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Fear of violence is killing Victorian culture

Paul Bird

by Paul Bird

17 Nov 05:45am

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Filed under: Police, Street Crime, Victoria, Violence

43 comments

We all know there’s an election on in Victoria and we all know one of the major campaign issues is crime and violence – no surprises there.

Just another Saturday night in Mlebourne. Photo: Aaron Francis.

This is not a piece on the rights, wrongs or otherwise of the respective election platforms on fighting crime – I’ll leave that for others to dissect.

What I want to contribute is a perspective on how Victoria’s often intense and sometimes heated debate about violence and personal safety has impacted on young people in the state and the potential knock-on effect for our community as a whole.

Each year Mission Australia carries out the largest survey of young people in the country – 50,000 took part this year – regarding their concerns, what they value, who they turn to for advice and how they feel about the future.

One of the stand out results from this year’s survey – released today – is the level to which young Victorians are concerned about crime, safety and violence above their interstate peers.

Our survey shows that 32 per cent of young Victorians see crime, safety and violence as one of our country’s biggest issues, compared to 21 per cent nationally.

That’s quite a difference and a worrying one at that.

This is despite recent Victoria police crime data showing a 3.8 per cent drop in the overall crime rate in the past year, with a 14 per cent drop in CBD street assaults over the same period.

I know the initial question from readers will be, “Why is this so?” but the more important question for the health of our community is, “What does this mean?”.

To my mind there’s no doubt that the higher level of concern we’ve uncovered is largely a result of Victoria’s raging public debate about violence over the last two years.

Whether by perception or reality, increased concern about violence and personal safety among young Victorians has serious broader implications.

The fact is Victoria provides us with an example of the unintentional consequences of ringing an alarm bell so loud and so often that an awareness raising exercise turns into something much more negative.

Research shows that when trust between people breaks down it helps usher in a range of negative outcomes – social and economic – for both individuals and the communities in which they live.

People keep to themselves, they don’t interact, they don’t get involved.

We’re perhaps already seeing that take place.

Our survey has detected declining participation rates in arts and cultural activities among young people in the state.

In 2008, close to one-in-two young Victorians told us they were engaged in arts and cultural activities. This year only barely over a quarter reported the same – that’s a significant drop.

We’ve also captured information that shows young Victorians are wrestling with stress at far greater levels than in recent years with personal concern about the issue jumping by ten per cent since 2009.

If young people are pulling back from community participation because of fears for their personal safety then the levels of trust and connection we enjoy in our society will be seriously challenged.

Take this comment from a 12 year old female respondent to our survey:

“I always watch out when I’m in public places…because after watching the news I get really scared about abuse and things like that, because some people have very sick minds.”

Or this from a 13 year old female:

“I am always worrying that when I walk home someone is going to kidnap me. Every single time I walk past a man on the footpath I feel very uncomfortable.”

They’re both truly devastating comments to read from children and completely out of step with the reality of danger in the community.

Having young people feel safe in the multiple environments in which they live, including in their schools, neighbourhoods, cities and communities should be a national priority.

If initiatives aimed at addressing personal safety among young people aren’t working – and in Victoria it appears they’re not – then we need to change them.

In Victoria and elsewhere we should be investing in programs that improve resilience among young people and provide practical advice on coping with stress and keeping safe.

Peer-to-peer mentoring – programs that provide structured guidance and tools for older students to work with younger ages in schools and other youth settings – is a proven way of effectively approaching these issues.

We have a responsibility as adults – and our media and community leaders particularly so – to recognise that inflammatory talk about crime and violence, while good for circulation figures or votes, can be detrimental to us as a society.

And Victoria is providing us with evidence of exactly that.

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43 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Z says:

      06:14am | 17/11/10

      Paul, a 14% drop in CBD assaults from the previous year is not a clear indication.
      Tell us about the trend over 10 years.  That might change your thinking.
      As a regular CBD attendee, I’ve noted a huge drop in numbers from 2 years ago.  It’s like a ghost town on weekends now.

      Reply

    • Andrew G says:

      11:24am | 17/11/10

      You criticise Paul for his figures then rebut with anecdotal evidence. Hardly gives weight to your view point.

    • Z says:

      01:34pm | 17/11/10

      @ Andrew G,
      Maybe Paul should check the online police stats before writing the article then.

