I saw it on today tonight, and then found the article on their website. For those who don't know, Today tonight is a current affairs tv program on channel 9. Even in the NSW advanced english High School Certificate curriculum, we're taught not to be too open to current affairs, and to judge for yourself. So judge for yourself.


Reporter: Bryan Seymour
Broadcast Date: July 18, 2007
It's official. New immigration figures from the Bureau of Statistics show Australia is being split in two.
Migrants from Asia now outnumber those from Europe and New Zealand, while multicultural Australia is now divided by race.
Dr Robert Birrell runs the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University. He's an authority on the subject and he's worried.
"Sydney and Melbourne are diverging from the rest of Australia," said Dr Robert Birrell.
Immigration figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show Asia has now overtaken Europe and New Zealand combined. Almost all new Asian migrants are heading to either Sydney or Melbourne.
"(We now live in) two Australias, because Melbourne and Sydney can be regarded as one Australia where you've got very high proportions of persons born overseas," Dr Birrell said.
"In Sydney, about 40 per cent of all adults are born overseas, in Melbourne it's about just over 30 per cent."
"I don't think facts lie. Australia’s population is changing.
"Sydney and Melbourne are diverging from the rest of Australia.
"In the case of Sydney, by far the biggest single source of migrants in recent years is China and in the case of Melbourne it's now India," Dr Birrell added. "We're a nation that's now split."
Between July and December last year 27,623 people arrived here from Asia, while 27,325 arrived from Europe and Oceania, which includes the United Kingdom and New Zealand, where traditionally most new Australians came from.
And here's where they're going: 10,624 Asian settlers chose Sydney, while 9,035 chose Melbourne.
Chinese Malaysians Daniel Chong and his wife Josephine came here with baby boy Timothy last year.
"Well, most of the friends we made here are Asians, Chinese," Daniel said.
"At first, when we come here, our English is not very well, so we tend to join the group of people who talks our own language."
President of the Australian Chinese Community Association in NSW, Lucilla Leung, said new migrants liked Australia’s egalitarian roots.
"It is such an open society," she said.
"Everybody is Mr and Mrs average. I think that attracts a lot of people from old culture."
Ms Leung said most Asian migrants were not trying to become ‘traditional true blue’ Aussies.
Asked whether such migrants had a "strong policy of assimilation", she said it was more about integration.
"I don't think so," Ms Leung said. "We have a strong policy of integration."
This grouping together means that in some parts of Sydney and Melbourne, 65 per cent of the adult population is overseas-born.
Under the Howard Government, immigration has doubled to 165,000 per year and rising.
"I don't see diversity in population as a threat in any way to Australia, rather than an opportunity," Voula Messimerri, from the Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia, said.
"Australia is a country of migrants. We accept it and we become, in turn, proud Australians."
Ms Messimerri said migrants, especially those with skills, can only make Australia better and more prosperous.

"Increasingly, we're seeing Perth and Western Australia, because of the mining boom, becoming another satellite for economic prosperity, so I'm not really sure what Mr Birrell is talking about," said Ms Messimerri.

heres the link to today tonight

were they protesting and concerned about european immigrants when they first arrived?

^ lol it's different majority of the people who work in a Current Affairs are Anglo. Anglo tend to be pissy towards races who are non Anglo.

majority of the $hit is over dramatized. i say fu-k today tonight, fu-k a current affairs. they are the most biased and unreliable source of current affairs. after following the chasers, you realise that today tonight and a current affairs are fu-ked up who need to talk about issues five times a week.

Current Affairs are bull$hitters.

I remember watching it once, it was about some anti-wrinkle cream.

the before pic they [the testers] were not allowed to wear makeup and the after pic they were wearing makeup.

yep, theyre full of it. fugg em

Sometimes they repeat stories and they make $hit up.

On the commercial stations, the current affairs programs sensationalise any issue to increase ratings and attract more commercial investment.
Business is primary; a balanced presentation is secondary.

