Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

A Brit with a chip on their shoulder?

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

The way I see it, and chances are you'll disagree, an Australian is someone born in Australia. The most I can ever hope to be is an adopted Australian. My Grandchildren will be Australian (if my kids choose to stay here), but I will never be IMO

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

Yes you're right, I don't agree.

I think the chance to be an Australian is embraced by many people who've moved here and they make fine Australians.

There are many born here Australians who are a disgrace to their country.

A country shouldn't be defined by the people who are born there, but by what it and they aspire to become imo.

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

So if an Australian couple move to the UK and have a child there would that make the child English? What if they were Chinese?

I'm with TiddlyPom on this one...

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

You're talking about what makes a good or bad Australian citizen when held up to the Australian ideal, not what makes an Australian.

If and when I choose to go for citizenship I won't be giving up my UK citizenship, so how can I hope to be a true blue Aussie?

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

And I'm with you on that one. You'd have to be insane to give up your British citizenship. Don't know if I would do it if it were a requirement of Aussie citizenship.

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

Look at the NSW premier ...

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

No I'm not talking about what makes a good or bad citizen. I'm talking about whether an Australian can have come here by choice or by being born here.

Being an Australian or a true blue Aussie is merely a matter of attitude, not birthright.
We are all connected, we all come from one place.

What country we live in does not define us, we define it.

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

Having Australian citizenship is a requirement though. IMO

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

Incidentally, I don't have my citizenship yet, but I don't feel 'English' or 'Non-Australian'.

I guess I don't look to my citizenship to define who I am.

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

For political office? I'm still a PR. I don't feel the need to become a citizen.. but I will do so that I can vote.

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

will you be renouncing your uk passport then, or hedging your bets like the rest of us?

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

But from a practical point of view, say if you are checking in to a hotel overseas and filling out the forms you can't put "Australian" where it asks for your nationality.

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

Why would I need to renounce it? I'm not standing for political office.

Yeah, well on a practical level, you have to put something and I'd put English because that's what it says on my passport, currently, but it's only a word. But I love the country I live in. I do Australian things. I have adopted much of the language. I have adopted the culture. I embrace Australia, much like many of the new Australians that come here do.

'Being' is not set in stone. Being an Australian is not just one thing with one facet to it. It is many things. It is multicultural.
I guess you could say I was 'becoming' an Australian, rather than 'being' one. ;)

Re: On a seriuos note about Gillard being PM
 

Fair enough, but the passport says British though - unfortunately no such thing as an English passport - Yet!

Agree.