NationStates Jolt Archive

How do people regard Australia ("The Land Down Under") around here?

All :p

Voted 2 and 4 :D

Voted 2 and 4 :D

Well, the US were a bunch of convicts too. :D

Well, the US were a bunch of convicts too. :D
hey hey hey, Indians. Ever heard of them?

(krhm, I do remember Aboriginals too)

Right now, I think Australia is a demographically split country. (I.e, it can't decide on what it wants to be). But since I can only choose one, I'd say its closest to being a US puppet.

But what is Australia exaclty? Do we even know how to define what Australia is? Australia is not as close to America as you think, hell the two countries don't even have free trade with one another.

Australia will never become a part of Southeast Asia, not unless the Asians take over the country(Which would be darned cool, since I'm an Asian! :D ). There is too large a gulf in cultural and religious barriers to break, even if Australia and Indonesia have become relatively close.

Actually, Australia right now is barely made up of 25% of the original convict races. Its basically a hodge-podge of 200 different cultures that has successively defined its own identity.

hey hey hey, Indians. Ever heard of them?

(krhm, I do remember Aboriginals too)

Except the people who run the place are mostly white Europeans. ;)

Right now, I think Australia is a demographically split country. (I.e, it can't decide on what it wants to be). But since I can only choose one, I'd say its closest to being a US puppet.

But what is Australia exaclty? Do we even know how to define what Australia is? Australia is not as close to America as you think, hell the two countries don't even have free trade with one another.

Australia will never become a part of Southeast Asia, not unless the Asians take over the country(Which would be darned cool, since I'm an Asian! :D ). There is too large a gulf in cultural and religious barriers to break, even if Australia and Indonesia have become relatively close.

Actually, Australia right now is barely made up of 25% of the original convict races. Its basically a hodge-podge of 200 different cultures that has successively defined its own identity.

I'm an Asian too. Our politics seems to be changing into a mini-US and the Christian White Right are slowly taking over issues to the detriment of the other cultures.

Its basically a hodge-podge of 200 different cultures that has successively defined its own identity.

i'd have to say none of the above and go with this choice myself... depending on where in australia that is...

I voted for one and two because (a) I think we should be more integrated with Asia and (b) we are too far up America's arse at present. We do currently have a free trade agreement with America set up last year by John Howard, the same idiot who was quoted in the straits times as saying Australia was "America's deputy" in the Asian region.
If theres one way to ostracize ourselves from our neighbours, thats it.

Steve
Australian-Asian Integrationist

I voted for one and two because (a) I think we should be more integrated with Asia and (b) we are too far up America's arse at present. We do currently have a free trade agreement with America set up last year by John Howard, the same idiot who was quoted in the straits times as saying Australia was "America's deputy" in the Asian region.
If theres one way to ostracize ourselves from our neighbours, thats it.

Steve
Australian-Asian Integrationist

It would help if we signed that ASEAN amity pact (which is mostly symbolic).
Heck even the Kiwis signed it.

As an australian, I voted 2.

I should also add theres *heaps* of speculation and interpretation of what it is to be "Asian" - so to simply argue wether Australia is or isn't Asian is too open to interpretation. There are plenty of people in the region who would define themselves as Japanese or Korean or Filipino before they would define themselves using the title of Asian.

sorry, i'm just talking a lot coz this was my honours topic :D

Steve

It would help if we signed that ASEAN amity pact (which is mostly symbolic).
Heck even the Kiwis signed it.

you're absolutely right - there is plenty more we could be doing to show that we are independent and willing to take part in the region in a positive way

I should also add theres *heaps* of speculation and interpretation of what it is to be "Asian" - so to simply argue wether Australia is or isn't Asian is too open to interpretation. There are plenty of people in the region who would define themselves as Japanese or Korean or Filipino before they would define themselves using the title of Asian.

sorry, i'm just talking a lot coz this was my honours topic :D

Steve

I'm a Chinese genetically born in Malaysia who lives in Australia (running an NS nation based on Israel).
I could be called Malaysian, but I call myself Chinese Australian.

I see it as a great land with boxing Kangaroos. But there's no option for that. So I picked 2 & 4.

I'm a Chinese genetically born in Malaysia who lives in Australia (running an NS nation based on Israel).
I could be called Malaysian, but I call myself Chinese Australian.

