Pakistan-born Australian, Sherry Sufi, writes that nation-states have a distinct way of life and that they "typically do all they can to preserve it". Without doing this , the country's physical and cultural survival would be at risk.

A dominant culture and shared values hold a nation together. The dominant culture of Australia is based on our own interpretation of working class British culture: the same as the cultures of Canada, the US and New Zealand. Unfortunately, for some time now, the lack of education in history and a warped black armband view of our past has convinced too many Australians that we don't have a worthwhile culture, and the slightest "expression of pride in one’s British Isles ancestry or the Christian faith makes one racist …".

The political class falls for this false and ridiculous theory, and tries to counteract the myth with mass immigration and multiculturalism. Multiculturalism removes the incentive from migrants to segregate into the dominant culture that made Australia what it is and the country immigrants clearly prefer to the ones they came from. Multiculturalism (as opposed to multi-ethnicity) is driving Australia down a "divisive path".

Pakistan-born Sufi writes that it is,the "... British character that enables Australia today to become better than it was yesterday", and the ongoing improvements won't be helped if we appease a "noisy minority of activists whose goal it is to make Australia less 'British' in its character".

The activist forces that exist are most pronounced in Australia and the Anglosphere in general, not in the likes of China, India and the Islamic world, where there is no interest in "neutralising their own foundations".

As a sovereign state, Australia needs to come out of its current "cultural amnesia". It has the right to preserve its distinct way of life. We should be inclusive, but not at the expense of the majority, who had no part in "the perceived and actual ills that occurred in the past".

Sorry about the meaningless heading, which should read: "Australia's Cultural Identity Deserves to be Preserved".

David Anderson gave a speech at La Trobe University
on 15th March 2021 in which he spoke about Australia's
culture, and our national identity. He spoke of today's
Australia:

"Australia's identity cannot ever be just one thing.
In fact it's a great many things."

" Today, our identity is made up of many cultures,
from the city to the bush, across our towns, suburbs,
and streets. Understanding our differences and
celebrating our shared values helps us achieve social
cohesion."

" And because we are a sovereign nation we have a
statutory obligation to impartiality that Australians
look to us to celebrate what it means to be Australian..."

Many minority groups have experienced exclusion or the
denigration of their contributions and identities in the
past.

Today Australians seek the inclusion of the voices and
contributions of diverse members of society.

Today the country chooses to confront and acknowledge the
past and the present, and strives to do better, together.

This David Anderson doesn't agree with Sherry Sufi - or me, for that matter. So be it.

In fact it's a great many things."
Foxy,
Wouldn't it be marvellous if it could be 'many great things' like it was several decades ago before the Leftist traitors sabotaged this Nation's future ?

individual,

A dominant culture is the one which has the ability
to hold power over our social institutions and
influence the rest of society's beliefs and actions.
And it's the dominant culture that can change in
response to the social landscape.

Foxy,
Your reply doesn't alter the fact that Leftists are ruining society !

And I thought this topic was going to be about Australia Post not delivering ttbn's Xmas bon-bons on time.

Well said Foxy, those who think Australia should dwell in the past are kidding themselves. Multiculturalism is here to stay, and there is no going back to some mythical land of "Britishness", as some would have us do. The average Australian does not beat himself up constantly over national identity, too busy with the real issues of life.

As the passions of one culture conflict with another passionate culture we will end up like the Divided States of America. Now it is aboriginal culture, in the future it will be Islam then Chinese Coommunism. The past dominant culture was Western Colonialism that is now looked upon as evil.

Australia was settled by Britain, not by France, Holland or any other power. Of course the "average" Australian is not interested in such things. They just enjoy the way of life they have without knowing how it came about. Unfortunately, the average Australian doesn't know, or care, about very much at all these days.

Nobody so far seems to have twigged that a person definitely not from a British background values Australia’s British heritage more than the 'average' white Australian who does have such a background. Non-British immigrants have been coming here in their thousands since WW2, knowing what sort of country Australia was - well before multiculturalism, and before the insidious knocking of our culture by the Left fifth column.

I won't go into all the morbid details of how
primitive and backward this country was at the
time that my parents were invited to come. That's
well recorded as well as the many contributions that
were made by the "newbies."