True

Sometimes the lack of any real "story" will make them beat up an isolated incident into a sensation of ethnic division within Australia.

All Australians are immigrants apart from the Aborogines, same with America and the American Indians, gets on my nerves when they start on about immigration hypocrites. Its nothing new and typical of any multicultural society in the world ethinic groups tend to group and settle amongst people of the same or other ethnic minorities, this pattern can be seen in other devloped countries with high immigration, the same situation can be compared to Britain and the large number of S.Asians (indians,pakistanis, Bangladeshi) where lare populatiosn are focussed in certain areas and parts of teh country and teh same pathetic accusatiosn at how they dont bother to integrate enough or speak well enough.

Reeks of sheer hypocrisy and old colonism mentality.

Please do not take Australian commercial stations' (Channel 7, 9 & 10) current affair shows seriously, they are total Sh!t Stirrer. They are the ones that are dividing our nation.

To gain rating, these pesticide journalists and producers will make up any bull$hit to manipulate many half-informed TV viewers (e.g. they would interview a garbage man and sub-title him as a Garbologist working in the field of eco-management and ask his expert opinion on the El Ninio Effect.... ...…you get my jest)

Programs like these really pisses me off. Will they only be happy when we have a civil war?

The problem is many Australian viewers and radio listeners still take these current affair shows seriously, they honestly believe what ever $hit these TV piss-weak personalities put out (like John Law and Allan Jones), and that is exactly what many of these bastard producers are preying on.

I hate to categorise my friends by races and I know the good many of them don't. But constant bombardment of mislead media representation really hurts a nation’s spirit. Suspicion does more damages than truth….and our idiot PM and his clan certainly do their best to pump fears into the general public.

I think you underestimate the majority of the Australian population. Everyone may get sucked into watching the sensational crappy commercial network "current affairs circus", but few of us really believe everything we see. There is a loud redneck element in our society (as we saw in Cronulla and prior to that with Pauline Hansen's mob) but they are in the minority. The younger population certainly is a feisty opponent of the Anglo-centric views promoted by our PM. I do not believe John Howard is xenophobic. However he is an old-fashioned conservative man of the Queen. He is not rascist per se, just out of touch with the vibrant Asian multiculturalism that is growing here. I don't believe he really understands Australian youth concerns. One particular sore point for a broad section of young Australian voters is Howard's inconsistent and sometimes draconian policy on refugees and detention centres.

I should have been more careful with generalisation and my choice of words.

And yes, the majority of the population might not believe these programs but many of them are still watching them (or being bombarded by them, i.e. current affairs, talk back radio, news columns, etc). What I am really concerned is the atmosphere that is being created by these ill-informed and ill-conceived broadcasting materials. When you tell a lie 100 times, it becomes truth.

You mentioned the Cronulla Riot and Pauline Hansen's mob - that they are just of groups of minority. My view on that is, yes, there might have been only a handful of people whom actually participate in the riot and voted for Pauline, but both incidents provided sparks which were eventually inflamed into something much more serious at a national level and I believe these sparks were able to grow because an atmosphere of fear had been brooding by the irresponsible media and the Howard Government.

I don't care what terms you use to describe Howard and his gang but many of his policies are unsettling our country and our people. I don't doubt the Australian people but I am concern about the direction that the Australian people are bing lead into by the Government. Can you see the difference?

Yea they did. Eastern Europeans faced discrimination when they initially arrived in Australia. Springvale used to be Wogtown.

QUOTE(transtic @ Aug 3 2007, 11:27 AM) [snapback]3102072[/snapback]

Eastern Europeans faced discrimination when they initially arrived in Australia. Springvale used to be Wogtown.

