Follow-ups and feedback
How could I have forgotten The Wiggles when talking about Australia's 'cultural creep' and its growing influence around the world?' Those always-chirpy, planet-trotting troubadours, who have captivated children way beyond Australian shores with foot-tapping hits like 'Yummy, Yummy' and 'Mashed Potato, Mashed Potato.'
For proof of their plans for global domination, just check out their website, and its worldwide map with red-dots signifying Wiggle outposts - or should that be bridgeheads or even 'Widgeheads.' Steve Irwin and, now, his daughter, Bindi, have enjoyed the same global appeal, and ensure sure that a slice of Australiana is beamed into living rooms and nurseries all over the world. So thanks to TGordon41 for pointing that out.
Overlooking The Wiggles, Australia's highest paid entertainers, will probably reinforce wjburt's view that I am clueless about Australia. "The idea that Australia will become a 'super power' is fanciful rubbish," he or she writes in response to the last blog, Australia and the rise of the rest.
In my defense, I was never making the case for Australia achieving super-power status. Far from it. I was merely suggesting that Australia is in a position to help make other countries, like China and India, superpowers, and that will give it more diplomatic clout as the century plays out. This is how evansukthorpe put it: "Once oil runs out and if/when the world goes nuclear, Australia will literally be the world's powerhouse."
I was also suggesting that power is probably going to be more evenly divided over the next century, and that Australia is part of what's being called the "rise of the rest". If this is to be the "Asia-Pacific Century", it is perhaps worth remembering that it was the Hawke government which brought together the first meeting of APEC, the forum for Asia-Pacific states.
Usanewsman had this to say: "Surely Australia is by far one of the most up and coming nations to fill that void (left by America)." Still, I think wjburt has come up with a very deft-worded definition of Australia's national goals. "We want to be strong enough to protect ourselves and our friends; rich enough to give our citizens a good life and influential enough that we can stand up to Europe and Asia when they try pushing us around." Anybody have any thoughts on that?
The Persauder, a Pom, warns against complacency and too much self-congratulation. Rob Hob notes that Australia "overachieves in sport, but under achieves in science, innovation, and manufacturing. Science and innovation is imported." Don't know if there are any scientists or innovators there that want to weigh in on that.
After all, the list of Australian inventions is long and varied: penicillin, Polymer bank notes, the clapperboard, the electric drill, spray-on skin, the flight data recorder - and, of course, the esky (a cool box) and box wine. On the question of Australia's global rebranding, many of you clearly think that Tourism Australia should try to be a little bit more sophisticated and escape from some of the cliches and stereotypes of its "So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?" campaign. Mordigirl asks "what about promoting all the great ethnic restaurants we have? Promote our diversity".
Admirable thought, but does that work? A few years back, when Tourism Australia asked prospective tourists to "Take a Fresh Look at Australia," the global campaign did not have much of an impact, especially in the US. People seem to prefer the cliches - they want to waltz Matilda rather than to dump here.
Fulmandjpk says: "Play to our strengths". He may be right. Launched in 1984, Paul Hogan's "Come and Say G'Day" campaign - where he promised to throw an extra shrimp on the barbeque - was a massive success. It helped double visitor numbers in just four years, and paved the way for Hogan's success in "Crocodile Dundee", rather than the other way round. I think it's brilliantly done - Hogan's pre-Croc Dundee work was always his best, right? You can watch it here
Some of you have said that Melbourne and Victoria have clever and off-beat tourism campaigns. You can see a sample here. And it's worked. Last year Melbourne earned more from domestic tourism in Australia than Sydney. Segat1 suggests Australia should be looking "over the ditch" to New Zealand. It's 100% Pure New Zealand campaign is a real winner - You can watch it here.
W. Underbar spoke about "eco-extremists driving the cost of air travel beyond the reach of the average pocket". Certainly, Australian tourism chiefs are worried that long-haul travel is going to become increasingly environmentally incorrect and violate peoples' personal green codes of conduct.
Before signing off, a few quick follow-ups:
+ After the Rudd government's first budget, the baby bonus will now be means-tested.