In Australia things have changed from the government
policies that existed in the past. Today we view that
cultures, races and ethnicities, particularly those
of minority groups deserve special acknowledgement
of their differences within a dominant political
culture.

In the past many minority groups have experienced
exclusion or the denigration of their contributions
and identities.

Today we seek the inclusion of the views and
contributions of diverse members of society while
maintaining respect for their differences and
withholding the demand for their assimilation into
the dominant culture.

We have the new year just around the corner. With
come new hopes and opportunities. Perhaps this will
be the year that we finally acknowledge the world's
oldest living continuous culture who has cared for
this land for decades. Perhaps we will be able to
acknowledge our shared history of what happened over
time and we shall decide how we choose to confront
and acknowledge the past and the present, and that we
shall indeed strive to do better together.

We need to close many gaps and close them fast as David
Anderson points out so well in his speech.
One can only hope.

Did anyone watch the documentary -
"The Royal House of Windsor:
Season 1. Episode 1, Adapt or Die"
on SBS last night?

It was well worth watching and revealed
"fresh insight into how George V rescued
the monarchy by dumping his family's German
roots and explains the Edward VIII abdication
crisis."

It shows what strong survivors the royals are.
Unfortunately it all comes at a price as
their Russian cousins - Tsar Nicholas and
his family tragically learned the hard way.

The hard yakka was already done when large scale immigration began after WW2. I am old enough to have experienced the first arrivals of people, needed at the time, to keep things going, not to change the culture of the country. Most were good people, happy to escape from the ruins of their own countries. It is the first generation offspring of non-British immigrants who decided to carry a chip around on their shoulders, not unlike the offspring of the first Muslim immigrants to the West, too stupid to know what their parents left behind.

Australia seems to be getting a better deal these days from Asians who have had experience of British culture in the sub-Continent and other British ex-colonies.

The story of my parents and many other "displaced
people" who came to this country after WWII was
not the benign kind of migration story in which
people looked to better their situation by moving
to a foreign land. It was a desperate kind, in which
refugees whose lives had been overturned by war take
a leap into the unknown because some distant country
offers them a visa. They dreamed that a war of
liberation would overthrow the Soviet Regime from
which they had fled and thought that they would
be returning home shortly.

Of course that did not happen and they learned to adjust.
Their children did not have "chips on their shoulders,"
and actually settled in rather well. Libraries are
full of the cold war history of migration to Australia
if one is inclined to read and learn about the contributions
these people made and are still making to this country.

The "contributions" made by immigrants are no more worthy of comment than are the efforts of Australians who have been here for generations.

They are all plainly pathetic when compared with what the original British settlers did to pave the way for all of us.

There is no reasoning with people who have abandoned the virtue of reasoning for emotivism.

Ben Pobjie writes in his book - "Error Australis: The
Reality Recap of Australian History," :

"Australia has come a long way these past 200-odd years.
From its humble beginnings as an obscure case of
colonial land-theft, it has become a thriving, wealthy
and only moderately evil modern nation."

"Who would have thought, when the unhappy denizens of the
First Fleet were huddled, starving and desperate on the
shores of Port Jackson, that one day Australia would grow
so powerful and confident on the world stage ..."

"Whatever happens to Australia the country, we can be sure
of one thing: Australia's history, rich and colourful
and filled with heroism and drama will live on into
infinity."

And for that we can thank the hard working historical
recappers like Ben Pobjie who work themselves into the
ground to keep the flame of history alive for future
generations.

Ben asks:

"How can we know where we are going, if we don't know where
we have been? Hope for the future must always be based
on respect for the past, and in recapping the history of
Australia, we hope passionately that
we may learn something about ourselves. Usually we don't..."
but still, as Ben tells us - "It's a great way to pass
the time.

I'm not going to be lured into responding to your twaddle, Foxy. I told you that I was going to leave you alone, and I meant it. If you need to continue coming up with the second-hand ravings of your favourite Marxists that’s your problem not mine. I have written a short review of an article written by a third party. That's all. I'm interested in what people think about the article, naturally, but I am not interested in the same person belting out propaganda all the time.

ttbn,

This is the same Sherry Sufi who doesn't like the Australia Day Ad put out by the Meat & Livestock Corporation about Australians being boat people.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/opinion/sherry-sufi-australia-day-lamb-ad-more-divisive-than-inclusive-ng-b5a2aa157852fc70a0fb07e2b18c06de

I think the ad is great (even being a vegetarian) and I think the guy needs to rethink his views and attitudes and basically get a life.

