Tony Abbott walks fine line on immigration stance

News Com AU 22/01/2010

Click this link for VIDEO: Abbott 'Some migrants resist equality'

TONY Abbott has suggested some recent migrants oppose equality and Australians are anxious that citizenship is given away too lightly, but insisted "boat people" are only "guilty of hope".

Mr Abbott has used an Australia Day Council address in Melbourne to raise controversial immigration issues and suggest he favours more migration to Australia to boost our population.

He stood by Howard-era tough lines against so-called boat people, but urged opponents of immigration to try to understand the desperation that prompts their journeys.

"Why wouldn't people who might otherwise wait in camps for years try to short-circuit the process, especially if they're plausibly told that getting to Australia means the beginning of a new life?" Mr Abbott said in his speech.

"At worst, boat people are guilty of choosing hope over fear."

Soon after his election as Liberal leader late last year, Mr Abbott vowed to turn back boat arrivals.

He attacked the Rudd Government's border protection measures, saying that while people smugglers were the main villains, governments which allowed desperate people to think that getting on a boat might be a short cut to permanent residency would not be blameless.

France Opens National Identity Debate

VOA News 30/12/2009

France's center-right government has launched a national debate about what it means to be French. The discussion on national identity is being described as a way for citizens to take stock of who they are and of France's place in the world. Critics argue it casts suspicion on immigrants and on French minorities.

Many outsiders sum up "Frenchness" through a series of cliches - berets, baguettes, good cheese and wine. But immigration has changed the face of France. Some French Muslim women wear headscarves. The traditional North African dish, couscous, is a favorite here. Arab words like Toubib - or doctor - pepper the French language.

So what does it mean to be French today? President Nicolas Sarkozy has tapped another French staple - the love of debate - to launch a three-month, national conversation on the subject. There's even an Internet site (www.debatidentitenationale.fr) where Eric Besson, France's minister for immigration, integration and national identity, invites French to air their views.

In a videotaped message on the Web site, Besson says the debate aims to examine French values - which include equality, fraternity, secularism and gender equality - and to sketch France's common future. Suggested topics for discussion include whether France should have integration contracts for immigrants applying for citizenship and whether students should be required to sing the French national anthem.

81,018 permanent residents left Australia over the past 12 months

Yahoo 7 News: Kiwis packing bags, leaving Australia

It hardly seems fair. The Wallabies are struggling with a Kiwi at the helm, while the New Zealand cricket team looks destined for great things.

Our neighbours across the ditch have been the greatest beneficiaries of an exodus of Australians with almost one fifth of those who left permanently in 2008/09 choosing New Zealand as their new home.

And having had their share of the good times, New Zealanders topped the list of overseas-born people leaving Australia.

The release of the Emigration 2008/09 report comes in a year which was not so good for our rugby side, with New Zealand-born coach Robbie Deans guiding the Wallabies to only six wins and a draw from 14 Tests.

The figures from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship show 81,018 permanent residents left Australia over the past 12 months, more than any other year on record.