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Listed below are comments made by sjw3000 between Tuesday, 28th April 2009 and Thursday, 24th December 2009.

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Merry Christmas, and a peace offering 10:25am on 24 Dec 2009 A very interesting read. What struck a chord with me were the comments on egalitarianism and I realised, after all these years, it's one of the aspects I miss most about Australia.

I'm also finding the longer I'm away, the more often the thought of returning enters my mind. I suppose it doesn't help that here in the UK we're about to enter the depths of winter and the chaos a bit of snow brings makes it easier to dwell on the negative and yearn for "greener pastures". But I digress!

Thank you for a year of thought-provoking subjects and debate, Nick. Here's to another one.
Big Australia 1:23pm on 23 Oct 2009 The prospect scares me!
Overpopulation seems to be the elephant in the room these days and while we're all talking about sustainable living and green ideas in order to maintain our throwaway society and lifestyles - which many in the developing world are seeking to emulate - these are all just band-aid solutions that overlook the (seemingly taboo) main issue. We're in for some pretty dire consequences until we face up to this fact and do something about it.
If I'm not wrong, Australia actually has too many people already, and when you consider that the country seems to be a in permanent state of drought, not to mention largely desert, more people are going to place an even greater strain on resources.
We need a radical overhaul of attitudes and I don't see that happening in my lifetime. So while some people may be excited about a "Big Australia", I don't think the future is so rosy. But happy to be proven wrong...
Is Australia unusually racist? 1:18pm on 18 Oct 2009 expatpommie: "However, the Uk media aren't racist, the Australian media are. Also, in polite London society making a racist comment would get you ostracised pretty quickly, in Sydney it happens every day and noone bats an eyelid."

Of course, the anti-immigrant crusades waged by the red tops have no shades of racism whatsoever, right?

And polite society, that wouldn't include the likes of Prince Charles, Philip and Harry now would it?

Australia has its problems with racism. But to have Brits sit there on their high horse and lecture Australians on racism, passing such judgement, is utterly ridiculous.
China goes sweet and sour on Australia 12:04pm on 22 Aug 2009 campantman, you are absolutely entitled to your opinion and I completely accept it. In fact, I concur to some degree - Australia is not the land of milk and honey and life is far from perfect there, it sadly lags behind the UK in many aspects. I live in London, it's provided me with wonderful opportunities (for which I'm grateful) and the lifestyle here is like nothing I could dream of finding in Australia. In fact, I have no plans to return, but never say never.

I was merely commenting on the fact that you seem determined to stick the knife in repeatedly, at every opportunity, and your choice of words with liberal use of sweeping generalisations take your posts beyond balanced observations and suggest instead you're on some personal, bitter crusade against the country, hence the chip-on-shoulder remark.

However I really don't wish to hijack this thread so I will refrain from posting any further, but by all means campantman, carry on.

PS: A definition of 'whinge' is 'to complain or protest, especially in an annoying or persistent manner'.
China goes sweet and sour on Australia 4:41pm on 21 Aug 2009 sydneycynic you are spot on. I don't normally post on these threads but as an ex-pat Aussie, generally follow them with interest as I like to hear outside views, no matter how disagreeable or otherwise I may find them.

However, I've noticed campantman's posts usually make a passing reference to the main article before launching into a diatribe on Australia and its peoples' countless, supposed shortcomings. It's the same tune every time and it's ironic they end their first post in this thread with 'rant over'... The words "chip" and "shoulder" come to mind.
Australian Republic back on radar 5:56pm on 28 Apr 2009 As a young Australian (who happens to be living in London as a dual British citizen also...) I am very much in favour of a republic. I feel the Queen as our head of state is largely a relic of a bygone era - honestly, what relevance has she to me or my life? I wonder if the issue is generational - it often seems the older generation is more in favour of keeping her - and if this is the case, as I suspect, it's only a matter of time before my country boldly moves on and cuts this silly, sentimental tie. That will be a very exciting day and I eagerly await it.

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