    • Hamish says:

      04:33pm | 17/11/10

      Z, this is not really Paul’s fault. Victoria’s crime figures are basically just made up these days…and you’re right it’s a 14% fall from a ludicrously high base.

      Victoria just has a soft attitude to criminals (for instance, just look at Jeremy’s post below) and has for some time. If you don’t effectively punish people for doing the wrong thing, then you get more people doing the wrong thing. It’s simple.

      Unfortunately Victorian justice has been well and truly high-jacked by the ‘crime as a social problem’ lobby who feel their main role is to redeem humanity rather than protect law abiding citizens from violent criminals. That, and Rob Hulls doesn’t give a toss about crime rates, all he cares about is enforcing reverse-discrimination.

    • Jeremy says:

      06:53am | 17/11/10

      Well said. I’m surprised this was published by News, but kudos for doing so.

      One reason I will not be voting for either of the two big parties is that their “law and order” policies MAKE US LESS SAFE. Building more prisons just trains more minor offenders into serious criminals. There are better programs out there, but the two big parties are just interested in sounding “tough on crime” even if the reality of their policies is that it’d make it worse.

      And, as you say, this inaccurate hysteria harms our community in and of itself.

      Well put.

      Reply

    • AdamC says:

      12:13pm | 17/11/10

      Jeremy, it is wrong to imply that Victoria doesn’t make use of diversionary programs to keep offenders out of jail. It is also something of an over-simplification to assert that jailing ‘minor’ offenders turns them into career criminals. For one, most people who actually do any time in Victoria aren’t ‘minor’ offenders, at least in common parlance, to start with.

      A large driver of this issue is a change in our culture and attitudes. Violence is becoming less acceptable to the public and the public expects governments to reflect that change in its policy platform.

      Incidentally, much of the judge-bashing that occurs in Victoria is because of the judiciary’s lag in changing its behaviour to reflect modern attitudes. (It is actually wrong to argue judges completely ignore community anger about violent crime. Sentences have been trending up for years, but only incrementally.)

    • Terry Wright says:

      08:16am | 17/11/10

      Crime and violence continues to decrease each decade but for our politicians, law & order will always be a vote winner. Jeremy (above 06:53am | 17/11/10) hit the nail on the head.

      What irks me most though, is this sudden association of violence with drugs. Less than 3% of all violence under the influence of a substance is directly due to illicit drugs. The other 97% is due to alcohol. In fact, booze is the most violent drug on earth. How come violence decreases each decade while drug use increases?

      And don’t blame methamphetamines because the “ice epidemic” is a myth. Melbourne University’s Associate Professor John Fitzgerald and Dr. Fances Bramwell debunked that myth in 2007. But just like PCP in the 1970s-1980s, we now have the police claiming that ice gives users super-human strength and other such BS. Last month, former West Australian Police Commissioner - Bob Falconer actually said some drugs(ice) give users the strength of 5 people (yes, it’s true!). A few years ago, one nurse described how her hospital was pushed by the government to spend a huge part of their annual budget on a safe room and security to protect staff from violent ice addicts. After a year, the room was never used except once for someone who was drunk.

      Drugs have simply become a convenient excuse to push tougher laws and gather public support for what ever agenda is being pushed.

      But none of this matters if the public don’t feel safe. The trash media and selfish politicians have a lot to answer for.

      Reply

    • Adam Diver says:

      08:34am | 17/11/10

      I would assume much more people use alcohol than they do drugs. But don’t let the whole picture get in the way of your argument. Just because alcohol is bad, does not make drugs good, not sure where this correlation has come from but its peddled out every time thier is a drug debate.

    • Z says:

      10:02am | 17/11/10

      @Terry Wright
      I’d love to know what crime stats you’re referring to.
      Violent crimes and assaults have at least doubled in the past decade.

    • Markus says:

      11:43am | 17/11/10

      @Z doubled at least, you say? I would also like to see what stats you are basing this on.
      “Just go out there and see for yourself” is not an acceptable statistic, either.

    • Ben says:

      12:38pm | 17/11/10

      Hmm, so drugs is a small part of street violence. May be but it will be a significant component of theif and break ins etc to pay for the filthy addiction. And this does not include the cost to society for their medical bills resulting from the damage of drugs, deaths due to drugs, etc, etc, etc.

