Scott Morrison Promises To Protect The “Borders Of Our Values”

Scott Morrison, the Opposition spokesman on Immigration, has delivered a major speech in which he argues that Australia “must protect the borders of our values”.

Speaking to the Federation of Ethnic Community Councils of Australia conference, Morrison said: “In our nation, we must never compromise our values, by agreeing with those who suggest that even their definition is an instrument of exclusion. We must protect the borders of our values.”

“In our nation we celebrate the values that have defined us as a nation and lived and added to by each new generation and each new wave of arrivals, making their own contribution.

“In our nation we must uphold freedom of religion, speech and thought, while ensuring our laws are never altered to provide special concessions for any one group by virtue of their religion, race, ethnicity, language or birthplace.

“In our nation we must ensure that English remains our one and only language and encourage its adoption in all corners of our community, by all ages, ethnicities and nationalities.”

Transcript of Scott Morrison’s Address to the 2011 Federation of Ethnic Community Councils of Australia conference.

“Our Nation”

A liberal perspective on immigration and social cohesion in modern Australia [Read more…]


Australian Citizenship – Immigration Department Leaflet

This is a leaflet on citizenship issued by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs in 2004. [Read more…]


Donald Horne: An Australian Compact?

This is the text of a booklet produced by Donald Horne for the NSW Centenary Of Federation Committee.

The booklet is subtitled: What are the core values that all Australians might respect?

It includes chapters the rule of law, representative democracy, equality under the law, a Commonwealth devoted to the well-being of its people, the need to respect and care for the land we share, and to value the unique status of the Indigenous people. [Read more…]


John Howard: Four Distinct And Enduring Australian Values

This is the text of a speech by Prime Minister John Howard to the Melbourne Press Club.

In the speech, Howard outlined a series of “values” he said underlined his government’s approach. He said these values are “self reliance, a fair go, pulling together, and having a go”.

As the centenary of Federation approaches, he said they were “four distinct and enduring Australian values”.

John HowardIntroduction

In only a few short weeks, Australia will celebrate a century of nationhood. A century during which only 4 generations fashioned a unique culture, created a decent, tolerant and cohesive society, built a thriving modern economy, nurtured some of the finest democratic traditions ever practised and earned gratitude and respect from nations around the world.

And it was the century when our distinctive national character was formed, marked by good humour, a sense of fair play, generosity of spirit and independence.

Despite the distance travelled, we approach the Centenary of Federation confronting many of the same broad issues as faced our forebears a hundred years ago. [Read more…]