+ Kevin Rudd has announced he wants to expand the Anzac Day commemorations to feature an annual service at Villers-Bretonneux, the town in France where Australian forces scored a victory over the Germans, though at the cost of 1,200 dead. More evidence, I would suggest, that Anzac Day is growing ever more popular and becoming ever more intricately choreographed. Comments please.
+ Last weekend also marked the six-month mark of the new government, and the honeymoon continues for Kevin Rudd. According to a Nielsen poll, Rudd is the second most popular prime minister in the 36-year history of the poll. Here are the respective high-points for each Prime Minister since then. Hawke 75%; Rudd 69%; Howard 67%; Whitlam, 62%; Fraser 56; Keating, 40%. According to Newspoll, Rudd beats even Hawke.
Keating remains a fascinating figure. He seems to inspire the most respect and devotion from his supporters, and the most hatred and invective from his detractors. Any thoughts on why he is so very polarising?
+ And one final thing: Camden council unanimously rejected the proposal to build an Islamic school for 1,200 pupils on the outskirts of town. The Sydney-based Quranic Society have the option of appealing this in the courts.
I'm 
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Nick I am disappointed that the Camden Council rejection of the application for the Islamic school is just an "after thought" in your article.
I have a perception of Australia as a very White Anglo-Saxon Protestant nation.... and with the beach race riots against the "Lebs" which brought the dark under belly of Racist Australia to the fore. I find that this dark under belly is exposed again but this time very much targeting Muslims.
Yes the rejection was purely due to planning issues, but the virilent anti-Islamic message which was being sent out to the world was too plain to see.
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Lets just get this clear, the muslim school was rejected due to planning issues Lets not beat this up into some form of racism when its clearly not.
ANZAC day in France... As an Australian I think thats taking it a little too far. Sometimes I think we forget what the ANZ part stands for.
All we seem to promote is Sydney. It's not the only place in Oz and it frustrates me when people tell me they've been there and thats the only place they went! What about Brisbane, the sunshine state! I find we only promote the colder places so POM's won't get heat stroke...
All I can say is don't knock it until you've tried it. We have sunshine and rain, surf and dust, wedont have a Dutch stance on muslims and nor do we have a national front political party.
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I am from around that area in Sydney and Rocktapper it is just so typical!who cares if the world see Australia as racist ?what implications would that bring to our country really ?
Less immigration I think not
Wars against us I think not (if so that was In evadible)
So really why is it so bad?
I am asking you to come and take a look at London surely you wouldn?t want to Sydney to end up like this place. They are all politically correct here, and it shows with there huge problems.
Why do I ask, would 1200 Muslims want to be bussed out of Sydney approx driving time 40 mins to an hour to go to school in a country town?
Sometimes I think Muslim's do these things just so they can play the victims.
I know I am going to upset people here but really... If you actually visited the residents of Camden you would realise they are not very tolerant to change.
This is obviously slowly getting weeded out by education but forcing them will not help.
If they appeal and the school goes ahead I do feel very sorry for the Islamic children as they will not be welcome there and I am pretty sure the residents will let them know it.
Oh and the race riots were a disgrace but don?t you recall what caused them?
Oh that is right wasn?t it young 'lebs' spitting and swearing at young girls in turn being asked to stop by a volunteer lifeguard, then the youths bashed him senseless.
Maybe Camden is trying to avoid this, because last time I checked they may not be very tolerant and may not be politically correct but it is a very safe town, where families do enjoy themselves.
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To cradnoptics chill a moment there budy ... Most people dont have much time to see australia as the flight takes so long so they have to choose..
I love Queensland and also think it is a shame that they are missing out on seeing a truely beuatifull place but dont get angry!
loads of people I know only visit QLD. NSW And VIC this then upsets people from WA and SA. Aus is a big country I am sure they will get around to all the great places eventually.
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Hi YoungSpeaker
I have read with interest some of your commenst regarding the UK and London in general........the conclusion i come too??? is that you are one homesick luveeeee!!!and you are wearing one hell of a pair of rose tinted glasses!!!!! ......... Not having a go for i was exactly the same for the Uk after 6 years in Melbourne.......I couldn't wait to get home.........and everything i saw in OZ was wrong and awful....and everything in the UK was hunky dory........
