firstly HE ISNT BANNED, he failed a character test which means they will examine his case further. the media just made a big hoot about it saying he is banned to make some good news... secondly i am really dissapointed you think this way matcha... what proof do you have? have you lived here?
I personally think this goes back more to the bigoted history of Australia than anything else. Australia has a rampant undercurrent of racism, against asians, indians, blacks, the list goes on. I think there was a big deal not too long ago with Australians yelling racial epithets at pakistans cricket team or something...
Wow... what a surprise, sports supporters yelled comments at their rival teams - this has never happened before!
We DID have a race riot last year between the Lebanese in Sydney's west and "patriotic australians" - no body died, it was pretty much triggered by Lebanese gangs violently bashing a Life guard at cronulla beach. roughly 5000 people were involved... but it was NOTHING compared to the Los Angeles race riots.
may i remind you of the racism you experience in your country? in particular in the southern states - and ask how you think Australia is more racist then USA? and have you ever actually spent anytime here?
our country is only 200years old, which means everybody but Aboriginals are at least 1/8th 1/16th from some other country. Melbourne has the second highest population of greek people outside of Athens (this is true) We are a RIDICULOUSLY high percentage of "non-australians" - every day at work i encounter 2 or 3 people who do not speak english, and then there are 4-5 people who were clearly born in non-english speaking countries.
i fail to see how "australians" can be considered racist - when by my guess most of us are some part something else aswell. Mel Gibson by the way is American, was born there, holds residence there, is an american citizen... a TRUE australian actor is Hugh Jackman (and yahoo serious)
Australia is making an ass out of themselves by implementing and announcing this decision... i'm sure they thought it was good PR... Although they really didn't need to take all the trouble to tell me they were bigoted. John Howard is an asshole, just look at their refugee and immigration policies.
You are all making asses out of yourselves by listening to the media about some ridiculous "banning" - when if you cared to look into the facts, he failed a character test PRIOR to immigration which means he will have to do what he does every time he comes to australia, PAY FOR A VISA.
Keep an open mind guys, and watch what you say to stop yourself being hypocrits. Everybody loves the country they live in, but that doesnt mean that the country doesnt have faults (just like Australia has its faults too)