Originally the dominant ruling class in Australia was English and they did not trust the influx of Chinese labourers during the Goldrush in the 1800s.
From 1912 to 1920 there was a great fear of the Russian Bolsheviks and immigrants from that part of the world were discriminated against.
Post WW2 the perceived threat was from the masses of destitute Italian and Greek refugees, who were said to be dragging Australia down economically and culturally. The Anglo majority called them "wogs" and harboured many prejudices against them.
All the while, German migrants were bashed as Nazis.
In the 50s the Irish migrants were blamed for causing discontent. "Remember Ned Kelly or the IRA", it was said.
In the 70s it was the Vietnamese and Cambodian "boat people" who were demonised. The sensationalist panic merchants screamed once again that it would be the end of the Australian way of life.

Looking back now, all these fear campaigns were simply irrational xenophobia.
The agents of the media (newspaper, radio, TV) and the manipulative moguls pulling the strings, are no longer our only source of information. We now have the INTERNET. Better education also makes the current generation more critical and discerning. We now have a global perspective that was unimaginable for people 30 years ago.

Regarding the way our government is leading the country :
Our government ?
I thought the orders were actually coming from Washington.

No, seriously there is an issue there.
Currently our perceptions are being flooded with the American government's view on global issues in general, and the "War on Terror" in particular. That is why Australian Muslim's have become targets of discrimination. The seeds of division in Australian society are being sown by US media networks. Mind you, the ridiculous claims of Sheikh Hilali play right into the hands of the panic merchants.
Although this is "off topic" , a second major trend flowing from the USA is the Americanisation of our Australian economy, services, utilities and health-care system. The American health-care system is inhuman and I do not want it here.

^ U rock sir!

I was born in Germany and I remember how a Melbourne schoolyard in the 1970s was divided between a small group of German speaking kids (not necessarily German born but including Swiss and Austrian) and the majority of Anglo-Aussie kids, who always targetted us for verbal abuse and bashings. The teachers were aware of this situation, but they did not actively do anything about it. The teachers themselves harboured the old prejudices and merely passed them on to the younger generation.
I am so glad that education has improved since those days.

Yes, it is a real problem. I would vote the current Govement out on that reason alone.

Actually, I prefer an idiot that does nothing to run our country than having a clever (well...more like cunning) PM that lead our country into the wrong direction. It takes a good couple of decades to undo a system once it is laid and I really don't like the direction that our country is heading. They keep talking about Australian values, but with this govement, everthings are dictated by or are secondary to the economic spreadsheet (be it the health system, immigration policies, tertiary education, foriegn policy, etc.)

When are we going to have a decent PM and govement that would work for the benefit for its people and promote national unity....

QUOTE(Mowe @ Aug 4 2007, 12:35 AM) [snapback]3103982[/snapback]

.....They keep talking about Australian values, but with this govement, everthings are dictated by or are secondary to the economic spreadsheet (be it the health system, immigration policies, tertiary education, foriegn policy, etc.)

How do you see Australian identity ?
What is an Australian in your eyes ?
What do you think the politicians mean by "Australian values" ?
Do you accept that good economic management will enable a better lifestyle for all people ?

Ok, these are not easy questions but they are damn fine ones and should be on each of the application form for every politician portfolio. I'll try my best and give my own personal views but I am sure there will be shortcomings because I am just your average whitecollar fellow working in Surry Hills to make ends meet. Also, I will answer each one at a time, I am sure 3 pages of post will bored anyone into tears