Now don't get me wrong for a couple of years i almost enjoyed my time in OZ.....but one look at online oz papers and you will notice that not all is well in the so called pardise they call Australia......... Interest rates about to hit 10%, inflation at a 25 year high, petrol prices have rose 50% in a year, violence on the increase, late night curfews being brought in for CBD's, water shortages, monthly food costs up $139 in the last year..........A public health service creaking at the seams, an ageing transport system fit to burst ...........Experience's from living in the reservoir area of melbourne also tell's me that you are far from racialy at peace with yourself's.........Now where did i get this info from???? well........thats right the Ozzie press..........
A bit of advice try and enjoy your time in this wonderful country you may not get another oppurtunity.......true we too have our problems but what country dosen't.......
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At the genuine risk of being called a nit-picking pedant, surely penicillin was a discovery not an invention?
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To Kenilworth
I am sorry you had a bad time in Aus but really you can never put it on the same level as England.
First of all this is my third time here and I do enjoy it most of the time ( I am sure this is to do with he parties) but really I am unsure how people can live here forever... and I have lived in the boring countryside oh please don?t remind me of that.
As for affordability , I will never be able to afford to buy a house or apartment in London. The meat prices in London are horrible 12 pounds a kilo of chicken can you believe that. The fruit is frozen and shipped from every other country in the world, it has no flavour and no smell. The sky is always grey. Should I go on?
I have the possibility of living from 20 mins to three hours of some seriously beautiful beaches I have seen a lot of your beaches and they are tragic in comparison. I live in a city (which I am sure people will argue) is the best city in the world. People walk around the streets with smiles on the faces and as for water thanks to the recent rain the dam is up to 60-70 percent if I am not correct, and I am sure with the high amounts of Scientist in Australia they will find a way.
Now as I am married to a saffa who has lived in Australia I think we can get an honest answer from him and trust me I did not persuade him but he would prefer Aus any day to anywhere in the UK.
Yes of coarse home is always the best place to everyone and I see your point there. But you can't convince me otherwise and I have tried this place three times.
And sorry to say it but I am not sure if I would really care if I didn?t get another chance to live here as I said I have been here three times not always by choice and yes have enjoyed it for a place to save and then travel to beautiful Europe.
Never lived in Melbourne and am sure there are parts of Sydney that aren?t to crash hot. But I know when I walk late at night from the train it is highly unlikely I will get stabbed, or my children will get stabbed.
And late night curfews who cares? you can't travel on the tubes after 12.30 am in London so it won't be any difference to me.
My husband just got his visa so I will be home in 4 months can't wait get back to it .. even though I know it will be a change of pace.
So all in all I am biased but I know I am not entirely incorrect
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Many good comments that I generally agree with, but London vs. Sydney? Come on. Sydney is a great place, perhaps the face of future western metropoli, but London is still as close as we have to the "center of the world" so to speak. This is due to all kinds of historical, cultural, political and geographic reasons that have developed over many centuries and won't be changing any time soon. And let's be honest: beaches or affording chicken and housing are red herrings compared to the above reasons. And no, I am not British and I do not live in the UK either.
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Hi youngspeaker
LOL........Glad to hear that you have had some good experiences regarding the UK..........LOL......
The way you come across towards the UK sometimes just seems so very negative (any excuse for a bit of pommie bashing hey...LOL)........my post was just trying to point out that this country and OZ all have their bad points some shared some different..........
What you say about what the average Oz thinks about the Uk from my experience couldn't be further from the truth...... Mrs Kenilworth88 is from Melbourne (main reason why i stayed in OZ for so long) and i know after 3 years she is loving it, she has many brit friends and a career that has bloomed whilst here..........We have many friends from melbourne who love the UK and London in particular(many having decided to stay long term, some went back home early, The same can be said for Brits in OZ from statistics a couple of years ago a larger number of Brits who had moved to OZ had returned to the UK within 2 years than had stayed!!!! (Now you don't hear that stat very often from the Ozzie propaganda machine )....... I guess What i am try to say is............ different horses for different courses.
