John Howard on Tolerance on Neil Mitchell Radio

We are tolerant to people of different backgrounds but over the years at its zenith the more zealous multiculturalism basically said that this country should be a federation of cultures. You can't have a nation with a federation of cultures. You can have a nation where a whole variety of cultures constantly influence and mould and change and blend in with the mainstream culture, but a nation that doesn't have a core culture and the core culture of this nation is very clear; we are an outshoot of western civilisation. Because we speak the English language our cultural identity is very heavily Anglo cultural. It doesn't mean that it isn't distinctively Australian, but you have to recognise that there is a core set of values in this country.