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Multiculturalism not on Howard's radar

PM Howard has never liked multiculturalism or the use of the term. He rarely uses it himself. Why would he as a WASP?

Now, with this newly proposed "test" for applicants for citizenship in Australia, Howard has attempted - poorly and incoherently one might add - to not only say what "Australian values" are but what he sees as the larger picture about immigrants to the country.

Interviewed on AM [the ABC's Radio National program] a couple of days ago, Howard said:

"I haven't used the word [ie multiculturalism] a lot. We're not sort of formally abandoning words. You don't make announcements about that, you just, over a period of time you use the language which best expresses the feelings you have, and I prefer to use the expression "integration". But I, side-by-side with that, continue to emphasise that we have a non-discriminatory immigration policy, and it will continue to take people from all around the world, irrespective of their ethnicity, irrespective of their race, their religion, or their nationality."

So "integration" is the buzz-word and objective - whatever that might mean. Read the full transcript of the interview here - and then ponder whether this is the new Tampa-type election-issue looming on the horizon.

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