    • Terry Wright says:

      01:26pm | 17/11/10

      @Ben
      Most of the problems you mentioned are a direct result of our drug policy and laws. The sole reason for committing crime to buy drugs is the price being artificially inflated due to drug laws. You don’t see people committing crime to feed their filthy alcohol and nicotine addiction.

      Also, you don’t see pubs/clubs fighting it out in street with guns to establish their turf. Disputes between alcohol providers are settled in court, not with violence.

      Many of the health problems are due to criminals supplying contaminated drugs. Very few people end up in hospital when they take the correct dose of an uncontaminated drug. During alcohol prohibition in the US, booze was being produced in backyard labs and killing people. Why would drug prohibition be any different?

      And when you say drugs ... which drugs? Not all drugs are the same with some causing a lot of harm and some causing very little. Did you include alcohol as a drug?

    • Z says:

      01:32pm | 17/11/10

      Dear Markus
      ?Assaults have jumped 42 per cent, from 19,856 people in 1999-2000 to 28,111 in 2004-05.

      Year ending 2009 there were 34981 reported assaults in Victoria.  90% increase from 1999 - 2009…..
      Stats are directly from Victoria Police crime stats online.
      Feel free to respond Markus.  Yawns

    • dancan says:

      02:24pm | 17/11/10

      Drugs are bad just not as bad as portrayed, it’s the same with paedophiles, street violence and asylum seekers arriving by boat.  All these issues are blown far out of proportion by politicians after votes, people who just want to feel important and so yell the loudest, shock jocks who talk up a lot of these issues to bring in listeners and the list goes on.

      While any sane person maybe concerned but still have a level of rational to their thinking, as shown by the kids responding, if such stories and hype are all you have experience to then your view of the world becomes very warped

    • Terry Wright says:

      03:44pm | 17/11/10

      From the ABS(2007):
      The rate for robbery peaked in 2001. Rates have declined by 38 percent since 2001, to 86 per 100,000 per year.

      The homicide rate was 1.9 per 100,000 in 1996 (which includes the 35 victims of the Port Arthur massacre) and was at its highest in 1999, at 2.0 per 100,000. In 2007, the rate was 1.3 per 100,000, the lowest recorded (since 1996).

    • Paul Neri says:

      08:30am | 17/11/10

      There’s too much weight given to an individual’s interests in the criminal justice system - whether a child’s or adult’s.

      Once an offender demonstrates a predilection for anti-social behaviour then it’s unfair to allow the person to remain in the community.

      The Authorities refuse to accept that some people are simply better off behind bars. They are fed, clothed, given shelter and medical assistance. On the outside they simply fall by the wayside.

      We need to view incarceration in a different light. A more positive light. Those sweet souls that influence criminal justice policy need to stop projecting themselves and their sentiments into the situation of a potential detainee. Just because they would find detention harmful to their interests doesn’t necessarily mean it would be harmful to the interests of some lag who just can’t live a crime free life.

      Criminologists try to dissuade us from locking people up because of the expense but they know full well that our attitude is :“hang the expense”. We’ll pay any sum to keep ratbags out of our suburbs.

      We don’t do any one any favours, particularly ourselves, by not acknowledging the way things are.

      Reply

    • Adam Diver says:

      08:39am | 17/11/10

      The real issue here (and I can’t believe I am saying this) is the media. My wife is a perfect example. You see something bad on the news (which is basically all the news reports and I understand why) and you have subliminaly made an asociation.

      I went to melbourne on a holiday this year. Wife says be careful there are heaps of stabbings there. Have there been stabbings? Yes. More so then say sydney? Probably Not. Have several stabbings been reported on the news prior to my trip? Yes.

      The chances of violence as well as the circumstances of this violence is not conveyed, so we have re-inforced messages of danger constantly played out into our psyche. I guess the best example is the jaws phenomenom in the eighties.

      I don’t see a solution either.

      Reply

    • Chinaski says:

      02:37pm | 17/11/10

      If you want a reason for violent news being the only news, go look in the mirror. What do you think will capture people’s attention - the headline “Stabbing in CBD” or “Another day, no stabbings”?

      The fact is, journalists have to report on things that happen. A lack of stabbings in the CBD is not a story. If you subliminally make an association with stabbings in the city when you read bad news I think you might have some paranoia issues.

