Scarlet Wong had reason to be indignant

Scarlet Wong was recently subjected to a small episode of road rage. David Clarke, a Liberal member of the NSW parliament, told Scarlet after she had annoyed him with a certain traffic manoeuvre that 'we don't drive like that here.'

Now Scarlet is a second generation Australian, totally immersed in the Australian way of life. In an accent unmistakably Australian she complained indignantly to a reporter from Nine's Current Affair program that in any circumstances she did not like the implication that she was not 'from here' but 'from over there'. It was all the more galling considering that the stupid comment came from a conservative member of the NSW parliament. I agree.

My message to David Clarke is that as a philosophical conservative (I hope he can be described so) he should know that ethnicity is not an issue in Australian society. Culture is the issue. We Australians have as much right to preserve the integrity of our culture as do Germans, Indonesians, Egyptians and all others.

Scarlet Wong should be applauded for objecting publicly to being thought anything other than Australian. Among other proofs she was able to demonstrate the strength of her cultural allegiance by proudly showing off the thongs she had on her pretty feet.