Pat,

I'm not sure that this reflects what the average Australian feels. Having said that, there is a certain wariness about the increasing numbers of foreign born people moving here (not just Muslims). The bomb attacks in Bali (and elsewhere) heighten those fears...

On our recent trip to Melbourne, we were very surprised by the large numbers of Asian people in that city. Living in a small country town, we have only one family of Chinese descent, and stereotypically, they run the Chinese restaurant. The other noticeable thing in Melbourne was that every taxi we got into, the driver was foreign, and couldn't speak English very well.

I used to tutor a Thai lady - helping her to read, write and converse in English. The government provides free lessons in English to immigrants. Having watched my student struggle, I realise what a ridiculously difficult and illogical language English really is...

I noticed in "The West Australian" newspaper on Tuesday (ANZAC Day), an individual had taken out a full page advertisement urging "Australians" to breed more, as each year 18 000 more people of Australian descent die than are born. Apparently, the only reason our population is increasing is through immigration...

Mick, you must see similar trends in the UK?