    • Front Row says:

      07:51pm | 17/11/10

      I have more than 25 years, as a policeman, and a journalist writing on crime, as a broadcaster covering this kind of stuff.
      Here’s what I know from all that…
      Fact:  The reality of crime is grossly distorted by the media.  As a response, perhaps, the crime figures are manipulated by the various state police bureaucracies and politicians - who usually have no idea about what’s going on.
      I gratefully commend News Ltd for running this piece. They ran a few of mine trying to explain all this over the years.  Contrary to the popular belief, News Ltd is not an amorphous group of like-minded operatives all pumping out ideologically resonant papers every day.
      It’s just impossible to do that, even if it were desired or dictated from the Murdoch-on-high. I don’t work for News any more, but the notion is just nuts. People in News Ltd compete more ferociously with each other than they do with anyone else.
      There might be a certain shared attitude,  but it can’t change facts.
      What does happen is that “crime shock horror/statistics” stories get a good run on quiet days.
      Television is now completely geared up for crime, especially now that the news cycle has moved back towards breakfast, and it’s very cheap to have a pool cameraman out on the streets banging in vision from every domestic, robbery, pub-brawl etc etc.
      Hey, it’s fresh and it’s cheap.
      So politicians, who know nothing, respond to get their heads on the box or in the dailies.
      Stats are way down.  Nobody believes that.  Nobody wants them to.
      Police get more staff, politicians get to dedicate more police funding, papers sell, ratings hold.
      Most of us, especially or most vulnerable, live in irrational fear of neighbours and fellow citizens.
      People make money.  The good in the community dies off, piece by piece.

    • Human says:

      02:28pm | 18/11/10

      reply @ Front Row: Most of the time, I would say Law enforcement officers are usually blinded by the amount of human filth they deal with on a day to day basis - so they are not capable of making decisions on how to deal with “criminals” - but you appear to be well balanced and intelligent -> Nice One! Media does pump a lot of fear into the Public. They never bother to tell you the specific details as to why a crack whore decided to stab their drug dealing pimp daddy who raped their younger daughter. If you’re a normal, average stooge… who doesnt get involved with crimials, you have nothing to worry about. Talking about Jaws - I hate the ocean - the deep, unknown.

    • Steve says:

      09:19am | 17/11/10

      Thanks to Mission Australia for doing the survey and highlighting the corrosive effects of the scareing of Australia.

      Not sure what the survey’s age range was, but those comments by 12 and 13 year olds are sad but not surprising given the diet of fear and scare on TV and print media. 

      A lot has been written about night time violence and alcohol.  The reality of violence in and around licensed premises is that every weekend hundreds of thousands of Australian vote for their feet and go to licenced premises, and the great majority of them do so repeatedly.  And they make the decision at the beginning of the evening while still perfectly sober.

      These drinkers - the people on the ground - obviously don’t regard the streets of Melbourne as too dangerous.  Perhaps its simply because they can see the reality as opposed to what the Herald Sun and the Age tells them, with the support of the Police and the health industry.

      Reply

    • Sludger says:

      10:06am | 17/11/10

      I wonder if the glorification of crime has anything to do with this?  After all, the Underbelly series were a big ratings winner.  Since then everything is an “Underbellyl” style of crime.  We are subjected to detailed analysis of crime figures and see people such as John Ibrahim portrayed as modern Robin Hood.  I believe this almost voyeuristic coverage of criminals, coupled with breathless news reports of the doings of some “underbelly” criminal, is having a bigger impact than is given credit.  And reporting of stats without the full picture - as has been pointed out - only gives a distorted image.  I am led to believe that if I go to the CBD of Sydney I will more than likely be bashed, glassed or stabbed.  And finally, while I do understand your point Terry, once again these are not full statistics.  Have a nice day in Melbourne

      Reply

    • TheRealDave says:

      10:07am | 17/11/10

      Hammer, Nail, Head.

      The media is the biggest perpetrator in this ‘culture of fear’ we have been living in for the past decade, followed by the former Howard Government who convinced the TT/ACA watchers that beardy Muslims were heading here in leaky boats to plant bombs under our beds. Luckily we all got fridge magnets to ward them off.

      The day we see our media tip over to a Fox News style over the top bullshit is the day you know the public has lost.

      Reply

    • Jim says:

      10:57am | 17/11/10

      Geez Dave…way to sneak a Howard attack into the most unrelated story of the day! I think 9/11 and Bali did more convincing than any government could ever do.

