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Dcnwilltex, you are correct in that the situations in the US and Australia are different but there are also some similarities. Gross [legal] migration to Australia hit 300,000 last year so migration is high. the governments are very much into skilled migration because it keeps economic growth high [and contains wage inflation]. I do not believe that includes the various temporary work visas some of which are precisely aimed at keeping wage levels down.

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/3412.0Main%20Features22006-07?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3412.0&issue=2006-07&num=&view=

I could not find the numbers that I want, but the migration programs are being expanded. The number that they have there is a net migration figure. Lots of Australians are leaving. I do not think that we will swamp the US or Canada but there are plenty in the UK.

We do have at least tens of thousands of illegal immigrants but we are doing little to catch them unless they commit a crime. When we catch an employer exloiting illegal or temporary workers, mostly we send the workers home as soon as they have given their evidence. Employers do get reported but I think it is a tiny minority. [Our illegals mainly come in big jets on tourist visas. There are places like Afghanistan, where we will not accept tourists from. Also, singles from Turkey do not get in. There is a great list of places. Don't worry though. We take American tourists with oneway tickets.]

I remeber that back in the seventies, Australia and New South Wales in particular, imported a lot of American teachers. They got better pay here.

As I have said previously, we are importing expert advice from the US and to a lesser extent from the UK on how to run our education system. I think that both the US and UK systems are very decentralised to the point where the New South Wales Department of Education and Training may be the biggest single education system of the three countries. The argument over whether a centralised or decetralised system is better goes on forever.

However, where one system is failing in a place, the centralised system has the opportunity of shifting resources, support and supervision to that failing location. From a great distance, I suspect that this is or has been a problem in the USA.

But as I have mentioned several times, when we want expert advice we go to the USA so New South Wales has through policy and politics been moving to a decentralised eduation system for a decade or two. Some state high schools have the left over students, the residual after the best and brightest and the richest and most motivated have been removed to other schools of their choice.

Diversity and choice are the bywords of modern educational politics. Some say pity help the kids in the residual state schools. I say pity help the community that has taught the rich and priviledged that they are rich and priviledged and deserve to be so, and the Muslim girls are taught in Muslim girl high schools to be Muslim women and the poor kids are taught in poor kids high school that they are poor kids etc etc.

There are schools in NSW where the population is 100% Aboriginal not from any positive policy but from other children and their parents opting out. Attendance rates of 50% and less are seen in these schools. Aboriginals are about 1% of the population in NSW but over 20% of the prison population.

I could talk about the Muslim Lebanese and the Islander children too. The stories are very similar.

The teaching service in NSW is predminantly female. I have seen research [done by females] that female teachers do just as well with the recalcitrant Muslim boys as male teachers but I remain to be convinced. I have read of female teachers who coached champion football teams too [and the Islander boys do love their football] but I suspect that is the exception rather than the rule.

Some idiot government person has spent good money to find out that attendance at school is a good indicator of success at school. Possibly another idiot has spent more good money to find out that people in gaol have not been successful at school, indeed, they were poor attenders.

The government is talking about doing something about it but they were warned what would happen when they went for choice and dviersity so I am not hopeful.

Police want more powers to control the streets. In the olden days, before they repealed the Summary Offences Act [the original one, not the watered down 1988 version] the police could lock you up for loitering, vagrancy, offensive language, drunkenness and so on and so on. Basically if a polceman told you to move on and you did not, he could arrest you for loitering [probably obstructing a public carriageway too] and if you argued, your chances were high of an offensive language charge. If you then did not do as you were instructed then resist arrest and finally, assault police.

I sometime point out to my nostalgic police friends that there was not closed circuit TV then and judges routinely took the word of police regardless of how unlikely it was. But police will get more powers eventually to go with their tasers and capsicum spray. Most of my police acquaintances have retired.

There are very few older, experienced police and there are a lot of young, inexperienced police. The proportion of women has not been increasing quickly but there are a significant percentage.

The gaol population has doubled in NSW in less than ten years. This is mainly due to tougher bail conditions. The prison population is growing rapidly.