Watch the ad here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBTWc4i_Fhw

Nathan,

I have no idea. I had never of the man until I read his article.

Sherry Sufi is a controversial character who was
forced to quit as the Liberal candidate for
Fremantle because of controversy over comments he
made about his then boss Michael Sutherland's
South African accent. Sufi's comments were sexually
explicit. He apparently speaks about people in a
vulgar and sexual way (especially women).

He's quite a character who also happens to be against
gay marriage and Reconciliation with our Indigenous
people. He's often a guest on Sky News. and is
associated with the Institute of Public Affairs.

The Liberal Party has distanced itself from him.

______________________________________________________

ttbn,

Ben Pobjie is a political satirist - and if you can
give us an article by the questionable Sherry Sufi -
then I can certainly quote from a recognised author.

Anyhoo -

I don't need your permission to do that.
And what you think is neither here
nor there. I am not seeking nor do I desire
any validation from you.
And whether you comment on things or not, is of no importance
to me. I usually don't read what you post anyway.
I find you to be somewhat - what's the word I'm looking
for? I guess I'd better be polite - two words actually
come to mind - but on second thought - I'll leave it there.

Must be polite - after all I don't want you fretting or
offending your conservative ideology.

Nathan

Sorry. I forgot to ask: does your comment, "I think he needs to rethink his views and attitudes and basically get a life", refer to the topic, the article, his attitude (which I neither know or care about) to an Australia Day commercial from last year, or to the man himself.

I find that there is no point in saying what you think of the messenger - particularly when it's something he would most certainly not agree with, being quite happy with his "views", "attitudes" and "life" - rather than saying what you think about the message.

You have shown an interest in ways of improving the quality of posts and discussion by sticking to the subject; and the subject here is the content of the article, not who wrote it

Foxy,

No, you certainly don't need my permission or anyone else's to be as obnoxious as you are. You don’t usually read my posts? That's a lie. You were the first to post somebody else's opinion on this post, and you haven't stopped since There is not a poster here you don't stalk and try to cancel with your set pieces lifted straight from Google. No matter who. No matter what the topic. Up you pop. The Wicked Witch of The West. Ugh!

ttbn, did you not once say you were no longer reading the posts of Foxy, Steele or myself. I can't imagine why, considering they are some of the most intelligent posts on this forum.

BTW, I have no problem with your guff, its your right to free expression!

Only God never changes.

Foxy,
Why did your parents come to Australia?

ttbn,

The Wicked Witch of the West?

Well, what can I say.

Sometimes you've just got to put on that hat and let
people know who they're dealing with.

Hi Yuyutus,

I can't agree. The Christian God of the Middle Ages was portrayed as a spiteful, vengeful god, hell bent on punishment of sinners. Today the same Christian God is seen as a kind and forgiving, even benevolent god. The Christian God's character has changed over time depending on the moral view of the times.

Imagine a Pope 500 years ago declaring there was no physical place as Hell, it would have been totally unacceptable, but that's what the Pope of today has done, and its been accepted as a Christian fact by many within the church. Christian interpretations of scripture is constantly evolving.

It's no surprise to find that nobody has any interest in defending Australia's culture. One non-stop harangue from a hater, plus a couple of totally irrelevant comments.

Noticeable, as always, is that any reference to a conservative source results in an attack on that source, without any comments on what the source has to say. Shooter the messenger. No argument. No discussion. Just attack anyone not in the lunatic left club. I hope that
OLO is not representative of the general population

Paul, the teachings of Jesus Christ are written in Greek and have not changed over 2,000 years. The text is the same. For most of those 2,000 years the Roman Catholic Church forbade the text to be read by the people. It has only been since Greek scholars studied the text and put it into the language of the readers has things changed. The Roman Catholic Church was a State that controlled human behaviour and administered punishment as the State. Initially they persecuted those translating the text and put them to death.

ttbn, unfortunately too many confuse culture, and therefore patriotism with nationalism, a bad thing. One of the problems is how you can clearly define in a practical layman's sense Australian culture, what exactly it is. Is it some abstract concept of mateship and a fair go, or is something more down to earth like meat pies and Don Bradman is it some hairy-fairy combination of things. Would you like to define Australian culture in simple terms.

