The Law of Fair Go
It's not enough to want to be an Australian. Now you have to be qualified in it. Just like every other occupation, citizenship has now become something that requires certification, examination and evaluation.
Fair enough. But I know a few people who deserve to undergo the same test to see if they deserve to retain their right to be Australian.
Perhaps there should be a test applied to people who break some of the unspoken laws of Australian society and if they fail, then they should be promptly shipped off to somewhere more appropriate - like Norfolk Island.
There they could gnash their teeth and wail over the shredded pieces of their Australian citizenship certificate.
So what would that sort of test entail? If I was an examiner I would want to determine the following:
When you see a police vehicle parked at the bottom of a dip in the road do you:
a) Immediately slow down.
b) Change lanes in the hope that you will escape the radar gun's line of sight.
c) Pull up behind them real quiet, swap their registration plate for your own then scream past at 130km per hour over, and over and over again.
Or, if your friend is going through a rough time do you:
a) Recommend a good therapist.
b) Tell them to 'lighten up'.
c) Lie to your boss, pack the esky with beer, grab a fishing rod and find a place that's all your own in a land so big you can lose your worries in a place no-one will ever find them again.
If you are a dinky-di Australian then the answers will be obvious. But if you feel the sting of conviction when you realise that you failed the test, that Ned Kelly's death was in vain, that you have bowed to authority and failed to uphold the Australian Way...then let this be a warning to you - if we are going to hold onto our Australianness then we have to uphold the law of Fair Go.
If I had to say what sort of criteria I'd put for people coming into our country I'd say this:
1. They have to be battlers (or else we might forget why this is the lucky country).
2. They have to have a she'll-be-right attitude (it's too bloody hot for any whinging).
3. They have to stand up for their mates (or else our country will really go under).
In my view, people coming from really lovely places like Darfur somewhat demonstrate a commitment to Australian values by giving their own citizenship the boot. Sure they come for opportunity, but they stay for the fair go. And if some Australians don't appreciate the fair go that they have been wallowing in since birth then maybe the new people with their willingess to do whatever it takes to be an Australian will remind them of it.
Lest we forget how bloody lucky we are.
Fair enough. But I know a few people who deserve to undergo the same test to see if they deserve to retain their right to be Australian.
Perhaps there should be a test applied to people who break some of the unspoken laws of Australian society and if they fail, then they should be promptly shipped off to somewhere more appropriate - like Norfolk Island.
There they could gnash their teeth and wail over the shredded pieces of their Australian citizenship certificate.
So what would that sort of test entail? If I was an examiner I would want to determine the following:
When you see a police vehicle parked at the bottom of a dip in the road do you:
a) Immediately slow down.
b) Change lanes in the hope that you will escape the radar gun's line of sight.
c) Pull up behind them real quiet, swap their registration plate for your own then scream past at 130km per hour over, and over and over again.
Or, if your friend is going through a rough time do you:
a) Recommend a good therapist.
b) Tell them to 'lighten up'.
c) Lie to your boss, pack the esky with beer, grab a fishing rod and find a place that's all your own in a land so big you can lose your worries in a place no-one will ever find them again.
If you are a dinky-di Australian then the answers will be obvious. But if you feel the sting of conviction when you realise that you failed the test, that Ned Kelly's death was in vain, that you have bowed to authority and failed to uphold the Australian Way...then let this be a warning to you - if we are going to hold onto our Australianness then we have to uphold the law of Fair Go.
If I had to say what sort of criteria I'd put for people coming into our country I'd say this:
1. They have to be battlers (or else we might forget why this is the lucky country).
2. They have to have a she'll-be-right attitude (it's too bloody hot for any whinging).
3. They have to stand up for their mates (or else our country will really go under).
In my view, people coming from really lovely places like Darfur somewhat demonstrate a commitment to Australian values by giving their own citizenship the boot. Sure they come for opportunity, but they stay for the fair go. And if some Australians don't appreciate the fair go that they have been wallowing in since birth then maybe the new people with their willingess to do whatever it takes to be an Australian will remind them of it.
Lest we forget how bloody lucky we are.
