"I was born in Australia and I don’t want to assimilate"  -- but integration and assimilation are not the same thing.



Koraly Dimitriadis does make an important point below but it may not be the one she has in mind. For a start, she is clearly reflecting the views of her Greek parents. Greek immigrants of yesteryear typically saw Australians as a low lot with no morals or standards. They fitted in very well to Australian society with the fish-shops, greengrocers and milk bars that they set up (among other things) but were very strong on maintaining their cultural separateness. "Separateness" in Afrikaans is "apartheid". So they were clearly racists in a loose application of that term and Ms Dimitriadis clearly has a similar view of "old" (Anglo-Celtic) Australians.

Amusingly, as time has gone by, the lack of "standards" that older Greeks deplored in Australia has turned up in Greece also. So young Greeks who return to Greece to absorb their heritage tend to find that modern Greece is much more like Australia than it is like the Greece of their parents' description. I believe that even "hooking up" has arrived in Athens, which would be anathema to older Greeks.

But the underlying fact that Ms Dimitriadis seems not to realize is that integration and assimilation are not the same thing. Australia has absorbed vast numbers of immigrants from Europe and Asia with only minor frictions. The migrants concerned often did not assimilate in that they retained much of their own culture and customs but they integrated into Australian society by working for their living and not making waves. They rarely did break and enters and they don't go around shooting and bombing people in the name of Allah. So no-one was bothered by them and very little was required of them if they wanted to become citizens.

So the recently proposed citizenship test is not remotely aimed at Greeks, East Asians or Hindu Indians. Almost nobody is concerned about them gaining citizenship. There is nothing to be concerned about. What the tests are aimed at is the two groups of recent arrivals that I mentioned: Africans and Muslims. It is they whom the government wants to crack down on. But in an era of political correctness, they do not feel able to be frank about their aims. If they made the citizenship test applicable to Africans and Muslims only, there would be a huge uproar about "racism" from the Left. So a test designed to restrict Africans and Muslims has to be made applicable to all immigrants.

And, reasonably, some people, such as Ms Dimitriadis, feel the test is not and should not be applicable to her or her relatives. Ms Dimitriadis is undoubtedly a good citizen of Australia and deserves no special scrutiny of herself or her culture. So what she has highlighted is the difficulty that political correctness imposes. It causes her and her relatives to be treated like some very obnoxious groups are treated. It removes an important opportunity to make reasonable distinctions.

Just a small aside in conclusion: At the end of her article, she says:

"I’ll be proud to call myself Australian, to follow Australian values, when I see some values I’d like to follow, until then, I’ll stick to being myself"

She might more frankly have said, "I’ll stick to being a Greek Australian". And there is no reason why she should not do that. Greek Australians have made great contributions to Australia. The only difficulty is that political correctness would have made that statement racist


ASSISTANT Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Alex Hawke said something on the ABC’s Q&A this week that did not sit well with me.

When asked about recent swift changes to obtaining Australian citizenship, he responded:  “… if you want to become Australian you have to assimilate and integrate into Australian society.”

I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I was born in Australia and I am not interested in assimilating.

Assimilate and integrate into what? Australian society? Isn’t Australia a multicultural society made up of different people, cultures and faiths? Maybe what the government actually means is Anglo Saxon Christian Australian society.

“Australian values” and fluency in the English language will be some of the revamps to the new citizenship testing. Anglo Saxon English migrants will do just fine then. Migrants where English isn’t their first language will be at a disadvantage.

Just off the back of the Senate rejecting the proposed changes to Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act and racist Australians crying out “freedom of speech”, in conjunction with the recent skilled migration visa changes, it seems our government this year has adopted Pauline Hanson-style discrimination politics.

While the list of questions for the test has yet to be finalised, whether or not it is appropriate to hit your wife is an example being thrown around. Apart from the ludicrous idea that someone applying for citizenship would tick “yes”, wouldn’t appropriate police checks be done when applying for permanent residency and citizenship?

“Membership of the Australian family is a privilege and should be afforded to those who support our values, respect our laws and want to work hard by integrating and contributing to an even better Australia,” Mr Turnbull said.