Dear Paul,

God does not change just because human perception/understanding (or misperception/misunderstanding) of Him changes.

Jose' the fact that the teachings of Jesus are not a first hand account makes for debate as to their authenticity. As does the unapproved gospels, these unapproved works provide controversy about the life and teachings of Jesus. Persecution of the Church, by the Church has been a hallmark of Christianity throughout the ages.

Dear Paul,

Australia's culture is as broad and varied as the
country's landscape. We are a multicultural and
multiracial country and this is reflected in the
country's food, lifestyle, cultural practices
and experience.

It's this diversity of influence that creates a
cultural environment in Australia that for most
of its population is lively, energised, innovative,
and outward looking.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics -
there are 3 major contributors to Australia's
demographic make up:

1) A diverse Indigenous population.

2) A British colonial past.

3) Extensive immigration from many different countries
and cultures.

Today Australia's population is one of the most
culturally and linguistically diverse populations in
the world.

Hence the anthem - "We are One and We are Many and
From all the lands on earth we come..." is so very
appropriate. "I am, You are, we are - Australian!"

Wishing everyone a Healthy, Happy, and Safe New Year 2022!

Take care.

There are cultures that do not believe in borders, or the restriction of flow of people in and out of countries. They believe it is a human right to move in or out, to live where they please on the Earth.However for a Nation to manage its economy it must have border restrictions to protect the life and rights of its citizens. Some cultures cannot coexist, because of conflicting values, eg child brides, or payment of a bride price. When a bride becomes a posession of a purchaser.

Foxy,

The oldest culture in Australia is English culture. There are no records that support the existing Aboriginal culture existing much before colonisation.

ttbn,

The topic headline is "Australia's Cultural Identity Deserves to be Preserved".

Well then preserve it, all of it.

For me this also includes the Australia Day ads put out by the Meat and Livestock Corporation. They are great ads and the one about us being boat people is fantastic. They even poke a stick at vegans, which I think is fine, being a vegetarian. In many ways we are all boat people, I mean my relatives came by boat from all over the planet.

Sherry goes on to say:

"Yet Australia Day is held to ransom each year by a divisive niche of postcolonial trolls bent on driving a wedge between European Australians and non-European Australians."

Whilst I agree Australia Day & the future of it needs more debate, it can't be denied people of all backgrounds have contributed to the development of Australia. It's like having a puzzle of Australia and then choosing to leave out puzzle pieces (say states or territories you don't like).

Things don't work like that and your puzzle at the end of the day is incomplete.

Alexander Downer with the Mayo by election a few years ago (after his daughter and his family were being attacked on Facebook for some of their comments online) stated:

"Our family have been nation-builders, we've helped to make this nation great. You can abuse us and you can criticise us, and we will take it, we don't mind, because nation building is in our blood."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-29/casey-briggs-tweet/10049250?nw=0

So even Alexander Downer disagrees to a certain level with the role of early settlers.

Alexander Downer on a trip in France this year with his wife attacked Australia's COVID-19 lockdowns whilst in a French Chateau, with Mr Downer labelled 'out of touch', 'tone deaf', 'repugnant' and 'privileged'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9946245/Alexander-Downer-French-holiday-slammed-tone-deaf-entitled-tweet-lockdowns.html

Yes, people from very early times did bring some good things to Australia, but they were certainly not perfect, many were out of touch & they did horrible things to first nations people. Really it is day people that have helped make Australia great and these people should be recognised.

A song imported from America was popular in the 50s in country NSW.

You've got to be a football hero
to get along with the beautiful girls
You gotta be a touchdown getter, you bet,
If you wanna get
A cutey to pet.
The fact that you are rich or handsome
Won’t get you anywhere with girls
You gotta be a football hero,
To get away with the beautiful girl.

It typified the attitude of both countries. Homogenized by fighting a war together, & a country of winners. If there was a "blue" it would be out the back of the pub, in a ring of bar patrons, enforcing it was a clean fight. Anyone who ever used or even carried a hidden knife was in for a thrashing.

What happened, we imported too much garbage. We managed to absorb the first wave of war displaced people, & the southern European influx, & make them one of us, but then the flood gates opened.