Now for a rant:
Something that really gets my goat up is the constant banging on about how OZ is the most perfect place on this planet. Although this does understandably come from Ozzies the worst people are the Brits who rant on about OZ although the closest they have been to Oz is watching dross like Neighbours etc.
You couldn't believe the amount times i have been asked "ooh why did you come back OZ is awesome" and always from people who have never visited or just done a 2 week hoilday !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rant Over
Anyway we could go on for weeks arguing the pros and cons of both our wonderful countries hope you have a great remainder 4 months and a brilliant trip home...........
On a funny side note concerning water when we over in Melbourne last november visiting family and friends it was announced that lake Eildon (one of melbournes main water sources) was so dry it was declared a FIRE RISK!!!!!!!!!!!! Fair dinkum cobbber i wouldn't lie to you............LOL
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Agent00Soul
For the record the price of chicken in OZ has gone through the roof something to do with a grain shortage or something..........LOL....
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The Camden Council decision was purely a planning issue on the surface but can you imagine if they had approved it?
The racism shown by the people of that town was a national disgrace. They are the type of pondlife that helps to promote that image of Australians as dumb, white racists.
I'm trying to become a citizen of this country as I think most of it is pretty damn fabulous but the mentally retarded scumbag residents of Camden are making me think twice.
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Thanks Nick, I really enjoy your blogs.
I'm a bit bamboozled by a lot of the comments, I didn't realize the topic was 'have a rant about Aussies/Poms/Camden.
I'm a dual national and I think both countries are great! A couple of the people commenting sound like they need to take a deep breath and get over it, lol. Firstly, London's great - never lived there but used to train it down from Manchester (great city, nightlife, people - ok, crap weather though) to work at HQ every now and then. Amazing place! The UK has a long history, diverse culture, wonderful architecture and surprisingly varied landscapes and of course great people (especially the Northerners!).
Secondly, Australia is huge, with an incredibly diverse range of ecosystems and wildlife. The comments from Kenilworth were pathetic. How can one argue the pros and cons of Oz, while only listing cons?. I'm sorry he thought Melbourne was only 'almost' enjoyable - get a life! I don't know Melbourne that well but I do know Sydney well. While there are things that piss me off about the place, all is forgiven when I see dolphins from a Sydney ferry.
I now live in a beautiful seaside town 2 hrs south of sydney. I can walk a few minutes to beaches, go the other direction to beautiful countryside as green as anything I've ever seen in the UK and there's even vineyards (enough free samples to get quite tipsy :) and rainforest within a 10 min drive. We also get whale migration twice a year and last time I saw a pod of 6 whales not 50 metres away while on my walk. All my Aussie, UK and European friends love it when they visit. My partner is in Manchester and dying to come out all the while moaning about the UK - I'm the one who has to stick up for ol' blighty, lol.
OK, both places are great - the rants should be reserved for more important stuff like cricket tours, football/soccer and lack of vegemite supplies in Manchester!
As for Camden - there's more at play than issues with muslims. They are also petrified that the NSW State government plans to massively increase the pop. over the next 20 years and want to stop anything that will facilitate that. The Pauline Hanson lookalike (the one with the Akubra hat) that keeps raving on about how muslims aren't welcome has already proven her 'towering intellect' in a television debate with a representative from a muslim community organization. Of course there are racist people here but it is being presented by the media as such a black and white issue we aren't even allowing for the possibility of any planning issues. Gee, you should see the furore over a planned retirement near me..... muslims aren't the issue in this case, the culprits are the old people! There are issues that need to be dealt with to minimise the racist sentiments but let's not jump on the old 'all Aussies are racist because of angry people in the media' bandwagon. That's as simplistic as saying all muslims are terrorists because of the cases of extremism we see.
Australia needs a new ad campaign.....I'm seeing something involving the Wiggles, Bindi Irwin and well, hell.......let's get Kylie and Dannii in on the gig as well - with matching gold hotpants! Maybe Queen Elizabeth II can put in good word too, seeing as she is still our head of state. Keep it classy Australia!
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Darius1066 has a point.
As far as I understood it, penicillin isn't strictly speaking an Australian invention.