Since when is knowing fluent English proof you’re a true blue Aussie? Isn’t the language of Australia the hundreds of indigenous languages? Lucky Section 18C is still intact and the words “insult”, “offend” and “humiliate” were not replaced with “harass” because I am terribly offended right now.

Many members of my extended and immediate family who migrated to Australia in the 70s don’t know fluent English and they are prouder Aussies than I am and I was born here. From the day their ship docked, they have worked hard creating flourishing businesses, they have purchased their own home, educated their children to university level, and contributed not only to the economy but to the face of Australia’s multicultural society. It seems when it comes to appreciating different cultures, Anglo’s are good at appreciating the cuisine, not so much the customs and language.

See, this is why I don’t sing the Australian national anthem. Why would I want to pledge my allegiance to a racist country? The only Australia I am interested in is multicultural Australia. Not racist Australia, not Anglo Australia, but multicultural Australia. But all this government has shown me is they are interested in fuelling segregation. Just from the changes to the skilled migration visas and citizenship changes, racist Australians are getting validated by our government.

I can just hear it already: “Stop stealing our jobs, learn English or go back to where you came from, and give us our freedom of speech to offend you out in public rather than discretely behind closed doors.”

If the government really wants to keep jobs for Australians, maybe they could start by banning big companies from outsourcing their call centres to third world countries.

The government needs to realise that the words “assimilate” and “integrate” can be highly offensive to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Because assimilate means integrate into the dominant power and that dominant power is Anglo.

The entire parliament of Australia needs a lesson in multiculturalism, in unifying communities rather than tearing them apart. I’ll be proud to call myself Australian, to follow Australian values, when I see some values I’d like to follow, until then, I’ll stick to being myself.

SOURCE





Queensland police 'soliciting' victims to withdraw complaints in bid to cut crime rate, report finds

Police are "soliciting" victims to withdraw complaints in an effort to keep a lid on rising crime rates, Queensland's auditor-general has found.

The auditor's report says pressure from the police hierarchy to cut crime rates has left the Queensland Police Service (QPS) "open to claims of manipulation".

The ABC revealed in January that two police crime managers on the Gold Coast had raised concerns legitimate crime reports were being labelled "unfounded" to keep offences off the books.

Their allegations were passed onto the Queensland auditor-general after their superiors failed to act on their complaints.

In a report about criminal justice data tabled in Parliament, the Audit Office said police crime statistics were "questionable at best and unreliable at worst, and should be treated with caution".

The report focused on the Gold Coast police district, finding officers there used various methods to try to get victims to withdraw their complaints.

The methods included "soliciting victims to withdraw complaints" and sending victims letters requiring them to respond within seven days.

If they failed to respond, police would "presume" they wanted the complaint withdrawn.

The complaints related to offences including assault, burglary, stealing and wilful damage.

"Our analysis of statewide crime statistics indicates that the inappropriate practices and attitudes identified on the Gold Coast regarding changes to crime data are unlikely to be isolated to that district," the report stated.

Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan told the ABC inappropriate police conduct would be investigated. "I would say to anyone who feels like they've been inappropriately contacted by police to let us know. There is a complaints process," he said. "We expect the highest standards, the very highest standards from our Queensland police.

"If there are shortcomings in those behaviours in respect of any aspect of their role, then those shortcomings will be investigated and we will hold those officers to the highest standards."

The latest QPS crime figures reveal the rates of assault, fraud, robbery and unlawful entry on the Gold Coast in 2016 rose from the year before.

Police detective turned criminologist Terry Goldsworthy believes the concerns raised by the auditor-general should be referred to the state's Crime and Corruption Commission.

"It's not just the fact it's sloppy bookkeeping. What's seen here suggests there's been deliberate manipulation. In other words, a process has been undertaken to mislead," he said.

SOURCE





   
WA man wrongly convicted after DNA error

A DNA profiling mistake that led to an innocent man being convicted has been referred to WA's Corruption and Crime Commission a year following the discovery of the error.

The man was charged in 2004 over a home invasion and despite protesting his innocence, agreed to plead guilty because his lawyer told him he risked jail time if he lost a trial on the back of strong DNA evidence.

The Department of Health's forensic testing service, PathWest, had incorrectly matched him to DNA belonging to another man with the same name.

