Abbott's comments: Living in Australia isn't a right, it's a privelege.

.There's a Lady Gaga song that starts with the lyrics, "it's been a long time since I came around, being a long time but I'm back in town....", well for today's first blog post I'm going to start with the words, it's been a long time since I wrote a truly controversial blog post and I'm torn between which one to write first.  I think I'll go with Prime Minister Tony Abbott's comments about immigrants adopting Australian values.

The comments have drawn criticisms but they were taken out of context.  Abbott told number 1 Sydney radio station 2GB that migrants should adopt Aussie values and that when you move here the only flag you should be flying is the Australian one, that you shouldn't be supporting terrorist organisations.  How can a post like this draw criticism?  It seems absolutely ridiculous, especially given that Abbott himself is an immigrant who came by boat when he was three under a migration scheme.  Why should Jihadists and other ethnic groups be excluded from adopting Australian values?  What is the point of coming to Australia if you aren't going to respect our value and culture?  If we went to the Middle East for example we'd have to wear burqas or adopt other cultural norms over there such as not walking out in public if you're a woman because god forbid a woman can actually look after herself.  What is the point in coming to Australia if you aren't going to assimilate?  You might as well just stay in your home country.

Since the comment was made earlier today, someone on Facebook has already said that people have the right to go where they want if they want.  Actually that's incorrect.  Coming to Australia isn't a right unless you're born in New Zealand, or hold NZ citizenship, in which case it actually is, but for the vast majority of world citizens it's a privilege.  It's also a privilege to be able to come here as an NZ citizen.

For those who don't value life in Australia then I really do suggest you leave because the fact of the matter is, it's up to the Government to decide who comes here and if you aren't going to respect the Government and its values then you don't deserve to be here.  Nobody is saying you have to give up your Islamic or Tamil etc faith, just that if you come here you need to integrate into the Australian way of life and that means not supporting terrorist organisations which goes against everything Australia stands for, so is it time we had a cultural values test along with a history test to get citizenship?