Same! Buuuuut I've yet to move to Australia. Still stuck in Malaysia. :p

Anyway.. It would be nice if they do join ASEAN, especially the football. :D

Same! Buuuuut I've yet to move to Australia. Still stuck in Malaysia. :p

Anyway.. It would be nice if they do join ASEAN, especially the football. :D

Australia needs skilled immigrants. If you got skills, they want you. If you come in a leaky wooden boat, expect to spend years in the local concentration camps.

Australia needs skilled immigrants. If you got skills, they want you. If you come in a leaky wooden boat, except to spend years in the local concentration camps.

Soon. I'm doing Accounting and Finance in RMIT twinning branch in Malaysia. Probably going to Melbourne next year if I got my finances alright.. or my sister (Who's already a PR in Melb) can support me.

Your short of skilled workers, we're short of skilled workers too. :p South East Asian countries are having a major brain drain to Australia or the US.

Soon. I'm doing Accounting and Finance in RMIT twinning branch in Malaysia. Probably going to Melbourne next year if I got my finances alright.. or my sister (Who's already a PR in Melb) can support me.

Your short of skilled workers, we're short of skilled workers too. :p South East Asian countries are having a major brain drain to Australia or the US.

Cool, I did an accounting course once (mandatory one) and Accounting sux for me. I'm an IT person, something rare in Australia. You should have no problems unless you hang around Mosques, train with Al Quaeda, and chant death to America.

ive always thought of australia as


a great place for a beach vacation



is there more to it than that?

ive always thought of australia as


a great place for a beach vacation



is there more to it than that?

Yes, good place for adventure holidays and still lots of natural environment left to look at (all types). You can ski here too! Some decent cities, but we do have a water shortage problem looming.

but we do have a water shortage problem looming.

Actually I heard it's not so much of a water shortage. It's just that Australia cannot keep up it's water supplies with the rate of expansion? You'lve been having water problems for more than a decade.

John Howard, the same idiot who was quoted in the straits times as saying Australia was "America's deputy" in the Asian region.


http://www.theage.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2003/06/02/1054406130164.html




Howard's occasional verbal stumbles on foreign policy, however, have had a continuing international effect. Most particularly, the so-called "Howard Doctrine" - which was announced in the September 29, 1999 issue of The Bulletin, courtesy of the report by journalist Fred Brenchley from his interview with the PM.

It is surprising that, nearly four years after the event, some diplomats and foreign commentators still believe that Howard announced, in September 1999, that Australia would be "deputy sheriff" to the United States in the Asian region. It is true Brenchley interpreted the Prime Minister's view as necessitating that Australia would be a deputy to the US. It's just that Howard never used this term. Nor did he utter the word "sheriff" - this was dropped into the story by a subeditor in search of a memorable subheading.

The problem turned on the fact that Howard had spoken to Brenchley without a prepared text. His office initially welcomed the Howard doctrine piece and did not demur about the deputy sheriff references. Then reports started coming to Canberra from Australian embassy posts in Asia, pointing out that references to Australia as the US deputy sheriff were damaging.

Only then did Howard move to correct the deputy sheriff label with a number of statements in Parliament. By then, alas, the term had stuck. It is still used today - and not only by the Prime Minister's foreign policy critics (for whom this is a term of derision).

The deputy sheriff reference was still prevalent when Howard appeared on Channel Nine's Sunday program on December 1, 2002. Sorry, naught but an urban myth.

In NS terms, Australia is an authoritarian democracy. I wear boots and braces everywhere I go. Yesterday I bumped into a mate I'd gone to school with. Had a chat, bloody cops rolled up 5 minutes after we'd split and detained me for an hour on grounds that I was dealing. What? Bullshit, all I had in my bag was a bunch of old 2000AD comics I'd found at an opshop for my girl who digs them... felt like fucken idiot. At least they didn't find my knife.

Another thing- another mate's homeless. Lived here all his life, 27 years.... 2 kids a wife in Tasmania... he's bein deported to Canada of all bizarre places, because there was some fucking law in 1984 or somethin that if you're the child of foreign embassy staff and you're born in Australia, you're not a citizen but a goddamn foreigner from whatever country your parents came from! Stalinist shit, if you ask me.

