I am hopeful that there are others who will agree that the following websites require discussion:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/22/jimmy-barnes-denounces-anti-islamic-protesters-who-used-his-songs

http://www.noise11.com/news/jimmy-barnes-tells-reclaim-australia-to-stop-using-khe-sanh-20150721

http://www.noise11.com/news/bogan-australia-goes-into-jimmy-barnes-attack-mode-20150722

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/jimmy-barnes-urges-antiislam-rallies-to-stop-playing-his-songs-20150721-gihjww.html

It is very disappointing to see Jimmy Barnes react in this way. He came to this country in 1956 and has enjoyed the privileges of living here to achieve great success. Yet to me, he clearly does not understand the innate spirit and essence of being “Australian”.

I am a 4th generation Australian, my grandsons are 6th generation. Somehow, because I understand what Reclaim Australia is attempting to achieve, that is, reclaim (or reassert) that which has made this country uniquely special in terms of mateship, caring, supporting, and affording others a “fair go”, Jason Barnes demanded that I and others who hold similar beliefs “don’t use my music for your racist bullshit”.

What an insult – I have never witnessed fascism in this country and would never claim to have experienced it in any way. At the very least, I understand the term well enough to know that I would never want such an ideology to flourish in Australia.

Yet the son of a relatively recent migrant, whose father is clearly incapable of even briefly reading the Reclaim website, consider it an ordained right to espouse what are clearly fascist style statements against groups he knows nothing about.

I can’t help but recall Orwellian overtones in this unwarranted reaction – not just from the Barnes, but also the increasingly vocal numbers who are employing the easy tactic of hurling spurious insults that are devoid of factual basis at people whose hearts cry out for the “Australia” they once cherished.

The vestiges of the rapidly diminishing, often unspoken and difficult to articulate, intangible and ethereal essence of what it is that makes up the Australian character and lifestyle, have become a daily struggle to preserve against an onslaught of ignorant self-interests and questionable indulgences. Such tactics are a prime example of “thought police” control.

The arrogance does not stop there. The veil of ‘I am married to a woman from Thailand’ and “we are a multicultural family” does not constitute the right to denounce the beliefs of others.

Moreover I say big deal! I am married to a wonderful Italian woman, born in Rome. Never would I employ such a cover to lay claim to a moral superiority and then use that platform to justify appalling insults of “racist bullshit”.

Does anyone wonder why I feel nothing but despair for what is happening to this country? Does this unwelcome sentiment have roots in Orwell’s disturbing insight where he so eloquently stated:

“The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.”