However, Florey was responsible for managing what in these days would be called the 'project team' which developed the means of producing and extracting penicillin so that it could be used as a medicine.
Interestingly, although antibiotics have saved countless millions of lives, apparently Florey himself was concerned about the risk of overpopulation caused by breakthroughs in medicine!!!
Now for a little feedback for Nick - I agree with some of the other bloggers that your reporting tends to centre too much on Sydney, and would like to see more of an effort to travel further afield than Goulburn, which is just two hours down the Hume :-)
Also, the practice of interviewing the 'person in the street' so to speak would probably be more representative if streets outside Bondi were chosen from time to time. Try Seven Hills or South Kempsey.
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Hi sj2533
I was just trying to highlight to youngspeaker that OZ isn't the all welcoming paradise that she made out it to be compared to the UK..................My comment about 'almost enjoying OZ' was meant very much tongue in cheek believe me if i truely hated the place i doubt i would have lasted 6 years.........my apologies if that whooooshed over your head!!!!!!!
The main drift i was trying to get at was that both countries have problems, and to be honest what country doesn't??? I've lived in too many countries around the world not to realise that!!!!..............
I'm not sure why but their seems to be almost a paranoir concerning OZZies and their obsession with wanting to be liked by everyone.........something i picked up on when watching TV out there was whenever a non OZ was getting interviewed on TV one of the first questions asked would always be "well what do you think of OZ?", it's almost as if you need constantly reasurring by strangers that you do live in a wonderful country. Whether this is down to a historical lack of confidence as a nation i'm not sure, whatever the reason it is strange considering how you do punch above your weight in many fields (I'll try not to mention the cricket!!!!!)
Sometimes on here it almost seems like a crime to slag off oz whereas it's a free for all when slagginging off the UK(although i do realsie that pommie bashing is a natiponal sport)...........you can't say one bad thing about oz without someone jumping back down your throat and highlighting what great beaches, weather, blah,blah,blah oZ has..........yeah cool, great get over it..........blah,blah,blah
Anyway i will repeat "different horse's for different course's.........................and believe me even though it may look it, very rarely is the grass greener on the other side of the fence!!!!!!
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I love to read your blog for the chuckle factor! I lived for 25 years in Asutralia and have spent recent years in England - I don't know how long you have been in Australia (long enough for that deadly Hollywood tan!) but you really don't seem to have achieved an understanding of us Aussies and as well as laughing I am frequently offended.
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Sj2533
I like what you have said and am sorry that I am slagging the UK but it has been a real eye opener living here.. I guess I just expected to much from this place.
I stand by that I would never live anywhere else in the world but OZ ... and am fully aware that this is because I was born and bred and what can I say I am patriotic. I am also aware of Australia's problems.
Kenilworth88 I think you should open your eyes as this is a forum speaking about Australian issues... maybe you should go on a UK Blogging site?
And can you blame me for bagging POMMY land as most of the English I met here aren't typically proud of the country generally is get this said to me I quote:
'' Oh your Australian then why are you here in this miserable country''
Can you really blame us I really haven?t met many English who a genuinely proud of their country....(this does not just mean soccer... oh sorry football)
Oh and the other thing growing up next to Camden and working there in my teens it doesn't need the extra traffic that the school would bring every afternoon there is already gridlock on their streets ...
And I don't think it is Nicks fault for talking about Sydney to much isn't that where he is based? Maybe Nick should try and stint in every state? I would be interested in what is going on all across Australia as well.
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Cheers youngspeaker.
No worries. Have you been up North yet? If not, you should check some places out b4 you leave the UK. Manchester, Harrogate, Leeds, York, Liverpool are just a few great places I heartily recommend. Beachwise, Formby Point near Liverpool is quite a gem!
Sorry to Kenilworth88 if I put your nose out of joint but I didn't perceive very much tongue-in-cheek in your comments - they just seemed a tad nasty. I mean I enjoy reading Private Eye Magazine and watching all the British comedies and having a bit of a laugh with my British friends about why we Aussies are completely full of it but I agree, your incisive wit did woosh over my head.