I see Australians as the tough guys of the old British Empire. A certain ruggedness persist Down Under that doesn't exist in the rest of Asia. Rugged individualism and sense of the frontier are still alive.

Actually I heard it's not so much of a water shortage. It's just that Australia cannot keep up it's water supplies with the rate of expansion? You'lve been having water problems for more than a decade.

Most big cities are having major problems with securing future water supplies.
Australians are WORST in regard with use of water as we didn't have much to start with. I live in the tropical NT where rain is main supply.

We put Chlorine and Fluoride in our water, BTW.

US Puppet.

i think of Kangaroos

Im alittle confused

Australia needs skilled immigrants. If you got skills, they want you. If you come in a leaky wooden boat, expect to spend years in the local concentration camps.
So you are saying we need more people?
but we do have a water shortage problem looming.
So you are saying we have to many people?

Most big cities are having major problems with securing future water supplies.
Australians are WORST in regard with use of water as we didn't have much to start with. I live in the tropical NT where rain is main supply.

We put Chlorine and Fluoride in our water, BTW.

And ~90% of NSW is still in drought or something like that. So there is a major problem with water

So you are saying we need more people?

We have lots of people, but not enough have the skills we require. We have doctor, teacher, nurse, IT professional, etc shortages. It's so bad we have import some.


So you are saying we have to many people?

Misuse of the resources in the past has lead to this situation (and the recent droughts as well). Clean water sources near our cities are harder get find as the old ones run out.

Who are the people choosing 3 (oceania mega power)?!? I don't see us having that much clout. The only thing I would put in that category was going into East Timor for the independence thing and the Soloman Islands coup. But I wouldn't describe it as mega power

And hey! as if we're a bunch of convicts? Australia's such a mesh of different cultures, a significant percentage are migrants from overseas.

Who are the people choosing 3 (oceania mega power)?!? I don't see us having that much clout. The only thing I would put in that category was going into East Timor for the independence thing and the Soloman Islands coup. But I wouldn't describe it as mega power

And hey! as if we're a bunch of convicts? Australia's such a mesh of different cultures, a significant percentage are migrants from overseas.

I put in the last one for humour. Looks like people think we are still bunch of crims. Australia is very different from the drunkards that arrived first. :p

Australiae the world BWA HA HA HA HA!

Not to be crude, but australia seems to be the leftovers of america's circumcised...well, you know. Its still good, a bit different and detatched, but its got some say. It cant really do anything, as opposed to... but nobody is forgetting it anytime soon, as opposed to a femur or something.

Bad analogy. Its a US puppet, but still cool, and not 100% behind us afaik. I know some awesome people from down there.

Not to be crude, but australia seems to be the leftovers of america's circumcised...well, you know. Its still good, a bit different and detatched, but its got some say. It cant really do anything, as opposed to... but nobody is forgetting it anytime soon, as opposed to a femur or something.

Bad analogy. Its a US puppet, but still cool, and not 100% behind us afaik. I know some awesome people from down there.

Some old story, decent people and bad government.
Come visit Australia, before it turns into Texas.

We have lots of people, but not enough have the skills we require. We have doctor, teacher, nurse, IT professional, etc shortages. It's so bad we have import some.

Every nation imports teachers...

Well from here it's the "Land up over."

Seems like a cool enough place, just a bit too obsessed with dumb sports (Read Aussie Rules and Cricket :p) and annoying accents. Prolly live or work there for a year or two at some stage in my life.

Australia will become a major power when I take over the world and use it as my capital...mwhahahahaha.

'Til then, we're a US puppet.

Australia is okay. Very friendly people, have yet to meet an Australian jerk, but I have met two Australian idiots. Met a bunch of great people from there.

:headbang: The Australian government sucks. I am an Australian and my opinion on John Howard is pretty low. I'm caucasion and come from Canadian, Scottish and Irish heritage (don't call me slow or stupid) and I'm so against our government that I have nearly been kicked out of home for it. John Howard's comments whilst the American's were voting were completely innappropriate in fact he himself is completely inappropriate and I pray regularly that God may bless our country with a decent politician. However it is as they say - We vote not to put the best party in but to keep the worst party out.

I'm caucasion and come from Canadian, Scottish and Irish heritage (don't call me slow or stupid)

Oh now come on, I'm only one of those, and I'm begging for it. WTF do you expect of people, saintly restraint? :p

Erm, anyways, over here Australia is just a fairly decent place, and a damn fine place for a holiday, as far as we can gather. You knooooow? We don't have a whole lot to DO with them in general.