We imported far too much garbage, far too quickly to absorb, & often not worth trying. Today any blue is likely to see knives & broken bottles flying. The garbage we imported has absorbed us & the fair go culture we once had.

We are left with a rubbish population of gutless bastards, more likely to stab someone with a knife, or broken bottle, than be in a fair fight. The king hit once so despised has become the way today.

There is no way we could raise a Militia of todays kids to fight a Kokoda campaign as did the kids of 1942. Why would anyone fight for the mongrel bread bastard of a country we have become?

Monash University has an interesting article on
the Australian identity debate. Quoting just a tad from it:

" Trying to define national identity is like searching
for the end of a rainbow. It isn't something that can
be found or a place we can collectively reach: it's
something that unfolds over time and through generations.
It's also something that is contested and evokes a sense
of belonging individually."

"It's a deeply personal concept. As soon as you start
talking about a distinctive national identity or
character you begin to exclude and define those who are
in and those who are out and that's the problem..."

There's more at the following link:

http://lens.monash.edu/@politics-society/2019/01/22/1369645/australian-identity-debate

Hasbeen,

You obviously don't keep up with the news.
There's been many incidents of alcohol induced
king-hit violence killing our own young men.
Not be "imported garbage" as you put it but done
by locals. It's a very sad state of affairs.

Here's just one report. There's plenty more
individual cases you can Google happening around
the country:

http://news.com.au/national/months-of-terror-the-king-hit-violence-killing-our-young-men/news-story/b6160ee2e1b61fe0cd96fb1eedbc8d97

Hi Foxy,

Some view the past through extremely "rose coloured glasses". In Sydney there was the razor gang of the 1920's and 30's, who would slash victims with cut-throat razors. In the 1950's, the Toe-cutters would use steel pincers to lop victims toes off.

A question to establish cultural identity; Am I more Australian when munching on a meat pie, than I am when enjoying an Indian curry? I will not pass judgement on "cultural identity" until ttbn defines it in a rational sense.

Dear Paul,

National identity is a deeply personal concept.
And people see things in different ways. It's
something that unfolds over time and through
generations. It means different things to
different people. If you were to stop and speak
to people in the street you would be surprised at
the contradictory replies that you'd get.

Our country has a unique history that has shaped
the diversity of its people, their cultures, and
life styles today. It is their diversity of
influence that creates a cultural environment in
Australia, that is lively, energised, innovative
and for most Australians outward looking.

As stated earlier - according to the ABS there are
3 major contributors to Australia's demographic
make-up:

1) A diverse Indigenous population.

2) A British colonial past.

3) Extensive immigration from many different
countries and cultures.

Today, Australia's population is one of the most
culturally and linguistically diverse populations
in the world. It's culture is as broad and varied
as the country's landscape. We are a multicultural
and multiracial country and this is reflected in the
country's food, lifestyle, cultural practices and
experience.

Enjoy your evening and see you next year!

Foxy you obviously missed, or chose to ignore the bit about the garbage having absorbed us & destroyed our culture enjoyed from the 40 on until overwhelmed.

Paul you might chose to believe some garbage claimed by researching academics, however it is impossible to believe much of it, with the radical ratbag lefty attitude universities have developed, where my observations are personal, & totally well known in living memory.

Hasbeen,

You say that:

Garbage has absorbed us?

No. Not me.

I also speak from personal experience.

My parents taught me at a very young age to clean
and nourish my mind wisely everyday because it can
easily become a garbage bin. It's a good habit.

Also, I was taught that before pointing fingers
to make sure that my hands were clean.

I hope that the new year will find you much,
much happier.

Take care.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS!

Hopefully this one will be better than the
last one. That we shall acknowledge our
shared history of what has happened over
time. That we shall choose to confront and
acknowledge both the past and the present,
and strive to do better for us all together.

We need to strive to understand our differenced
and celebrate our shared values. This will help us
achieve social cohesion.

I'm also hoping that on this forum - we can have
reasoned and respectful debate.

At least we can try - being a New Year and a
New Beginning.

Nothing in this country ever gets better anymore.

I go along with what you say Foxy, the rant from the forums Angry Old Man, the absolute pessimism of others, it's depressing to say the least. I hate to see when folks approach the end of life they look at everything in a negative fashion.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Dear Paul,

When I read what's happening in the United States
and elsewhere I count my blessings and think how
lucky I am to be living in this country.