All I wanted to point out is that I think both the UK and Australia are both special and that generalised slag offs in both directions are a bit tiresome. My dad's a Brummy, my partners from Yorkshire and alot of my family are die-hard Londoners (Manchester for me though) so I love the UK but I also love Oz since I was born here.
Anyway, on the topic of Aussie innovations that was previously raised, I just want to weigh in with not just the obvious Hills Hoist but also permanent crease trousers way back in 1957! Hey, the Americans might put people on the moon but Aussies keep creases in their trousers, lol!
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sj2533
Not sure where you got the 'nasty' from
espicialy in comparision to comments made from certain other people about the UK, (try reading thru some of youngspeakers previous posts) perhaps your all abit senstive oop Norf!!!
Funnily enough your trying to say exactly what i am that both places have their Pros and Cons!!!!! I too enjoyed my time in OZ but that didn't stop me from seeing the bad side of the place. Whilst myself and Mrs Kennilworth88 have chosen to live in the UK believe me it hasn't stopped me seeing the negative sides of the UK as well!!!!
Bombshell time...............................I too was born in OZ (all be it to 5 dollar poms who left after 5 years, although my brother has settled in Melbourne and is happily raising his family there)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just don't go for the "all is great in OZ propaganda"
My apologies for any OZ who's nose i may have put out of joint with my sense of humour but i thought i might try to address the balance by mentioning a few negative truths about Australia and that yes like the UK you too have social problems and yes believe it or not.......not everyone classes it as the ultimate paradise to live.......
You may now continue.....................
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I think Australians get anxious about our image as it is hard to accept the truth that most of the world barely think of us at all! Especially outside Great Britain.
One of our positives is that, I believe, we have the second highest proportion of the population born overseas of any nation, behind Israel. We also have a very high proportion of the population who have a passport and the resources and desire to travel. I teach nine year olds in a middle class part of Sydney (not on the wealthy north shore) and at least half my kids have been overseas. Overseas for us is generally a long way, not the weekend in Rome beloved of Londoners. Thus we grow up with a reasonable awareness of the outside world and find it confronting when so many people we meet overseas have barely heard of our country, do not know what language we speak, and frankly could not care less!
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To Sj233 and Kenilworth
Thanks for the advice so I will check some of those places out before I leave. I have been to liverpool and although I thought it was a nice city didn't see much difference from anywhere else in the UK but I guess once you have lived there you get to see the different side.
To kenilworth again do you think we are stupid? we no that there are not all positives about living in OZ....
But our lifestyle is fantastic and we know it and we brag about it so am sorry for that...
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youngspeaker;
"we brag about it so am sorry for that..."
LOL................and don't we know it.....................
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
oooooohhh ark at her time for the personal insult's now is it?????............LOL .........................pull your head in luv............................
Lots of people in lots of countries have fantastic lifestyles and pride in their countries of resisdence but you don't hear them going on about it all the time do you????? ....................................Ohhh please listern to me as i descibe that wooooonderful lifestlye of mine,blah,blah,blah.......................must be that Aussie paranoia kicking in again...........
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Lifestyle seemed to me more important to the people of Sydney (I haven't been anywere else in Australia) than in any other city I have ever been to. The upside to that, obviously, is that the middle-class really is the majority, as opposed to the USA and UK where it is shrinking rapidly, and they do have nice, comfortable lives. The downside is that it's harder to create and even acknowledge a national "edgy" culture since that stuff tends to come from disenfranchised fringe groups of people, which seemed much smaller in Sydney than in London, Paris, NYC or even Tokyo. This, I think, is a huge reason so many Australian artists and academics have tended to go abroad. Canada has much the same issue: great quality of life and total domination by a middle class that craves comfort and a general sense of economic equality above all else. So for the people that stay, the logical thing is the constant promotion of beaches and natural beauty as opposed to, say, Australia's very rich multi-cultural immigrant experience and fusion-based cuisine.
I got the impression that most Sydneysiders liked it that way though. So I was surprised at how many times I was asked what I thought of Australia - second only to if I'd been swimming yet, as if we don't have great beaches in the USA too. Maybe they assumed I couldn't afford them. I could understand that.
