BE AN AUSTRALIAN February 26, 2006
Posted by wmmbb in Australian Politics.trackback
So says John Howard, or as the headline on the front page of Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald says: “Live here, Be an Australian.”
I do not understand the attack on multiculturalism. We live in a multicultural world. Our primary loyalty should be to planet Earth, and remember we are human beings. Why in principle should people who are holding private conversations speak English in public places? When I travel on public transport, I appreciate it when I am not loudly entertained by the details of other people’s i lives.
This is just retrogressive nonsense, no doubt appealing to some, if not many. Costello, the current deputy, but a putative prime minister got right into the same slime bath as Howard, drawing attention to the alienation of some Australian-born Muslims. These comments were not repudiated by the NSW Priemer, and the article observes:
This endorsement is a sure sign that Labor polling identifies the Muslim divide as a potent electoral issue.
As Pierre Trudeau observed the history of the 20th century should alert us to the dangers of nationalism. I cannot identify, or wish to identify myself, with a bigoted, ignorant group of people, however they describe themselves.
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