What is an Australian in your eyes?
You mean what I think an Australian should be? I don't want to comment on what I think an Australian is, impossible to generalise. But I can tell you what I hope an Australian is. An Australian is someone that:
- Looks beyond the skin colour of his/her own people;
- Respects and acknowledges the values of anyone that steps onto our shore with no discrimination (it is in our national anthem);
- Enjoys and promotes the various varieties that exists in our country (e.g. city lives and rural lives, different ethnicity, different sporting codes, our broadening age groups, sexual orientation, religions, foods, & help me to think up more)
- Places education as one of the top priorities (and I don't mean just formal education like the way HK or Japan does it, focusing purely on academic results, I mean to allow opportunites for anyone willing to be educated or trained) ;
- Seeks balance for a healthy economy, a healthy environment, and a healthy life style;
- Gives generously to those whom are in need of help (our own people and others in need overseas);
- Does not promote conflict and war (local, regional or international), if we want to help, provide as much well trained doctors, nurses, construction engineers, and money as much as we can afford, but not guns and tanks (keep them for self defence or better still, put those self-destruct helicopters and noisy submarines in the powerhouse museum, they are useless anyway).
- Likes the sun or the beaches or an afternoon Sunday barbie with friends and neighbours.

And I think that is about it, call me naive but they are not that difficult…

No worries mate.
I am just a factory worker from Melbourne.
Everyone's thoughts are welcome in this free and open democratic internet thingy.

That will make it easier for everyone to digest and comment.

Good to see some positive ideals about our national "character".

This is the part I most strongly identify with. I love the beach and surfing on my bodyboard and having BBQ with friends. I must say Paul Hogan did a lot to boost awareness of Australia, with his tourism advertising campaign.

Well, the modern nation of Australia was founded and built by Europeans, so it's a completely different situation.

As for Australian national identity and values, Australia is and should remain a part of Western civilization. If certain groups don't like Western culture and values, then don't immigrate into Western countries.

Just out of interest, why is it considered acceptable to verbally bash 'Anglos'? 'Anglos' is an imprecise term anyway. Are people actually implying that Australia's founding majority just stepped off the boat from the British Isles yesterday or something?

I'm not seeking to cause controversy, I'm just curious.

They should not plan on raising their children in Aus and plan to return to China when they have made enough money.

The problem with Sydney is that though there is multi-culturalism, people are divided even further, white terrorities along the coast, asian terrorities around Cabramatta, lebanese terrorities around Bankstown etc

Amongst these terrorities, and from what I've seen of recent migrants, especially Koreans in Strathfield - they make NO effort to learn or relate to aussie culture. Hell I've seen Koreans who have been here for decades and can't speak a word of english. From what I've heard, it seems that white aussies embraced migrants more openly then other western countries such as America - only to have them reject aussie attempts to be multi-cultural. So no wonder they're pissed as fu-k.

I personally reckon, that freedom of being to have a kebab on the way home from a night out at a pub is brilliant. Thats what i am really proud of as an Australian, like Tissue Box stated the ethnic enclaves preserve the quality of each individual culture.

Why did they even give Australia the name Australia? because they wanted to create a Europe down under, they changed the name Austria into Australia. Lol correct me if i'm wrong. But didn't they want to create a country with such diverse cultures?!, and now they're trying everyone to be exactly the same.

The only thing is, these nationalities are too close in proximity, Sydney Ain't big enough for everyone. Isntead of being spread out all over the country, we choose to stay squished together in one a city. Even if there were minorities, you'd still get friction, there's alot of Arseholes out there, and Race is an Easy target.

That's why I love it in Australia too ! Actually in the city you can go eat at China Bar, and then hop on over next door for a kebab and then cross the road to get maccas. That's if you're a fat c_nt, but still, it's a beaut!


Australia is from the Latin word Australis meaning south... I don't think the original intention for Australia was to be a multicultural nation. Just a place to keep convicts, then later on when the nation formed Australia started letting in wogs who weren't treated so well. Come to think of it, before the Wog Boy came out the word wog was quite an insult as I remember. Maybe we should make a movie called the g@@k Boy. Anyway, even up until the 1960s Australia was almost exclusively white, with a few sprinklings of Aboriginals and Chinese.


=)

You nailed it mate !
On both sides of the Australian culture divide there are people reverting to a kind of primordial or tribal mindset.
It seems to be a part of human nature, that we tend to be wary or even fearful of change and different people.

