I'm sitting in Perth Airport waiting to catch a plane home to NZ. Its been a great 4 days with Hamo and the Forge team here. A good bunch seriously looking at a number of issues in a fresh light. The subject came up on John Howards (the Prime Minister here) speech on defining what Aussie values are so that migrants will know what they have to adopt to live in this country. What a joke! If the man is serious he will go to the indigenous people and ask them. They have been abused, ignored, nearly wiped out in some areas and had their children stolen in recent history. He has never apologised and now thinks that Australian values are defined by the colonisers. I know many Aussies do not agree with him but sadly many do. If you want National values to help assimilate foreigners then get them.........from the original inhabitants!
3:15 am
good word bro
rev
5:30 am
great to have had you here mate!
nice blog - aren't you glad you've got a techy geek for a mate :)
2:21 pm
Ive got to be honest, I really want people to disagree with you Darryl. Simply because blogs are way more fun when there is some nice personal, angry, emotionally charged disagreement happening. It makes for better reading, and I want to see you take some hardcore conservative, right wing crazy get really stuck in... Im tempted to fake a new blog myself and be that guy. So far it is just your mates commenting on your appearance and patting you on the back saying how wonderful you are.... yawn... I might have to do an email spam some of my more colourful mates
6:39 pm
All right, here goes, piss off Sam!
Now, Darryl, spot on again. Mate, the crazy thing about Australian Values (I read recently) was that if "you do not accept them do not come" (Peter Costello).
Peter made that comment on the same month that he exempted the Exclusive Btrethren from compulsory entry laws for our Unions in the Industrial Relations Reform Legislation.
There is not much un-Australian, but could you imagine that concession being made to a sectarian Muslim Religious Organisation?
The values are not even selective, they are hypocritical.
I wish the the Aboriginals got an exemption from "compulsory entry" laws 200 years ago!
Also, Sam, just kidding, well, yeah...
6:53 pm
hi there.... I agree with you but I wonder how many people will agree with John Howard. If the majority agree with him... doe sthat then make them right? I mean, if the majority of Aussies agree with Howard and say 'yep... these ae our values'... is it then fair to say that those values are actually the Australian Values? Does the majority win?
From a NZ point-of-view, do I really care what Maori values are? I'm a NZ-born Samoan/European and unless the 'Maori' values are the same as mine...would I consider those values 'NZ'?
So do nations as a whole have values? Are there really only 'human' values which nations then assimulate differently depending on their culture? I'm just thinking out-loud.....
4:36 pm
I took it another way, I took it as "what would the aboriginal people say are Australias real values" I mean if we say we are something we are not, who would be the best to judge us on that? The aboriginals would most likely say the true values of Aussie culture are:
Take what you want
Cultural arrogance
Individualism
Money lust
Power mongering
ect.
Just a thought, I would probably guess that this isn't what Darryl meant, but I twisted it that way, cause I am so postmodern :)
rev
12:59 pm
Go Rev. Good angle. Sad as well!
10:26 pm
Hey Daryl, good to see you blogging, keep it up. Three posts a week...