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It makes me laugh when you get younger people in Australia telling you how great Australia is and how living here is better than anywhere else in the world while at the same time saving up to move to Britain or America
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As a dual citizen of the UK and Australia and having lived in 3 cities all starting with the letter B I am going to give you my views! I have lived in Burnie, Tasmania/ Brighton, England and now Brisbane ( Brissie ) Queensland. The main difference between the two countries is the fact Australia is such an egalitarian society as England is class-obsessed and there is still a huge emphasis on class structure. I was at a wedding in Burgess Hill - UK and they noticed I was not dressed up and then they noted my Australian accent i'll never forget what he said: " Australia is the way forward with your attitudes - look at all this silly pompous %*$%$*. I find it disturbing that people who have not spent time in Australia think it is a wasteland of desert when infact it is very urbanised with most of the population in Melbourne and Sydney. I have spent much time in Sydney and can't understand how under-rated Brisbane is with the lovely Sunshine Coast and superficial GOLD COAST holiday zone at your doorsteps. It is the perfect size. Brighton was another example of a much nicer place to live in contrast to London. It comes alive in the summer and is a very progressive city with it's own true identity. Unlike most of the UK that seems to be so much the same. The state of people's mental health in Australia is a lot better then the UK and that is the vibe I get walking in cities in both countries. The cost of a train to Luton airport from Brighton was more expensive then a return flight to Milan, Italy with Ryan air. COST is another huge downfall in the UK. I have the same job here and I have a modern house that I am renting with room - and DISPOSABLE income. I run out of money in the UK. Going out over there killed me. My dad was born in England and moved out to Tasmania in the 70's. Fell in love with it. He said " it's like a non-crowded small version of England without the snobs" I guess Aussies cant stand that upper-class mentality over there in the UK when really Australia wins hands down with living standards. The cities are like our Canadian friends without the coldness. Look up living standards on google and you will see Australian cities winning hands down and London rated about 42. Australia 1 - England 0 . Peace out ....
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Netcrusher...
I agree with you 100%. Australia and Canada are places where the middle-class rules and economic egalitarianism is the goal. The USA and UK are much more class stratified with money concentrated in the hands of the rich with the rest struggling and "one paycheck away from poverty" as the saying goes. But the flipside of that is that I think alternative cultures do much better in USA and UK for those exact same reasons. Edgy stuff is hard to create when everyone is comfortable.
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First Kennilworth and youngspeaker might want to get a room - though in what country, I still can't decide.
Second I completely agree that we get very defensive as no one really knows anything about us, or really cares. For example below are a few q's sent to an Australian tourism site. with their joke responses...
Q: Are there supermarkets in Sydney, and is milk available year-round? (Germany)
A: No, we are a peaceful nation of vegan hunters and gatherers. Milk is illegal.
Q: Are the rattlesnakes in Melbourne deadly? Do you sell anti-venom at the grocery store? (USA)
A: Rattlesnakes live in A-mer-i-ca, which is where you come from. Australian snakes are perfectly harmless, can be safely handled and make great pets.
Q: What is Q: Does it ever get windy in Australia? I've never seen it rain on TV. How do your plants grow? (UK)
A: We import all of our plants fully grown and then sit around watching them die.
Q: My wife and I enjoy walking tours. How long will it take us to get from Perth to Sydney on foot? (Canada)
A: How long did it take you to do your last 4,000 kilometre walk? Bring a bottle of water.the weather like in Vienna in May? (USA)
A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y.
And 3rd the Camden issue. Maybe some of the debate was racially charged but consider the current size of the Muslim community in Camden. It has over 26,000 people and 211 of those are Muslim. So there might be 100 muslim school students in the area max. Why on earth would you want to build a school that catered for 1200 in an area that doesn't require it? The site they chose had already been rejected for a state public school. Were they attempting to fight an already lost and unwinnable planning battle for a school that was unviable for any particular reason? Not to be able to play the victim (once again)? Surely not.
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you spelt my name wrong :(
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Some observations about Nick's original article, as I think he is gilding the lily somewhat:
The Australian mining industry is largely foreign owned(not anything wrong with that though) with Britain leading the charge.
