Foxy,

We should be insisting, not 'asking'. Unfortunately, this is difficult with so many Australians knocking their own country. We cannot expect newcomers to do something we don't ourselves.

@ ttbn - my apologies, the comment should have been attributed to runner.

ttbn,

I did say that these values were not optional and
that we expected everyone who lives in this country
to subscribe to them.

Otherwise they will face the full force of the law.

Foxy,
It is wrong to say we are a multicultural country, we are not. We are multiracial but we only allow those aspects of other cultures that coincide with ours. Age of sexual consent, marriage, equality of sexes and FGM are prime examples and there are many others.

For many years now all visa applicants are given information, in about 30 different languages, about our laws and social norms so there is no excuse for not knowing. All incomers are informed before coming here.

Where we fall down is that we do not enforce the laws to the extent that wrong doers are automatically deported when they do wrong. As
reported yesterday Peter Dutton stated that courts were soft on non citizens so as not to subject them to deportation.

The sentencing of those convicted of FGM offenses is proof of soft sentencing. One received suspended jail and others got 'home detention'. That is less than a parking fine, for destruction of little girls genitals.

Our courts need a new broom through them so they are more reflective of community expectations. Refugees and immigrants should be subject to sentences the same as all citizens. If the sentence then leads to deportation, so be it.

Dear Banjo,

This may surprise you but I totally agree with you.
FGM is supposed to be illegal in this country- and
as I stated earlier we do need to enforce our laws
more strongly.

Baygon

"Nationally about 25% of the population is born overseas - if there was criminality among migrants you would expect incarceration rates of at least 25% - in fact it is about 10%."

Actually according the the ABS in 2015 (last figures available) 19% of the prison population was born overseas.
So you were out by 90% which in regards to some on this site, makes you a paragon of accuracy.

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The issue gets muddied when just talking about those born overseas. Lumping those born in rural England and those born in rural Sudan in the same statistic and then drawing conclusions is hardly useful. For example:

"[In Victoria]Young people born in these countries [ Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia] are 60 times more likely to commit crimes than the average for the youth population."

Equally, ignoring those born here to recently arrived immigrants hides important data.

The problem isn't necessarily immigration per se but where the immigrants are drawn from. There's a world of difference between Foxy's European parents and the parents of Farhad Mohammad who killed Curtis Cheng. Different culture, different world view, different propensity to adopt Australian values.

Its claimed we are the most successful multicultural nation on earth and that might be true. Our politicians tell us all the time and they wouldn't lie to us, would they?

But a nation that has to erect traffic bollards (I call them monuments to multiculturalism ) to protect one racial group from another, is hardly successful.