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Evan Skuthorpe

Listed below are comments made by Evan Skuthorpe between Wednesday, 14th January 2009 and Friday, 11th December 2009 (2 Hours Ago) .

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The Rat and the Camel 1:22pm on 11 Dec 2009 As an Australian living in England I must say I'm often bemused at the coverage animal culls in Australia receives over here.

The fact remains that camels, horses (brumbies) and so on are not native species to Australia and have no natural predators and as such, they grow to large numbers and have drastic effects on the environment around them. They can kill native species and destroy flora crucial to the ecosystems that they're in.

When it comes to animals such as Kangaroos and other native animals being culled - again, these animals grow to such large numbers for various reasons. They're no longer hunted for food by Aboriginals and they impact on modern day life in rural areas and the practicality of relocating such huge numbers of animals is, well, impractical.

It's quite probable that seeing as the UK lacks any kind of wildlife people here aren't familiar with the realities of life in a place such as Australia. It's a fact of life that these culls take place and need to take place. I don't see the argument against it as valid as those who argue it have no idea of what they speak of. However, I can see that some people might find the killing of these animals wrong but that's easy to say when they're removed from the real world and in a concreted over man-made environment that is a big city.
Howard's Way 2:06pm on 24 Nov 2009 I didn't vote for KRudd at the 2007 election. I don't mind the man, in fact he's one of the better Laborites in that party but as PM he's been non-existent.

John Howard was a fantastic leader and as much as I was expecting him to be booted from office after so long in power, I was still shocked when it happened. He was one of those defining leaders who brought the nation up by the boot straps if you will. he stood up to Indonesia after so long of turning a blind eye under Labor. He sorted out the guns after Port Arthur. He sorted out the illegal migrant situation that Labor decried as evil and wrong only for them to re-introduce (though far more inefficiently) in the end. He did the right thing on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rudd on the other hand has done what?! He's spent the 'Future Fund' that the Liberals built up. He's re-introduced or kept Liberal policies that were in place despite committing to removing them... As I say, I have nothing too much against KRudd, he seems a decent bloke but my God what a waste of space as a leader.

I certainly wont be voting for Labor come the next election.
After the Ashes 10:12am on 27 Aug 2009 Nice article Nick. I was here in London during the 05 Ashes celebrations and it was absolutely cringe worthy the way the media and public carried on with the celebrations. It was all over-the-top, hyped-up and almost childish.

Where were Australia's OBE's (in absence of Knighthoods) for holding the Ashes for the previous 18 years? What a joke to see the English team flaunted about and taken to Buckingham Palace because they managed to scrape a series win by 2 runs. People who had never followed cricket before were turning out to cheer a team that played a sport that they didn't know or care about previously.

It's almost as if the English public have a suppressed national pride that comes bursting out in an embarrassing way when something good, however rarely, happens. The Australian public on the other hand are used to their sports teams winning and so when they don't, they could be forgiven for being less than impressed, but at least it's not an embarrassing display of being less than impressed...
A tale of two Gordons 9:27pm on 15 Jun 2009 Well Rudd is a bit of a tool and Australia is a (overly) reactionary and conservative country, a bit to high on the morals sometimes. What else do we expect from the Australian general public with a classic such as the Chasers sketch...? A sense of humour? Sadly not.
Apocalyptic nightmare 00:27am on 12 Feb 2009 post 4 by newsplashx.... You are so spot on. Please send a letter to the government and to the papers to spread your knowledge.
Sense of gloom 10:48pm on 28 Jan 2009 NomadsUsR, post 18. I agree.

And has anyone noticed that global warming and such are no longer headline news? And what of Iraq before that?

It's all flavour of the month stuff.

The prediction I'd like to see made is what will be the next big news phenomenon.
Sense of gloom 10:44pm on 28 Jan 2009 Strompy82 - post 6... not sure where you're getting your facts, both BHP and Rio Tinto are Australian. Then the third largest is Anglo American. So at best 'Britain' owns half of the third largest and less than half of the largest, the Billiton part.
Light relief on Australia Day 09:37am on 26 Jan 2009 Happy Australia Day!
Australian of the Year 4:52pm on 19 Jan 2009 I just have to clarify your definition of a larrikin. In no way is a larrikin a 'boisterous, loutish, or otherwise badly behaved young man'! A larrikin for the benefit of all non-Aussies, is a character, a rogue, a bit of a 'lad', causing trouble but all in the name of fun.

For an example of this is, think back to WW1... Australian soldiers had the the utmost disdain for British officers and the high command and would disregard all their commands when not in the field of battle, all the while taking the mick, acting the goat or being a larrikin. But when duty called were the best soldiers of the whole war. Not exactly the character traits of a 'boisterous, loutish, or otherwise badly behaved young man'.

It's an essential part of the national character and not understanding that is to not understand Australia.
Howard's freedom medal 11:46am on 14 Jan 2009 Well done Mr Howard.

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