:headbang: The Australian government sucks. I am an Australian and my opinion on John Howard is pretty low. I'm caucasion and come from Canadian, Scottish and Irish heritage (don't call me slow or stupid) and I'm so against our government that I have nearly been kicked out of home for it. John Howard's comments whilst the American's were voting were completely innappropriate in fact he himself is completely inappropriate and I pray regularly that God may bless our country with a decent politician. However it is as they say - We vote not to put the best party in but to keep the worst party out.

Only one thing, what the heck does being of Canadian, Scottish and Irish heritage have to do with being slow?

Australia is okay. Very friendly people, have yet to meet an Australian jerk, but I have met two Australian idiots. Met a bunch of great people from there.

Met our politicians yet? :)

You forgot a Haven for greeks! :D 1,2 and4

Met our politicians yet? :)

No but according to The Simpsons they sit naked in innertubes in a pond and "give people the boot". I have asked many an Australian what the hell the boot could be referencing and all of them were baffled.

No but according to The Simpsons they sit naked in innertubes in a pond and "give people the boot". I have asked many an Australian what the hell the boot could be referencing and all of them were baffled.

Don't you just love the US media!
Our politicians are just like any, scum but our scum. The recent trend is to become like US politicians. :confused:

Don't you just love the US media!
Our politicians are just like any, scum but our scum. The recent trend is to become like US politicians. :confused:

Hey, what's not to love? Daytime TV is, in particular, high quality fair with meaningful, lifechanging things broadcast everyday.
Then, as we move into Desperate Housewives and random 30 sitcom crap we find ourselves emergedin the pure bliss of entertainment. . . but common, The Simpsons are superior and The X-Files were once, long ago, a fresh breath for a weary world. Then the T-1000 got hired to replace certain people and the idiot writers on the show actually tried to answer the questions they had posed for years without answer. Idiots.

I find all of these comments about Australia amusing, especially if some people who've posted here aren't actually Australia.
Our politicians probably combine the worst excesses of the British system, with the terrible administrations of the American system. Basically, we'll always have absolutely crap politicians and ministers regardles of which major 'side' (labor or liberal) we pick in the near future.

I agree that most Aussies hate Howard, but I don't think Beazely's any better. And then to top it all, not only are we considered to be US puppets, but also our figurehead will soon be King Charles III, frightening as that idea sounds.

I find all of these comments about Australia amusing, especially if some people who've posted here aren't actually Australia.
Our politicians probably combine the worst excesses of the British system, with the terrible administrations of the American system. Basically, we'll always have absolutely crap politicians and ministers regardles of which major 'side' (labor or liberal) we pick in the near future.

I agree that most Aussies hate Howard, but I don't think Beazely's any better. And then to top it all, not only are we considered to be US puppets, but also our figurehead will soon be King Charles III, frightening as that idea sounds.

Howard should move the US, hehe. :)
King Charles III or King John I? :p

Howard should move the US, hehe. :)
King Charles III or King John I? :p
Knig John II there as already been a 1st think(The Lion Hearts brother)

I voted one and two, but I should have voted four as well. I'm in Brisbane and I don't mind the local and state (Queensland) government. Mind you, the state government is a little less corrupt than was under Sir Joh, but that's OK because even in Sir Joh's day corruption was just greese on the wheels of government. Basically we don't really care what the government does, as long as it keeps the fuck out of our lives.

Corruption is also rank in Victoria, with branch stacking so rife that actual memberships (as opposed to fake memberships) of political parties are in the minority.

The police are also corrupt (drugs and Melbourne gang wars), but Cynthia Nixon (You can always trust a Nixon;):p) is changing that. She's doing a fantastic job in changing the culture of the police force.

But the thing about corruption in Australia is that it is so rank and so many people are involved that it is self-regulating. Watch the movie "Dirty Deeds" to get a good (if out dated) picture.

No but according to The Simpsons they sit naked in innertubes in a pond and "give people the boot". I have asked many an Australian what the hell the boot could be referencing and all of them were baffled. Hahaha, I remember reading an interview with Matt Groening, where he said that the only episode he regretted making was the Australian one. He said; "We basically didn't know what the hell we were talking about".