    • The Scarlet Pimpernel says:

      11:32am | 17/11/10

      You had better get down to Melbourne, Dave. Part of the culture of fear is that Melbournians now feel like strangers in their own city thanks to the influx of foreigners from violent cultures. 

      I have myself been accosted by a bunch of Africans demanding money outside Safeway and King St is more like Beirut every night. Or Baghdad. 

      About the only community event I attend these days is the footy, since these people seem to have little interest in it and there is safety in numbers on the trains headed to Southern Cross Station for footy matches.

    • TheRealDave says:

      03:01pm | 17/11/10

      @Jim you disagree that the Howard government profited from a culture of fear they encouraged to fester for 7 years after 9/11?? Did your Fridge Magnet protect you?  My point is that if you look back over the last 20 years its only been since 9/11 that both the government and media have hyped up the culture of fear we have today. Hell, read the papers, read more Punch, anytime the word Islam or Muslim is mentioned people go running for their torches and pitchforks. Some Muslim group want to build a school? Not in my backyard! Some wacko with an audience of about 3 dribbling retards spouts absolute bollocks about the west/women/uncovered meat/Australia - front page news across the country how ‘they are ALL out to git us because they hate our freedom/culture/cheap plasmas/hot women/<insert reason de jour here>.

      @TSP, same in every city mate. In Sydernee its the Lebs, in Melbourne its the Somalis, in Brisvegas its the Islanders and Victorians (sorry, couldn’t resist) etc

      The reality is is that I am more likely to be attacked, bashed, robbed by fellow Caucasian Australians on a Friday/Saturday night whilst in town having a night out. Saying that, regardless of who bashes, robs you, you are still a victim of a crime and the authorities should investigate, catch and prosecute the criminals committing these crimes regardless of race or place of origin. If recently arrived immigrants are committing these crimes they should be deported back to their place of origin with no recourse through the courts to backdoor their way back in or stave off deportation for any reason. Obviously if they are committing violent crimes, rapes, murders etc they are not ‘of good character’ to be afforded the privileged of living in this country.

    • Jim says:

      04:01pm | 17/11/10

      I absolutely disagree Dave! How did the Howard government ‘profit’ from this? You blame the Howard government for lots of things, but this takes the cake. You think people are collectively too dumb to form their own opinions on events? Bali, 9/11, Somalia, Indonesia, Taliban…local terrorists like Jihad Jack. Did you sit back and say to yourself this was all Howards plan to win a few votes???
      When a bunch of Lebanese attacked a volunteer lifegaurd at Cronulla it elicited a protest to say enough was enough. Australia then went into self-flagellation mode saying we were all racists…very little coverage of the cowardly attacks every night for weeks after this where carloads of Lebanese would attack any Caucasian they found walking alone was there? Very little coverage of the radical self appointed Muslim leader in Australia on his comments after that pack of animals raped those girls in Sydney, was there?
      If anything, the media in this country sweep a lot of sickening acts under the carpet and pounce on anything that could be labelled as racist. And people like you are part of the problem.

    • Paul Neri says:

      10:52am | 17/11/10

      We are governed by stupid people.

      On the one hand Governments bemoan the involvement of young people in crime but on the other, allow them to gorge on violent films and video games.

      Life tends to imitate art, particularly if you’re young, impressionable and bulging with testosterone.

      The film indu$try screams “where is the evidence that young people are desensitised by violent film” to which I’d say, does it really matter?

      Surely a value judgement can be made that watching explicit violence isn’t necessary to anyone’s development and is unnecessary and distasteful. Accordingly, and taking into account the enormous potential benefits, it’s acceptable, in a public policy context, to ban explicitly violent film without needing firm evidence that it is harmful.

      Reply

    • Grant says:

      03:16pm | 17/11/10

      Stating that people who consume violent media is directly related to violence is incorrect. 

      Studies testing the link between habitual violent video game exposure and aggression indicate that the correlation between all types of violent media, and violence in society simply cannot be just held accountable on one factor such as violent media.

      All children, teenagers and adults bring with them a collective life experience, both positive and negative, shaped by the environment of family, school, peers, community, and culture. 

      Out of that collective experience come values, prejudices, biases and emotions.  People’s responses to stress and authority are affected by the entire range of these experiences and influences. 

      The issue of violence and society can be more accurately attributed to poor family stability and education, lower socio-economical status and general family dysfunction.

