Sent by a good Singaporean mate.

[FlyingFossil]

Been thinking of going overseas and coming back as an illegal ... aparantly you get free hospital and foxtel too

Ps they are not political refugees they are financial refugees, as they are paying big dollars to get here.

Goverment needs a huge kick in the arse over this isssue, I think that the Liberals will capitalise over the issue at the next election and win

[Warren]

Warren, questions about which immigrants will blend better in the host country are probably legitimate, and I understand resentment over those most reluctant to even behave politely while getting refugee status and enjoying a bunch of social benefits. Especially to the other migrants who remain in illegality but who mostly want to make a decent living without causing troubles, it doesn't sound fair at all. Immigrants from Africa don't seem to fare particulary well.

I have a question adressed specifically to the Aussies btw : what went wrong with the lebanese over there ?? They are possibly the most succesful minority worldwide yet seem to clash with the locals in australia ? What happened ?

As of the refugees issues, although I'm not following those as closely as 6/10 years ago, there is a lot of hypocrisie from western governments, which will grant them political asylum and some benefits if they succeed in landing in their country but will work great lengths so that it doesn't happen, often looking into ways to have them arrested and detained in a middle country they use for transit.

The whole topic of immigration and assimilation is such a hard one.

I know that at the moment with the boat people issue, it has upset many of the immigrants who came here through legal channels because it makes a mockery of what they had to go through and the amount of time they had to wait for resident status.

I also know that even with the fairly recent addition of the African immigrants that there are many who have successfully integrated themselves into the population. They have made friends, found jobs and are raising families, so it leads me to believe that like any group you have the good piecefull people and you have the ones that just want to hang around and cause trouble.

I think the trouble with the Lebanese has more to do with their male youth and how some of them like to pass their time. They seem to like hotting up cars and doing burn outs and generally butting heads with the police and the locals. Most of that kind of trouble seems to be more confined to Sydney and Melbourne.

I remember growing up that it was the Greeks and Italians who were coming here in droves.

We of course were suspicious and called them all Wogs and they were picked on at school and generally given a hard time.

They turned out to be extremely hard working people who gave so much back to the country that took them in. They brought with them many skills and broadened our minds with their food and culture. We love these people now and to us they are just more Aussies.

Perhaps the answer to all this is simply the passage of time and the acceptance of even more layers in the makeup of an Aussie.

[Warren]

Been thinking of going overseas and coming back as an illegal ... aparantly you get free hospital and foxtel too

Ps they are not political refugees they are financial refugees, as they are paying big dollars to get here.

Goverment needs a huge kick in the arse over this isssue, I think that the Liberals will capitalise over the issue at the next election and win

Oh my friend the Liberals can and should capitalize on more than the immigration issue.

The immigration issue is nothing compared to how this government has been running this country into the ground.

Never in my life have I felt so scared for our future as a nation.

There is not one thing that Rudd has done that has been for the benefit of Australia.

There is not one thing he has started that he has finished.

Thank God he gave up on the ETS, his tax on breathing.

Oh there is one thing he has accomplished in record time.

He has managed to take us from an all-time surplus to the biggest deficit in our history and managed it in under 2 years.

There's one more thing Rudd will be remembered for.

His ability in gymnastics.

Nobody can do a back-flip like he can.

[El Presidente]

I have a question adressed specifically to the Aussies btw : what went wrong with the lebanese over there ?? They are possibly the most succesful minority worldwide yet seem to clash with the locals in australia ? What happened ?

The vast majority of Lebs here are fantastic people making a great contribution. There is a small problem with unemployed Leb youth in certain suburbs but it is a small issue which should have been solved but gov tried "support" and "empathy" for a decade. They are now back to batons and programs and appear to be back in control. Sticks and carrots.