Hahaha, I remember reading an interview with Matt Groening, where he said that the only episode he regretted making was the Australian one. He said; "We basically didn't know what the hell we were talking about".

On "The Panel" harry Shearer said that they knew what ever they did would be wrong, so they decided to make it as incorrect as possible. He also mentioned that the Simpsons may return, however he said that two years ago and I've been waiting at the international airport all the time and they still haven't shown up. ;) Nor have I seen them on the TV in the airport lounge. :p

No but according to The Simpsons they sit naked in innertubes in a pond and "give people the boot". I have asked many an Australian what the hell the boot could be referencing and all of them were baffled.

You must have been talking to some dumb yups then, most Aussies know 'boot' means to kick someone out of something. On Australia, its a great place except for all the middle eastern mucho wankers who go around rapin white chicks and who seem to want to turn this country into one of the conflict and dept ridden shitholes their parents escaped from, harsh but true, their just pieces of shit, give them the boot as soon as possible.
Best place in Straya, Northern beaches Sydney.

I have a cool cousin who lives there, and both times we (my family) have visited, we've gone bar-hopping. No complaints here ;)

Best place in Straya, Northern beaches Sydney.

So they cleaned up the syringes from Sydney's beaches?

I voted one and two, but I should have voted four as well. I'm in Brisbane and I don't mind the local and state (Queensland) government. Mind you, the state government is a little less corrupt than was under Sir Joh, but that's OK because even in Sir Joh's day corruption was just greese on the wheels of government. Basically we don't really care what the government does, as long as it keeps the fuck out of our lives.

Corruption is also rank in Victoria, with branch stacking so rife that actual memberships (as opposed to fake memberships) of political parties are in the minority.

The police are also corrupt (drugs and Melbourne gang wars), but Cynthia Nixon (You can always trust a Nixon;):p) is changing that. She's doing a fantastic job in changing the culture of the police force.

But the thing about corruption in Australia is that it is so rank and so many people are involved that it is self-regulating. Watch the movie "Dirty Deeds" to get a good (if out dated) picture.
Sooo, australian government is basically a larger version of chicago's, at least concerning corruption and toadyism?

THis is totally off the topic but i felt like saying it.

We have this English guy in our class who says the only people who are actually Australians are people with British convicts for ancestors, everyone else is just foriengers (that's spelt wrong, i know) living here.
Apparently thats his comeback to being called a Pom. Figure that one out. :confused:

BTW, i didn't vote coz none of those are really what i think, there should be more options.

Of all the English speaking community here, Aussies are the ones I usually get along with the best (after my fellow Texans but before others from the US).

Who are the people choosing 3 (oceania mega power)?!? I don't see us having that much clout. The only thing I would put in that category was going into East Timor for the independence thing and the Soloman Islands coup. But I wouldn't describe it as mega power.

Personally, I voted that because you are the biggest country in Oceana (http://sanjacinto.episd.org/ged/social_studies/geography/continents/).

And as for the other options, it isn't part of SE Asia, no matter how much it's tried to be. The convict bit is history, and shaped modern Australia, much like it did the US, but I don't really see Australians as convicts any more than I do USAians. And if I suggested option 2 to most Australians I know, they'd laugh.

You must have been talking to some dumb yups then, most Aussies know 'boot' means to kick someone out of something. On Australia, its a great place except for all the middle eastern mucho wankers who go around rapin white chicks and who seem to want to turn this country into one of the conflict and dept ridden shitholes their parents escaped from, harsh but true, their just pieces of shit, give them the boot as soon as possible.
Best place in Straya, Northern beaches Sydney.

:rolleyes:

Say hi to Pauline. Keep up the good work - people like you, Hansen, and these folks (http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/8789/couroff22.htm) are great examples to come back with when Aussies try to slag off the States.

Sooo, australian government is basically a larger version of chicago's, at least concerning corruption and toadyism?

No, because as I understand it in Chicago it is electoral fraud, where as here it is fraud within the party machine, not actually during the election. They stack branches with fictional members so voting blocs can choose which candidates should be put forward on behalf of the party at elections.

Australia will never become a part of Southeast Asia, not unless the Asians take over the country(Which would be darned cool, since I'm an Asian! :D ). There is too large a gulf in cultural and religious barriers to break, even if Australia and Indonesia have become relatively close.