    • Tony of Poorakistan says:

      11:37am | 17/11/10

      I have to disagree with this article. The media may be sensationalising the facts, but they are facts. We are NOT as safe on our streets as we used to be.

      Reply

    • Fred Phillips says:

      12:35pm | 17/11/10

      Wholeheartedly agree.

      Ironically, though, it is News Ltd’s Herald Sun which is primarily responsible for ramping up community hysteria over our supposed crime problem in Melbourne. The editors of the Herald Sun are in a position to know that crime rates are falling. Crime rates are a matter of public record. It disgusts me that the proprietors of the Herald Sun are more concerned with generating hysteria and moving units than with responsibly reporting the facts. If you relied solely (or even mainly) on the Herald Sun for your information, you could be forgiven for believing that violent crime is on the rise, which is not the case.

      Reply

    • James Hunter says:

      02:13pm | 17/11/10

      to expect responsibility from the tabloid press is a big ask

      Reply

    • Grant says:

      02:53pm | 17/11/10

      I agree with Paul, it is nice to see a reasonable and well thought out piece on the Punch which relies on factual information.  Rather than the emotive and polarising articles that we normally see here to play into people’s fears and irrationality.

      There is a genuine fear of crime in Australia, and an increased perception of risk of victimisation.  This fear is stimulated by news coverage which exaggerates and focuses on violent crimes.

      This can have dramatically damaging effects on different community’s well beings, and can even change people’s routines and activities.

      In reality, there is little evidence to suggest that there is a link between fear of crime and the likelihood of victimisation, and almost all types of crime are on the decrease in westernised countries, including Australia, ‘Criminal Victimisation in International Perspective’ produced by the UN.

      This can be attributed to better policing, improved situational crime prevention; education and an increase in societal stability and general cohesion, and an increase in wealth distribution amongst all classes are among many of the reasons for the reduction.

      Reply

    • Phil says:

      10:36pm | 17/11/10

      People! Perception is everything..if you believe you will be unsafe in CBD..you will not feel safe and therefore to all extents and purposes..YOU ARE UNSAFE. We stay with our Kids and Grandkids in Melb on Fathers Day Weekend for last five years..have a great time in a great City..Trains, Trams,
      Luna Park, Horse carriage rides, a show .Vic Market. Footy finals,Exhibitions,Buskers and when given the chance heaps of pleasant people.  It’s a great place. Cannot speak for King St etc @ 3 AM because we don’t go there.

      Reply

    • Mr. Grey says:

      01:43am | 18/11/10

      The violence problem comes largely from multiculturalism. It is a failed experiment. This country was built on migrants, all working hard to become Aussies. Thanks to multiculturalism there is less and will be no more Aussies. It tells immigrants to come to Australia and celebrate their country and its ways here. Usually from countries that the inhabitants have destroyed or been at war with their neighbors for so long it has been destroyed. What we need is an integrated society where we are all Australians. Ask any kid, they will tell you what nationality they are and even if they were born in Australia they won’t say Australia they will tell you the country their parents came from, rave about what a wonderful country it is while at the same time having no respect and quite often speak poorly of Australia. Too many immigrants too quick giving them no time and no incentive to integrate means we are not together as one nation should be. Get rid of multiculturalism the experiment has failed all over the world and it is causing unnecessary violence. We are a giving nation and help many countries. We are also happy to have migrants come to our shores but it should not be at the peril or expense of the people that have built this great nation. What is wrong with us wanting to protect our heritage. To end violence we need to Stand Up For Our Country and get rid of multiculturalism now.

      Reply

    • HappyCynic says:

      08:56am | 18/11/10

      I call bullsh*t on your rant.  You don’t know even a fraction of Australia’s population and if you think you’re representative of the traditional ‘Australian’ then of course people are going to be ashamed to associate themselves with you.

      I come from another country and I don’t really consider myself Australian but I love this place and acknowledge that it is generally a pretty good country.  But this doesn’t change the fact that there are better places out there in the world and there are some truly wonderful things about even the worst countries in the world.  Australia, for example has very little history and even less influence on how the modern world has come about.  The Middle East on the other hand is literally the birthplace of ALL human civilisation with 20,000 years of civilisation and history to influence its people.

      Having a lot of different cultures will inevitably create a little friction no 2 cultures will ever be 100% compatible but there is an advantage to this.  Just look at how creative Aussie food has become in the last 20 or 30 years for example.  This could never have happened without cultures merging and clashing.

