Guy Rundle, Crikey, yesterday:
“The word has become so overlaid with multiple meanings as to have none at all. No one who criticises it ever seeks to define it, for quite deliberate reasons…
“…once adults have taken on a set of beliefs – so long as they abide by a basic set of laws that guarantee social harmony – they should have the right to hold and express those beliefs not only unmolested, but also un-nagged by some whining notion of, in our case, ‘Australian values’.”
Immigration Minister Chris Bowen, Sydney Institute, last night:
“It seems to me, if you accept the benefits of a diverse population, you then have a choice: do you respect, embrace and welcome the cultures of those you have invited to make Australia home or do you shun them?
“…Multiculturalism is about inviting every individual member of society to be everything they can be and supporting each new arrival in overcoming whatever obstacles they face as they adjust to a new country and society and allowing them to flourish as individuals.”
Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser, Crikey, today:
“Labor has really gone back to its values. They’re values I share. They’re talking about fairness for all people, people from different backgrounds, different cultures. They emphasise the primacy of Australian values and laws, everyone always has, but that doesn’t prevent people from having an affection for the land of their birth, it doesn’t stop them respecting old traditions.”
Abbott is going to get pushed hard into a corner on this issue and I dont think he is savvy enough to push back with his usual rhetoric without political damage.
only have to look at the comments on the SMH website against the item by Chris Bowen to see that Abbot is on a winner. Australia is a deeply racist society where many people relish blaming “them” for all their own woes and pitiful inadequacies.
On a lighter note, the best definition I ever saw of Multiculturism goes something like;
If an Indian immigrant is watching India Vs Australia in the cricket, it’s OK to barrack for India, but if England is playing Australia, they have to barrack for Australia
Chris Bowen’s words sound very hollow, when I listened to the reports this morning on the radio regarding the return of a 9 year old asylum seeker to Christmas Island, despite the strong recommendations from a child psychologist that the child be allowed to remain with relatives in Sydney. The child has lost both parents and is distraught.
We want our politicians to be leaders, but instead Mr. Bowen defers to the advise of his immigration department that all asylum seekers must first be ‘processed’ before they are allowed to be released into the Australian community.
However children are not difficult to assess, and in this case Bowen has had months to assess the situation for this child.
It is not difficult to feel compassion for a child that has been through what this child has suffered. I believe Chris Bowen has shown a lack of compassion.
Australia desperately needs leaders, rather than politicians. Bowen knows the words, but his actions send a different message.
Sincerely,
Bob Ross
Robert Ross Wrote: “…Australia desperately needs leaders, rather than politicians.”
Well, no. Australia already has a very effective arbiter of policy called the Majority Vote.
There’s no place for The House of Great Helmsmen, Fuehrers or Beloved Leaders. What operates is the House of Representatives. People whose function is to implement exactly what those who put them into office want.
It’s a feature of the Western left that with all their “Peoples’ Pals” badging, they can’t accommodate the idea of the Most Of Us knowing what’s best for us.
The notion that we’re dopes needing instructions from fervent little clusters of noisemakers has to be ditched, along with all the installed mechanisms that fund them.