All this racial tension over there kinda scares me

[Platypus]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not presenting Australia as a country without race problems; there are significant groups who are racist against Asians, Aborigines and Africans, but it's not as big an issue here as there.

I'm concerned that Europeans are turnig down the wrong path-whilst we did have One Nation, they were never as successful as Le Pen, the BNP or Vlaams Block.

Whilst I know the situation is different there to here, I don't think they are totally awful comparisons-Australia was practically totally British in 1930, and by 1960 there was a wave of southern european immigrants that took a few years to quieten down, and the same for chinese immigration that started in the 1990s, which has already pretty much become accepted. Now, we are also seeing a lot of middle eastern immigration, and it is also causing problems. The difference between us and Europe seems to be that the tensions are dealt with and die down early-10 years ago, Chinese immigrants were treated very suspiciously, 7 years One Nation won a senate seat partially on an anti-asian platform, and now immigration from East and Southern Asia is embraced. 5 years ago, we started to get a lot of middle eastern immigrants; 4 years ago our government used a 'hardline' approach to illegal immigration, and now the leader of Australia's muslim community is helping to free a non-islamic Australian held capitve in Iraq.

I'm not saying 100% agree, but we're dealing with it, and we've dealt with it by recognising what the people have brought to our country, and not really allowing 'ghettos' to pop up. We have one-Redfern, in Sydney, which is an aboriginal community-and it's the site of the only race riot in Australia's recent history. We encourage integration, and involvement in the general community, and it works.

I'm not an expert or anything, but if Europe starts  integrating the immigrant communities, things will probably change quite rapidly-don't give them special assistance because they're foreign, treat them as NOT foreigners living in your country but as your countrymen. Encourage them to attend your own schools, attend your own gatherings and respect their own culture, but make sure they understand what life is really like in The Netherlands, or France, or Germany. Let immigrants become part of the community-it might take a while for them to adjust, and for society to adjust-but the benefits are easy to see when you travel to a country like the USA, Canada, New Zealand or Australia.

We are nations of immigrants ourselves, but based heavily on European identities. We've inherited a lot from you, icluding the cornerstone of our culture; but we've strengthened our nation around it with other stones from other cultures, coming together to form the nation's core, not ghettos in cities all over the place.

You might be more likely to find a Wong in Springvale then in Brighton, and a Migliore in Templestowe then Traralgon, but you'll still find them there, and their kids will be playing Aussie rules with each other.

*end semi-heartfelt, semi-accusatory, fully-weird statement*