I can see it now - the Indo-Austrailians launch an insurgency, while the Indonesians slam in and the Japanese open with massive assaults :D

:rolleyes:

Say hi to Pauline. Keep up the good work - people like you, Hansen, and these folks (http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/8789/couroff22.htm) are great examples to come back with when Aussies try to slag off the States.

I don't see how a small minority of people in Australia belonging to an American organization (KKK) is a great example when Australians slag off the less than desirable elements of America. Hell, most of us slag off these same undesirable elements within our own country.

I've encountered a few Australians at my university... we seem to have an inordinate number of them, there even being a large Australian flag draped by some students on one of the residential buildings.

What's interesting in my talks with them is that they seem to be more ambivalent toward the U.S. than thoroughly gung-ho about it.

Granted, as far as I know there are a lot of Australians who seem inordinately interested in emulating the U.S. culturally, but it seems sort of like politics don't quite figure incredibly heavily into the equation.

The truly disturbing thing about Australia is, to me, the political landscape. In the United States, the Democratic Party remains a force to be reckoned with (though it's still in sort of a rebuilding mode after a couple of disastrous election cycles) but in Australia, the Liberals seem to have a stronghold on the political scene, and Labour seems to emulate the Liberal Party far too heavily. I mean, shit. Rupert Murdoch, arch-conservative media-whore extraordinaire has ties to Aussie Labour if I'm not mistaken. Also, it seems as though national politics in Australia are more or less dictated by a powerful minority to a much higher degree than in the U.S.

:rolleyes:

Say hi to Pauline. Keep up the good work - people like you, Hansen, and these folks (http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Senate/8789/couroff22.htm) are great examples to come back with when Aussies try to slag off the States.

We have our racists too. :(
Hey, but I was imported :p

The truly disturbing thing about Australia is, to me, the political landscape. In the United States, the Democratic Party remains a force to be reckoned with (though it's still in sort of a rebuilding mode after a couple of disastrous election cycles) but in Australia, the Liberals seem to have a stronghold on the political scene, and Labour seems to emulate the Liberal Party far too heavily. I mean, shit. Rupert Murdoch, arch-conservative media-whore extraordinaire has ties to Aussie Labour if I'm not mistaken. Also, it seems as though national politics in Australia are more or less dictated by a powerful minority to a much higher degree than in the U.S.

I'd like to point out that all of the state governments are Labour so the Liberals don't really have a death grip on the left. They do however control both federal houses because of their coalition with the nationals. Some nationals however have said that they will abandon the Liberals and cross the floor should they try and sell Telstra again.

The US can nuke Austrailia and Blame North Korea for godsakes.

I'm Australian. I like what Barry Humphrys said... "living in Australia is like going to a party and dancing with your mother all night".

The US can nuke Austrailia and Blame North Korea for godsakes.

And why would they want to do that?

The US can nuke Austrailia and Blame North Korea for godsakes. :confused:

im a pround aussie and i recon australia is the best country in the world! and the new superpower!!!

and the new superpower!!! Right....

Nah, cause WA's getting set to secede, then you'll lose all your mineral wealth. :D

Seriously though, Australia will never become a world power, nor are we even remotely interested in becoming one. We can be a large economic and political force, but not a military one. Our population is simply too small and if we were to become militaristic, we'd have to subdue the entire South East Asian Bloc.

Then again, maybe Pauline Hanson was right, fear the yellow hordes :rolleyes:

I'd like to point out that all of the state governments are Labour so the Liberals don't really have a death grip on the left. They do however control both federal houses because of their coalition with the nationals. Some nationals however have said that they will abandon the Liberals and cross the floor should they try and sell Telstra again.

How important are the Nationals? Is the makeup in parliament so close that defectors would make a big difference? Oh. I should mention that my knowledge of Aussie politics is sort of limited, so sorry if my generalisations about the political set-up seemed excessively sweeping and overly simplistic.

How important are the Nationals? Is the makeup in parliament so close that defectors would make a big difference? Oh. I should mention that my knowledge of Aussie politics is sort of limited, so sorry if my generalisations about the political set-up seemed excessively sweeping and overly simplistic.

Important as they hold seats and traditionally hold the "country" vote.
Saying that, they are really just country-bumpkin conservative liberals in reality.

