Whew! Fruity loops here we come.
SteeleRedux,
Yep, you're the first, many more to follow !

Individual,

Come on. You can do better than that.
At the moment, the only flair is
in your nostrils. ;-)

Foxy, just before you go, I have to clear up one of your last beefs.
The phrase I referred to, to make the comment of 'letting them all in' is on page 14.
Knowing your sentiment on the matter, I added your sentiment to it.
You referred to the govt's failure to abide by a convention that makes it illegal 'not' to allow refugees and asylum seekers in.
You stated that they were breaking the law.
So extrapolating on, logically, I reasoned that if you had a choice and forced the govt's hand, the govt would be complying with the convention and those people would now be on Australian soil.
Have I got the jist of it?
Anyway, I felt I should respond to your challenge, again in the interest of truth and clarity.
OK, now you can carry on and never darken my doorstep again, if that is your wish.
In fairness, I will still be scrutinising your comments, so even though I will not direct any response directly at you, I do intend to make it an open submission so as to not focus on anything you may construe as a personal attack.
I hope that is a reasonable compromise to allay any emotional concerns or fears you are (possibly) yet to incur.

As an ex-copper, I can tell you all authoritatively, those from the Middle East and other Islamic countries in the African Continent should be screened very very carefully before permitting entry.

The screening process must be done by experienced police, NOT those from Immigration. Any refugee claiming severe life-threatening illnesses should first be examined by a qualified Forensic Medical Officer to determine their bona fides. Many from this demographic do arrive with substantial (criminal or selfish) 'baggage' with no desire or intention to settle and assimilate in this Country.

These measures are, at the very least, for protection of all Australians and our enormous (permeable) Borders.

To assert many arrive to take advantage of our generous Social Welfare Benefits, is the least of our worries!

The arrival of their S.S. fortnightly benefits is small change to most of these people. Some of you might ask, how in hell would you know? I was D/Sgt. I/C of one of the task force groups looking into the supply of Lebanese orchestrated, illicit weapons; illicit drugs; forged documents; including Passports, Birth Certificates and in some cases, fraudulent academic documentation.

These raids were conducted in the environs of Lakemba, Punchbowl, and Bankstown, in the SW suburbs of Sydney.

In conclusion, many of my critics say, they have good friends among the Lebanese & Islamic Communities. It's not the community; it's some in it, that's the problem. That's why I believe careful screening is a must. To reduce, wherever possible, deceptive or illusive conduct., to gain entry to our shores, exploit our generous S.S. benefits, and re-commence their criminality.

critics say, they have good friends among the Lebanese & Islamic Communities
o sung wu,
I think the above line is actually summing up the situation in some way because of the term Community used.
Individual Lebanese Muslims are fine, it's when the they form a community that the contradictions surface. Were these people more interested in creating a better life for themselves here rather than establishing enclaves to harbour & foster their baggage, all would be good , alas !
Why can't so many Australians see what's going on ?

Why can't so many Australians see what's going on
is an excellent question - raised by Individual.

Lets take a look.

We're dealing with Refugee Week and we need only
take a look at the negative comments in this
discussion.

Some of the attitudes on display here are typical
unfortunately of those seen in our wider communities.

Imagine if you were a Muslim. How would you feel about
the increasing focus on Muslim Australians by
Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party? Wouldn't
the negativity
produced only deepen the divisions between us?
Especially when
logically the Muslim community is so diverse and
in the public debate there's no recognition of that
diversity?

Isn't what we're doing alienating significant sections
of the Muslim community rather than actually
working with them?

Before blaming them for not integrating with us
we need to look at the reasons why this is so. Perhaps
we need to also take some of the blame?

Then we have African migrants who speak about being
subjected to verbal abuse and some also complain
about physical attacks. We can add South Koreans,
Chinese, Indians to the list - all experiencing the
same thing. And let us not forget the experiences of
European migrants after the WWII who also
experienced exactly the same kind of reactions.
All it took was a foreign name, an accent, a skni
colour, or religion to be discriminated against.
How can we then blame them for not
wanting to be part of our communities? Of course
they will form their own communities in order to
survive.

These deepening divisions are growing and threaten our
acceptance of new people. It produces "polarisation"
increases high levels of discrimination. If we don't
make changes - it will make it harder for any migrant
to settle and for us to accept them.

Changes need to be made on both sides. Just blaming one
side of the equation is not good enough and does not
help solve the problems we are facing.