A major feature of modern life is massive migration.
New technologies at the start of the 20th century led to the invention of global transport networks, and this in turn gave rise to travel on a scale never before seen in history.
People who were previously existing happily in cultures separated by oceans and vast land masses, are now rubbing shoulders with oneanother, and this is leading to friction. Different cultures are afraid of change in this globalised environment. Migrants who come to Australia and isolate themselves from the larger community, sometimes preaching hatred; they are just reverting to a primordial stance. Likewise, the white English-speaking neo-cons, who demonise all Muslims for example, are equally acting on the impulses from their primordial brain stems.
On a basic level, we are defending our tribal pissing grounds.

Each and everyone of us is fallible in this respect.
The good news is that if we are aware of the ritualistic, tribal behaviour patterns within us, then maybe we can overcome them, and embrace a life of change and choice, without reverting to religio-mumbo-jumbo or belligerent posturing.

For me personally I don't go looking for trouble with recent migrants, but there are times when I get annoyed; can't speak english, talking in another language in your face isolating you from conversations, and especially this Indo bloke who just moved in to our place.

Why?! Because he washes his fu-king clothes in the shower! Every morning I go in - there's FLUFF EVERYWHERE
So yeah - some parts of Australian culture, such as using the fu-king provided washing machine - MUST BE EMBRACED

Confronting the bastard, he doesnt seem to understand, and when me and the rest of the housemates got together to drill it into him, he denies it. So we put up a bloody drawing in the bathroom, only to have it removed and guess what? FLUFF! Bah, time to get this fob outta my turf, only problem is that the landlord is bloody Indo too.

Btw - I heard though that the government has recently passed down a new law that migrants must learn english prior to their arrival in Australia, I'm not so sure if that's true or not.

No, it was established as an outpost of British civilisation. It still identified itself as such up until the mid-20th century.

"This country shall remain forever the home of the descendants of those people who came here in peace in order to establish in the South Seas an outpost of the British race." - John Curtin, Australia's most celebrated Prime Minister.

Too late for that, John Curtin must be cursing at us from his grave at the moment

Funny how you said John Curtin is Australia's most celebrated PM... I've never heard of him til now... lol

same i thought it would of been Robert Menzies

... and then, we started to rule the streets

lol, asians ruling the streets?

Everyone but whites

Poor buggas really

I dunno where you live, but in the shire its not like that. you're lucky to see 2 or 3 asian on the street at any one time.

I grew up on the streets mate, so I tend to be observant to what goes on underground

The white aussies still have terrorities around the countryside all over Australia, but while in the capital cities the lebs and the vietnamese mainly, then chinese, greeks, and other migrants own the illegal trade all along the streets. Where I'm staying right now is lebanese turf

White aussies aren't really the type to organize into gangs it seems, one of my mates used to deal down the road from me before he got bashed for moving stuff on streets that aint his. There's just no white aussie resistance in terms of this at the moment, except in white-majority zones.

White Aussies that wanna form gangs are on stormfront =).

Do yourself a favour:

John Curtin - Wikipedia entry

You'd think they'd teach about people like him in Australian history during high school. Come to think of it, we learned more about the Dreamtime and the Gold Rush than anything else... well aside from Cook's landing... eh.

I've only recently joined this forum and just spotted this thread now. I was going to comment on some of these post but hesitated after noting the dates on those posts.......but now I think what the hell!!!


Hey, speak for yourself!!!



Hey, I've been trying to vote Howard out every election since he got in but it seems I'm in the minority. It's funny. You hear so many Australians b!tch about his policies but they keep on voting him back in. I guess Aussies like a really good butt f**king and they don't feel he's gone quite deep enough yet ( a crude analogy I know but I'm really pee'd off on this point).

And to the guy who didn't know who John Curtin was...... SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!

John Howard has done good for the Australian economy though... I don't know who to vote for in the next federal elections though... should really pay more attention to politics.

You've got to be fu-king kidding me