we are.

Until the 1970s, assimilation and the preservation
of "White Australia" continued as the Australian
Government's official policies. Migrants of every
ethnic origin were expected to assimilate promptly into
a monocultural mold of Australian identity, based on
the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic culture.

The ideal migrant was the one who assimilated easily, one
who became more similar to the host population as a result
of social interaction and through the shedding of
attributes of their culture.

However as with everything things began to change.

The contributing factors included generally changing social
attitudes, war service, travel, foreign students in
Australia. The revised immigration policies allowed new
people to come and settle in Australia. People from a wide
range of nationalities, races, religions and cultures. By the
end of the 1970s Australia had acquired an unmistakably
mew heterogeneous face.

The official Government policies reflected these social
developments. They moved from "assimilation" to "integration,"
and then, to "multiculturalism."

The Galbally Report (1978) was the turning point, when it
urged the Australian Government 'to encourage the retention
of the cultural heritage of different ethnic groups and
promote intercultural understanding'. Since then, the
Australian Government has re-defined "multiculturalism"
several times. One simplified definition states:
"Multiculturalism involves living together with an
awareness of cultural diversity."

At present Australia is one of the most ethnically diverse
societies in the world. However, the concept of
multiculturalism continues to have different meanings for
different people. Hidden anti-migrant prejudices many not
be voiced in public until they are highlighted by some
well publicized event, such as Pauline Hanson's 1996
maiden speech in Parliament. Some Australians still
believe that "a unique Australian society and identity
emerged with Federation and this identity should be the
basis of immigrant assimilation'

cont'd ...

cont'd ...

When discussing migrants, however, especially
non-British migrants, people are sometimes tempted
to lump all newcomers together and treat them as
one homogeneous species.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Australian
immigrants vary a great deal in their ethnic
backgrounds, religions, and educational levels. Their
current social and educational needs are not homogeneous,
either. People have settled in Australia for various
reasons, economic, change of lifestyle, adventure,
refugees, family reunions.

The early months after arrival in a new country call for the
greatest adjustment, not only for the migrant, but also for
the local people who inter-act with the migrant. Since
Culotta's humorous exposure of this problem, the literature
on this topic has been growing rapidly and undoubtedly
will continue to do so.

The most confusing quote of the week comes from Muddled Up Malcolm Roberts a One Nation pommy nutter.

“And in Australia with our set of values people are seeing this (the burqa) as an affront to women, homosexuals, an affront to Australian values.The Islamic people throw homosexuals off the roofs of buildings,” I presume only if they are dressed in burqa's.

I have come to the conclusion that the Lovely Pauline should wear a burqa permanently, a defiant improvement.