Health Minister Roger Cook and Attorney-General John Quigley say it is understood the error was not identified until April 2016, when PathWest notified police.

But the Director of Public Prosecutions was told only last week.

Mr Cook has requested the public sector commissioner conduct an immediate inquiry into PathWest's operations and Mr Quigley has referred the matter to the Corruption and Crime Commission.

"This is a very serious matter," Mr Cook said on Thursday.

"The North Metropolitan Health Service is also undertaking its own audit to determine whether any other errors of this nature could have occurred."

Mr Quigley said the man who the DNA belonged to had an extensive criminal record and went on to commit other crimes.

He wants the home invasion case reopened and said the wrongly convicted man wanted to clear his name.

Mr Cook said he spoke with the man on Wednesday and offered him an apology on behalf of the state.

SOURCE






Lisa Oldfield has joined a chorus of voices lambasting Yassmin Abdel-Magied for her highly political Anzac Day post



The Real Housewives of Sydney star added her two cents to the debate that has swept the nation since Abdel-Magied posted a comment to Facebook on Tuesday.

The Muslim author and activist caused a national stir when she suggested Australians should spare a thought for those on Manus Island and in Syria instead of Anzacs.

In the post, the 26-year-old author and activist wrote: "Lest We Forget (Manus.Nauru. Syria. Palestine)".

She apologised for comments in a follow up post after the original one was deleted. "It was brought to my attention that my last post was disrespectful, and for that, I apologise unreservedly," she wrote.

During a panel discussion on Sky News overnight, Ms Oldfield appeared to sympathise with Abdel-Magied before ultimately unleashing on her. "At the end of the day I don't like what she said, I was offended by what she said," Ms Oldfield, the wife of former One Nation co-founder David Oldfield, said.

"But I still support her right to freedom of speech and my right to say Lest We Forget Yassmin that you are brown, you are Muslim and you are a girl and that's the only reason you have a job at the ABC."

Ms Oldfield is not the first to vent their anger at the situation, with Broadcaster Alan Jones describing Abdel-Magied as "un-Australian".

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has also joined in the tirade, demanding Abdel-Magied be sacked. "After a very special day yesterday I am disgusted to actually hear about Yassmin Abdel-Magied's comments on social media," Ms Hanson said in a Facebook video.

"I just think she has no understanding, she has no idea, yet the federal government's paying her to travel the world to promote her book and she's been on the Australian 100-year commemoration to represent the youth, she wouldn't have a clue.”

In the days since Abdel-Magied's post, a number of petitions have popped up online calling for the presenter to be fired. One petition has more than 20,000 supporters.

Meanwhile, outspoken feminist author Clementine Ford has thrown her support behind the young presenter by starting an online petition defending the presenter against "d---heads".

"Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a deadset legend. She puts herself on the line and cops a lot of crap from racist bigots and Strayan dickheads," she said. "Yassmin does not deserve this hatred. Yes, this is a meaningless petition - but so is the one circulating demanding the ABC fire her."

The ABC has backed Abdel-Magied saying it would not take any action against the "part-time presenter". "Her views and opinions in that capacity are her own and do not represent those of the ABC," the broadcaster said in a statement.

Abdel-Magied is not shy of controversy; in February this year she engaged in a screaming row with Senator Jacqui Lambie on Q&A.

During the verbal stoush Abdel-Magied said Islam was a feminist religion and also appeared to condone Sharia Law.

Abdel-Magied also has alleged links to anti-gay and anti-women group Hizb ut-Tahrir, who she made contact with in the wake of her on-air fight with Ms Lambie. The Australian claims Abdel-Magied made contact with the group for advice on how she could have presented her argument on the panel show.

Last month, Abdel-Magied arbitrated a show on SBS called ‘The Truth About Racism’ which featured an African, Asian, Aboriginal, Muslim and a white Australian male with far right views – Nick Folkes.

But the show was quickly denounced by Mr Folkes who told The Australian he was “stitched up” and the show was really about proving the white guy to be a racist.
Like the ABC, the SBS stood by Abdel-Magied, saying Mr Folkes was given ample time to air his opinions.

SOURCE

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).    For a daily critique of Leftist activities,  see DISSECTING LEFTISM.  To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup  of pro-environment but anti-Greenie  news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH .  Email me  here