I caught the speeches over here in the Netherlands, and I'm frankly quite embarrassed. Add in the Katter defence and it is clear that there is anger against someone or something, but it is easiest to pick on the weakest and pretend that you are a strong man. Also, it is interesting that many of the loudest are not so many generations back, migrants themselves.

I remember that my parents were the subject of nasty stuff as they were not white, and thus visually fair game for any idiot that thought he was standing up for Australian values. They contributed more to society than most of these ill-reasoned haters, my father was a Mathematician during the years of Cold War, and my mother helped bring her experience of her training in open heart surgery to an Australia that was sorely needing skills like theirs.

I had my share of idiocy heaped on me while I was growing up. It was nasty, and was especially hurtful as I identified as Australian, as much as any other person.