How important are the Nationals? Is the makeup in parliament so close that defectors would make a big difference? Short answer? Yes.

You forgot a Haven for greeks! 1,2 and4

Melbourne has the second largest Greek population of any city in the world (the largest being Athens)

A survey was done of Melbourne High School, where it was found that approx. 64% of the student population was of Asian Heritage.

I think Australia's "partnership" with the U.S. is based on ties stemming from world war 2 loyalties.
If there was no WW2, would Australia have become more 'self sufficient' or would it have kept stronger links than the existing ones with the U.K.?

I would say yes, seeing as it could also be argued that the reason for Australia's largely multicultural background is due to post-war immigration.

How important are the Nationals? Is the makeup in parliament so close that defectors would make a big difference? Oh. I should mention that my knowledge of Aussie politics is sort of limited, so sorry if my generalisations about the political set-up seemed excessively sweeping and overly simplistic.

This is only the second time that a party has had a majority in both the upper and lower house. If the Nationals were to defect over the Telstra issue and cross the floor the Liberals would not have a majority in the senate (they would be one short), thus defeating the legislation (also assuming that no independants/greens/democrats/ect vote with the government).

None of the above. Austrailia is the Canada of the South. Except lucky enough to not be attached to the US. You don't have to deal with American Daytrippers with their skis on the station wagon roof in August, trying to pay for a coffee with an American $50 bill like it isn't foreign currency.

None of the above. Austrailia is the Canada of the South. Except lucky enough to not be attached to the US. You don't have to deal with American Daytrippers with their skis on the station wagon roof in August, trying to pay for a coffee with an American $50 bill like it isn't foreign currency.

Plus it is warm here and we use the metric system. ;)

I would say yes, seeing as it could also be argued that the reason for Australia's largely multicultural background is due to post-war immigration. True, but it also owes much of its background to the abolishment of the White Australia policy as well as the Whitlam Government's multicultural reforms.

My summary of the Australian parties

Liberal - Not Liberal, closer to US Republican with some admitted Christian evangelists
Labour - Socialist wannabe market capitalists, moved to the right a more but still left of extreme Right
Greens - "Save the trees"
Democrats - Losing influence fast, moderates to the left
Family First - Your local "God is Lord" party
Nationals - Conservatives by default

My summary of the Australian parties

Liberal - Not Liberal, closer to US Republican with some admitted Christian evangelists
Labour - Socialist wannabe market capitalists, moved to the right a more but still left of extreme Right
Greens - "Save the trees"
Democrats - Losing influence fast, moderates to the left
Family First - Your local "God is Lord" party

Plus One Nation (One Notion) - "Get them damned foreigners out!"

Plus it is warm here and we use the metric system. ;)

Don't forget to include the half of Antarctica you people claim, and officially, yes we do use the metric system. Road signs in kilometers and temps. in celcius, however I couldn't tell you my metric height and weight to save my life.

Plus One Nation (One Notion) - "Get them damned foreigners out!"

Oh yes. :confused:
They actually have a different name but I forgot what it was.

Liberal - Not Liberal, closer to US Republican with some admitted Christian evangelists Technically, one could call them "Classical Liberals".

Labour - Socialist wannabe market capitalists, moved to the right a more but still left of extreme Right "Labor" :D , other than that, yes the ALP is drifting right, but it still isn't anywhere near the Liberal party in terms of policies.

It's interesting to note that unlike the U.S., religion is not a very important issue in politics. Certainly we have our debates over gay marriage, euthanasia and abortion, but when running for Prime Minister, God almost never comes into it. In fact, the last contender for the ALP was an avowed Agnostic.

Don't forget to include the half of Antarctica you people claim, and officially, yes we do use the metric system. Road signs in kilometers and temps. in celcius, however I couldn't tell you my metric height and weight to save my life.

Actually I think we have about 2/3 of antartica, but we have the part that isn't rich in minerals (the peninsular is) so everyone else who has a stake in Antartica (and most of them over lap) is squabbling about where to put their drills and mines.

Technically, one could call them "Classical Liberals".

"Labor" :D , other than that, yes the ALP is drifting right, but it still isn't anywhere near the Liberal party in terms of policies.