Nick wrote: "Australia is the world's fourth largest exporter of wheat, and the fourth largest exporter of wine."
Doesn't Europe throw all its wheat away? Wine, huh? Point being?
RE US alliance Nick wrote: " In the same essay, Britain did not merit an equivalent mention. "
Are you seriously suggesting that Australia is a more of a key ally to the USA than Britain? If not, then what is your point?
Culturally? I don't think Australia does any better than any liked size nation. Canada anyone. It's certainly not in the same league as Britain.
Rupert Murdoch? Not even Australian!
Nick wrote:"In sport, Australia's sporting academies are the envy of the world"
So were East Germany's. Any country can do it, all it takes is investment. Australia is so inclined because in didn't win one gold medal at the '76 Montreal Olympics.
"Cricket is the world's 2nd most popular sport." Hmmm!
Lifestyle superpower? Conde Nast Traveller magazine is hardly scientific with its survey of its 20,000 readership. In reality, Sydney wouldn't be in the world's top 20 destinations.
Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming. Florey was working at Oxford during its development, not sure how Australian that makes it?
Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People List". LOL!
I could go on.
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I think Kenilworth has a point.
Yes, Australia is a lovely place. But I couldn't stand the isolated, introspective, parochial navel gazing of the place. It's terrible. Australia has an incredible inferioirty complex about its place in the world - and it should. It matters not in the global economy or politics. The pathetic attempts to compete on a world stage are embaraasing - there's simply not the volume of people/taxes to fund these whims (Aussie electric car? :rolleyes:) and coupled with the "tyranny of distance" it's always going to be behind the rest of the world.
Good for you if you want to live there. I like living in the real world.
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Penicillin an Australian 'invention'? Scottish surely, or will i need to sue my primary school for misleading me all these years?
With regards the advertising campaign the imagery used in the current 'where the bloody hell' campaign is very varied and most certainly not Sydney based. It's also very attractive and enticing. However the cost of travel keeps rising and the money in the pocket of your average UK resident is being severely squeezed just now so visitor numbers may well fall, but i don't think you can blame the advertising campaign.
I have to say the 'Wiggles' have passed me by so far, i always assumed Roy and HG would be Australia's highest paid performers, they should be!
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the wiggles website reminds me of the old board game RISK.
Australian's are rarely so audacious as to keep conquering more than one territory or continent once they lock down the UK....
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Just wanted to say that kenilworth88 speaks a lot of sense, and maybe youngspeaker needs to calm down a little!
A lot of the people speaking up for the UK or daring to criticise Oz in some small way aren't saying one country is better than the other, it's more a case of redressing the balance slightly. Constant tales of how brilliant Oz is (and yes some Brits who?ve never visited are guilty) do begin to wear a little thin after a while - no country is perfect. We?ve got a lot of friends back in the UK who just can?t just see the point of coming over (except to visit us of course), as they see it, if they want good weather and beaches there?s a lot of places closer to home. Of course they?re missing out on a lot of other things, but it?s their opinion.
I'm not sure that segat1 has quite got the reason for the Oz bragging right though, I don't sense an inferiority complex in your average Aussie, actually the complete opposite! I think this also helps to explain why sometimes, despite our closeness, the two nations just don't ?get?each other. People like youngspeaker think that Brits are not proud of their country - that's just not true. We may take the sarcasm ("you're from Oz, why move to the UK?!") too far for some people, and sometimes it would be nice if we said what we truly felt without bothering about upsetting people but equally, it makes a nice change from the sometimes mis-placed confidence that seems to be the Ozzie norm.
Finally, just a few comments on the class debate. Maybe I was too middle class to notice this in the UK, but apart from some snobbery (isn't this part of what tourists like about UK, especially in London) I don't see any greater divides there than here in Oz. Sure, everyone here has a car, but that's only because you can?t get anywhere without them. There's plenty of really poor people here, just like at home (unfortunately). On the flipside too, there are a lot 'edgy' suburbs too, even here in sleepy Brisbane, where for decades you've had immigrants settling, and exerting tier own influence on the country - just like the UK.
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