    • Mr. Grey says:

      05:19am | 19/11/10

      HappyCynic you are exactly what I’m talking about and have proved my point. You want to criticise me and tell me how people will be ashamed to associate with me but have no basis for saying it. Australia has a proud heritage of immigration and it has shown in the cosmopolitan array of food not just in the last twenty or thirty years but since the first migrants arrived. It is not the policy of multiculturalism that did that. It was built into a great country that people from all over the world want to come to without multiculturalism. The point you missed was Multiculturalism encourages migrants not to integrate and continue the culture the migrants that built this great country have created. Because of the fact they are not integrating and taking pride in the country there is more violence. We can still have immigration without multiculturalism, the migrants that join our ranks can still have a wonderful life and it can be reflective of their original country but we need to be integrated as a society for the benefit of all. Multiculturalism has failed us it has strangled our culture and needs to be stopped. The simple meaning of the word,” the policy of maintaining a diversity of ethnic cultures within a community”  explains that. How can we continue to have and grow an Australian culture if everyone continues to live like they are in their own country. If that’s what they want they should stay there. You are right about one thing and that is Australia has a very short history. It is a young country but like all youngsters needs to be cared for and protected. MULTICULTURALISM NEEDS TO END NOW!

    • notsurprised says:

      12:31pm | 18/11/10

      “Stand Up For Our Country and get rid of multiculturalism now. ” - Rubbish! Your attitude is just as bad as the perception you place onto others. What everybody needs to understand is though this country isn’t perfect it is by far and a long way better than most. Anyone who wants to come here for a new life, embrace this country’s culture and accept the laws is most welcome.

      Reply

    • Mr. Grey says:

      04:20am | 19/11/10

      I’m not surprised either, you are so busy trying to defend the indefensible, that is Multiculturalism has failed us and failed everywhere else in the world that you missed my point entirely. You want Anyone who wants to come here for a new life to embrace this country’s culture and accept the lawsand so do I.  However the problem is Multiculturalism encourages migrants not to embrace this country’s culture and accept the laws but to continue on living the way they lived in the country they left behind. It is time the media looked at this problem. I am the first to say the migrants of Australia have and will continue to contributed a great deal to the country. Those migrants are the proud Aussies of today but because of multiculturalism they are dying out and because we are a young country it is not giving our culture a chance to survive. End Multiculturalism now, encourage integration and for migrants to follow the Australian way of life. This will be a better result for them in the long term because it will produce a better country.

    • notsurprised says:

      11:04pm | 19/11/10

      Maybe your point got lost in the rest of your rant, but it seems to be summed up by “We can still have immigration without multiculturalism, the migrants that join our ranks can still have a wonderful life and it can be reflective of their original country but we need to be integrated as a society for the benefit of all.” This would have had more effect alone.
      By the way, read my words, Multiculturalism was not mentioned once.

    • Human says:

      02:19pm | 18/11/10

      too many staunch hip hop crews and graff crews trying to prove their hardcore status to the rest of the rejected crews in melbourne. I have nothing against graff and musial art - I hate pathetic groups of hooded bandits that gang up on one person or a couple. Try starting fights by yourself, with no support… you wont… because you’re pathetic.

      Reply

    • Jin says:

      11:25pm | 18/11/10

      Part of the problem is that bars and pubs take their drunks and throw them out onto the street where they become society’s problem. Having huge guys at the door isn’t more responsible of the pubs, it’s less.

      Reply

    • Hazar Khan Murri, says:

      10:02am | 19/11/10

      The American Army never go’s from Afghanistan, its good for Afghani’s. They are busy with their Aram’s. especialy puppet Taliban, ( afghani & pakistani ), and Al-Qaeda. The Mujahedin are comming on duty as like in 80’s they DO work for American’s, just now they are working for the USSR, CHINA & INDIA. This showes that the END of USA, UK, ISRAEL, & NATO are becomming soon. ( May be with in 10 years almost. ). The ” ECONOMIC WORLD WAR CIRSIS ” is gift of 11/9, for the Whom start the Holy war in ISLAMIC COUNTRIES, before & after. This 30 years WAR’S are not JOKE. Millions & millions mens& woman are Killed, The UK Victorians Govt, are Responsible for ALL. Thanks .

      Reply
 
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