Aussie Values: Save us the embarrassement!

The only ones who need to be embarrassed by Australian policy are the so-called ``moderate`` Muslims who ought to recognize that Australia is merely trying to weed out suicide bombers.

But if the author is representative of the ``moderate Muslim`` community, I am afraid we are in trouble when the jihadis show up. Heck, we will be in trouble when non-practicing Muslims show up!

#14 by bjkumar on October 11, 2006 4:46pm PT

Here`s a quarter..call someone who gives a paki`s rear...

#18 Arjun2

Yaar, your quarter seems all messed up - just like many of your arguments!

Now, here is what a REAL quarter looks like!



I bet now you are wondering what a REAL argument looks like.

Easy, just go read my #1, #5, and #14 all over again!

saeed,

.... nice article and good luck with your efforts .......... unfortunately, racism is not going away any time in the next couple of thousand years .......

I have often found it difficult to understand what pollies mean by Australian values. When pressed, they often talk of mateship and giving everyone a fair go but I think in an ideal world those are just human values. As is respect for women, which is also mentioned. No society in the world accepts that it does not respect women, not even the Taliban in Afghanistan, so I think they need to be more specific. Not to mention the fact that Australians can be just as misogynistic as anyone else.
I think that Australia under John Howard has become a selfish country and that concerns about terrorism have just tapped into pre-existing racism. Who can forget the way people on board the Tampa were not allowed to enter the country; when the September 11 attacks happened soon after, Howard said that they were a perfect example of why he had not allowed the refugees on board the Tampa to enter Australia. 5 years on, there has been no apology to them, or to the parents accused to throwing their children overboard. The message was quite clearly that foreigners with no papers couldn`t be trusted enough to even be processed on Australian soil. How does this not feed into xenophobia?Pauline Hanson`s beliefs have now become mainstream, with even the Labor party unable to stand up for migrants.

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#22 Mian Harimau

Xenophobia and racism are close relatives.

The two are blood relatives.

At the end of the day, they both seek blood.

Also, most xenophobiacs and racists use words to portray themselves as superpatriots - they rarely convey their true intents honestly!

There are few self-proclaimed bigots out there!

VERY few!

Re: # 22
Harimau, most of those who arrived on the Tampa were found to be genuine refugees and have been settled in Australia, NZ and other countries. I found it interesting that they didn`t want to live in Indonesia, though!
To the author-Interestingly, Egon Kisch had a dictation test in Scottish Gaelic-it could be done in any European language!

Well its not just John Howard. Federal Education Minister Dr Brendan Nelson started it last year by saying that those who do not accept and teach Australian values should ``clear off``.
And that those who migrate to Australia should have to ``accept and embrace`` certain values that are ``essentially Australian``: ``Understanding, tolerance, inclusion and responsibility``; also ``care, compassion, reaching out to others, doing your best, pursuing and protecting the common good, treating all people fairly, enterprise, respectfulness, fidelity, comradeship and endurance.``

``If you want to be an Australian, if you want to raise your children in Australia, we fully expect those children to be taught and to accept Australian values and beliefs.``

And not to be left Kim Beazley the opposition leader has sought to outflank the Government in the debate about values by calling for people coming to Australia to agree to a ``values`` statement as a visa condition. This statement should be included on the visa form, with people ``required to sign off on those values``. Mr Beazley said Australian values of ``respect for each other, mateship, fairness, freedom and respect for our laws are the front line in the struggle against extremists and terrorists``.

The Australian values in the visa statement would include:
�¡ Respect for Australia`s institutions, including its democracy, laws, courts, parliaments, armed forces and police.
�¡ Respect for different religions and cultures, for the equal treatment of women, and for hard work.

By the way John Howard has said that he was not in favour of abandoning a non-discriminatory immigration policy because of the message that would send around the world. But he is in favour of reinforcing Australian values to those who intend migrating to Australia. So he will consider Kim Beazley`s suggestion on that Australian visa forms so people understand what was expected of them.
But he says it might be counter-productive if such a message was sent to short-term tourists.
Basically politicians from both sides are trying to score point with the ``values`` debate.

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I do not think that a test in English and austrailian history is a bad idea (it will sure help control the terrorism) unless it is a prelude to the apparthied practices have started being conducted in several european countries now, where Muslim immigrants are singled out and families are forced to watch videos showing naked women on nude beaches and gay men having sex or at least kissing (Holland). Then the questionaire asks the questions like how do you like our lifestyle?? So much for the tolerance.

I think Muslims have to be extra vigilant against these aparthied practices and keep raising the level of awareness among the population. Remember that these very nations who now claim to be the champions of human rights have committed the most horrible crime in the history of mankind - holocaust - only 60 years ago. Remember how these nations support and maintain the concentration camps called Giza and West Bank. And last but not least remember how they were cheerleading the massacres of labonese civilians only couple of months ago.

Re: # 27


urstruly,

you say, ``Muslims have to be extra vigilant against these aparthied practices and keep raising the level of awareness among the population``

...... i agree, but muslim immigrants to the west must also respect the values and institutions of the host country, such as democracy, laws, courts, parliaments, armed forces and th right of hetrosexaul and homosexual couples to hold hands in public ......... and even thought they are convinced that they have the perfect religion they must show respect for infidels, jews, hindoos, homosexuals, hindoo homosexuals, ahmedis, women and pigs ............

......... more importantly, they must not walk the to the welfare office to collect their cheese and check dressed in a night gown and slippers ........

Please avoid hate-speech and abusive language. Our moderators may not be available to filter all such instances but whenever such posts come to notice these will be filtered.

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Like the indignation by muslims about Australia. How about talking about the Saudi Arabia and the way they treat people who come to work there.

Ref nb #24

[Re: # 22
Harimau, most of those who arrived on the Tampa were found to be genuine refugees and have been settled in Australia, NZ and other countries. I found it interesting that they didn`t want to live in Indonesia, though!]

The refugees, who were Afghans, passed through what that dear boy Yasser Latif Hamdani claims to be heaven on earth for Muslims, paradise with 72 houris, 24 ghilmans and free flowing wine, etc.... Pakistan.

They also skipped that other wonderful Muslim country Malaysia which they had to pass nearby. And of course they didn`t want to be among their Muslim brethren in Indonesia, the ones famous for the killing fields of East Timor.

That makes them economic migrants, not asylum seekers.

As such, they have to be weighed against Indian MS and PhD graduates and doctors and accountants and admitted according to their ability to contribute to Australian society.

Those who actually threw their children overboard certainly were not displaying human, let alone Australian, values. They should have been denied admittance to Australia permanently for that reason alone.

Enough is enough! (Fill in Samuel Jackson`s statement from the movie ``Snakes on a Plane`` here.)