Dear Mr Opinion,

Outside Australia's indigenous people, we are all
immigrants or descendants of immigrants - some earlier
than others - but all with the experience of immigration
during the foundation of modern Australia.

Australia's immigration experience is also a broad one.
Originally it was Anglo-Celtic but after the war our
immigrants came increasingly from Europe. In more
recent times, they have again become more varied,
and grown considerably in numbers.

And all these immigrant communities have on the whole, made
successful contributions to Australian life.

There is no such thing as 'successful' multiculturalism. There was absolutely no need for it in the first place; we could have just continued with a non-discriminatory immigration policy with 'successful' integration, which occurred in most cases.

Now, people are actively discouraged from integrating. Australia has become a nation of tribes with little common interests or beliefs between the tribes, despite every TV commercial having 'one of everything' interacting in backyards. It just doesn't happen.

Multiculturalism is one of the worst examples of social engineering that has been forced on us without our permission. And let's not lay the blame all at Al Grassby's feet: spiv though he was, he didn't have the power. Malcolm Fraser was in on the racket up to his armpits. He was Prime Minister when multiculturalism was officially forced on us. I remember the announcement on ABC radio as though it was yesterday

DearFoxy,

I'm not arguing about the points you make. What I am saying is that multiculturalism is a whole different kettle of fish in which the dissociation of ethnic communities along lines of race and culture is the accepted norm. My view is that multiculturalism contains the seeds of its own destruction because it promotes segregation and racial and cultural distinctiveness at the expense of national cohesion. I believe that we are seeing the breakdown of the ideals of multiculturalism beginning to take shape in Europe and we could see violence and hatred become the norm in the not too distant future.

Dear Mr Opinion,

I'm more optimistic. I have lived through some
difficult times, as we all have, it's true.
However, that's part and parcel of growing up.
But there have
been so many positive times as well - they out
number the difficult ones. Also I can see that
my children are totally Australian and
undoubtedly their children will also be.

That's what happens to all migrants - they
eventually become very much a part of this
country and as do their children and future
generations. Ask any Greek, Italian, Chinese,
who live in this country how they see themselves
and how they feel when they go back and visit
the home of their parents. Their sense of belonging
nearly always ends up - in being a part of this
country and they feel like foreigners in the country
of their ancestors.

Dear Foxy,

Time will tell. I'm not an optimist but I'm not a pessimist because I really don't care how things turn out. As a sociologist it's all part of the world of people that engages my attention and the social is what I like investigating and working out. It's this sort of stuff that makes have done my humanities degrees all worthwhile.

Dear Mr Opinion,

Remember that you can't really compare the problems
in Europe with the success we've achieved in
Australia. Australia is different from Europe in
its approach to immigration - hence the reason
for our success. We took a different path. We
made immigration as a nation-building project.
We had/have a well-ordered immigration program
We had/have set policies. Very different from Europe.