Hackles raised

The signs have been ominous.

The points of differentiation between the two political behemoths have waned inexorably.

The vying for Aussie valyooz points reached fever pitch over the flag burning ‘banning’ at the Sydney Big Day Out event.

The Federal Government ups the ante by rebadging the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, now to be known as the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Sorry, folks, but no more snappy one liners about “DIMA and dimmer”; however, even Howard Huggers are smirking about who’s going to be the new “DIC head”. Tee hee.

The Prime Minister has declared that the change of name “expresses the desire and the aspiration, and that is that people who come to this country, who emigrate, immigrants, become Australians.”

Get it? Capite? Verstehen?

We await the Government’s impending announcement that migrant/guest workers will no longer be welcome in Australia. Or alternatively, that they and all visitors from abroad will be expected to register for Australian Citizenship before they go home.

The Muftim of Blair predictably trumpets jubilantly that multiculturalism is dead.

Senator Andrew Bartlett predictably complains bitterly that HoWARd is “imposing a mono-cultural vision on the reality of a modern multicultural Australia.”

Yep. It’s going to be that kind of election.