we could have a like button, if we did steelredux you would have quite a few by now, that post should have highlighted the truth, no we are not going to have civil war,, here however an uncivil one is always a chance

Foxy, are the Turks or Japanese recognisably distinct ethnic groups?
Because their ancestors are a mixture of peoples, who migrated from other lands, displacing existing populations.

We had British origins, not global origins.
There was a tiny smidgin of other Europeans and an even more minuscule smidgen of non-Europeans (who were largely unwelcome: see Lambing Flats).

By the 1940s 90% of the population were native-born White Australians, had no ethnic/national identity *but* Australian, spoke no language *but* English, practiced no religion *but* Christianity.

That real unity is now ignored in place of a chaotic fantasy.
Societies that deny reality in preference to fantasy are doomed.

Hi Foxy,
No need to apologise, you only apologise when you have done something wrong, or have offended. For me you have done neither, so no apology is necessary.

//Mehreen Faruqi is a Muslim and that says it all, she cannot be a Muslim and a fair dinkum Australian as well.//
Issy, at least she's not a gun toting idiot like that pair of numskulls she leaves behind in the NSW Legislative Council. Your two mates from the Shooters and Hooters Party, Tweedle-umb, and Tweedle-Even Dummer!

//Because fair dinkum Aussies like booze and women in bikinis.//
AC, Given that all fair dinkum Aussies, they must be all male heterosexuals, and doomed to extinction.

mhaze; I recall in my childhood, at Sunday Mass, yes I did go to Church then. During the time of the 'State Aid to Catholic Schools debate' the Parish Priest thundering something from the pulpit along the lines "A vote for Labor next Saturday is a Mortal sin" words to that effect were read out in every Catholic Church in Australia.

//In states like NSW, Catholics and the Catholic hierarchy remained faithful to the ALP.// I dispute that, the CC vehemently opposed Labor on both the state aid issue and the Vietnam War.
On point 6 I'll agree, they were anti-communist, but there is no evidence they supported unions.
B. A. Santamaria (14 August 1915 – 25 February 1998), was an Australian Roman Catholic anti-Communist political activist and journalist. He was a guiding influence in the founding of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP). 'Wikipedia'

The DLP still exists today.

Shadow Minister, after keeping a very low profile around here for the last week or so, I wonder why, suddenly sticks his head in to post his usual clap trap.
//needs to acquire a limp and aboriginal status // Nah, that bone has been thrown to the dog of the political right Tony Abbott as a booby prize for failing to get your boy Dud up last week. And you said it was all a storm in a tea cup.

Dear Shocker,

All ancient nations have a mixture of other national
groups through border crossings, trade, war, inter-marriages,
travel, and so on - but not to the extent of Britain
that has had multiple invasions through the centuries.

Now look at the English language. It has been glued together
out of a multiplicity of influences. The following link
below explains:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_English

You can deny the hisory all you want - but ancestry is
historically recorded. There's even documentaries on TV
dealing with ancestry. Which clearly demonstrates the ancestry
of British/Australians - and where they originated and how they
got here.

Posted by Toni Lavis, Wednesday, 29 August 2018 8:56:20 AM-

Comment 1- You do realise they're not mutually exclusive, right? Even if agree that the convicts weren't really immigrants because they were shipped over against their will, all the free settlers from Britain were British migrants. migrant: (noun) a person who moves from one place to another in order to find work or better living conditions.

Answer 1. British and migrants are not mutually exclusive argument- The vast majority of Australians being originally from British stock, governed under British law, etc, etc are British not migrants. To call them migrants is to underestimate the significance of the contribution of the vast majority of British immigrants.
Its like saying that 3 is a number between one and ten in a hundred data points therefore the sample average is five. ie. five equals three. The Australian migrant population could almost be called an outlier in statistical terms. If a Japanese ship takes on two or three Ethiopians does it become a migrant ship? Conflating possibility with probability.

Comment 2- //3. Australia is historically a British colony.// But that is no longer the case; we've been independent since 1986. Historically Alaska belonged to Russia, Northern Ireland belonged to Ireland, and Britannia belonged to Rome. Things change.

Answer 2-
In the case of Russia - US Bought It. No one was living there. It happened more than 100 years ago.
Northern Ireland - A war lasting the better part of a century or more was fought over this.
Britannia - Happened 1500 years ago. The Romans left.
Generally it's seen as preferable to "solve issues"/ "politic" through rule of law and with the support of the people

Canem,
>To call them migrants is to underestimate the significance of the contribution of the vast majority of British immigrants.
ALL immigrants are migrants. The clue's in the name!
Migrants are either immigrants (incoming migrants) or emigrants (outgoing migrants). Some are both.

The word implies absolutely nothing abut the contribution they make. But one of the more significant contributions was the english language, which you seem to have trouble comprehending!