It's interesting to note that unlike the U.S., religion is not a very important issue in politics. Certainly we have our debates over gay marriage, euthanasia and abortion, but when running for Prime Minister, God almost never comes into it. In fact, the last contender for the ALP was an avowed Agnostic.

If a politician mentioned God during a public campaign here they would be booed, shunned and spat upon.

My summary of the Australian parties

Liberal - Not Liberal, closer to US Republican with some admitted Christian evangelists
Labour - Socialist wannabe market capitalists, moved to the right a more but still left of extreme Right
Greens - "Save the trees"
Democrats - Losing influence fast, moderates to the left
Family First - Your local "God is Lord" party
Nationals - Conservatives by default
you also forgot ACP, the Australian Communist Party

Just a random question: are the streets of Australia flowing over with Canadian students studying to become teachers? I can't walk to class at my University without being stopped twice by someone trying to give me a brochure and convince me to go to Teacher's College in Australia. I've considered it on more than one occasion, most often in February while trying to regain feeling in my extremities.

and veru, do u go to Melbourne High?

If a politician mentioned God during a public campaign here they would be booed, shunned and spat upon.

Except Reverend Fred Nile :)

you also forgot ACP, the Australian Communist Party

Where did they campaign? there's no Reds under the bed in the NT.

The Labour party is going really bad, not only did they recruit Peter Garret but now they are talking about getting eddie McGuier, Kim Beazly, HA!

Where did they campaign? there's no Reds under the bed in the NT.

mate, there's nothing in NT, no offence though, but it's the truth. and they campaigned a bit in Melbourne, every day in the city for a week befor the election they were handing out phamlets and stuuf like that

Australia is screwed up basically. We are too highly influenced by the US with the media owned by former Australia Rupurt Murdoch, who owns 2/3 of the world's media, and who pushes a rightwing view, which confveniently helps the propaganda machine of the US and Aus governments.

The ALP is screwed and will no longer represent people. The democratcs already fell apart. The Greens are the best we got, but they still wont win.

I propose a new Democratic Socialist Party of Australia - DSPA - ooo! We can have that Eagles song "Desparado" as our theme song - anyhow, in about 10-20 years time when I am in a suitable position, I plan to form said party as a new force within Australian and possibly world politics.

Who is with me? :sniper:

Late,

mate, there's nothing in NT, no offence though, but it's the truth. and they campaigned a bit in Melbourne, every day in the city for a week befor the election they were handing out phamlets and stuuf like that

You're wrong. We have WMD - Uranium!

* Laughs evilly * :)

thats right, ayers rock is actually a secret nuclear silo!

thats right, ayers rock is actually a secret nuclear silo!

We have Uranium, a US listening intelligence post (Pine Gap), Tindal Military airport and other things like goannas of mass destruction. And now, toads from the land of Banana Benders ... :confused:

And some new US military bases coming too! I feel so (un)safe.

dont forget the masters of theese goannas, the aboriginal, if they can get close enogh to u, and they had enough boomarangs, and enough time, u could get a very bad bruise!

and by the way, Melbourne its self has more than u, i mean there is a whole tunnle network around melbourne. Stakcs of military crap and the studio for ROVE LIVE

Right now, I think Australia is a demographically split country. (I.e, it can't decide on what it wants to be). But since I can only choose one, I'd say its closest to being a US puppet.

But what is Australia exaclty? Do we even know how to define what Australia is? Australia is not as close to America as you think, hell the two countries don't even have free trade with one another.

Australia will never become a part of Southeast Asia, not unless the Asians take over the country(Which would be darned cool, since I'm an Asian! :D ). There is too large a gulf in cultural and religious barriers to break, even if Australia and Indonesia have become relatively close.

Actually, Australia right now is barely made up of 25% of the original convict races. Its basically a hodge-podge of 200 different cultures that has successively defined its own identity.

You're a fucking moron.

hell the two countries don't even have free trade with one another.

Pick up a non-tabloid newspaper every once and a while, would you?



Actually, I'm quite glad you said that. It just proves that Howard didn't tell anybody about the free trade agreement with the U.S. he promised to impliment if he was elected in the last federal election. Instead, he crapped on about interest rates, and as soon as he got back in implemented the Free Trade Agreement and fucked us all over with his other promises.

Geologically, Australia is in with India, along with parts of Indonesia, East Timor and New Zealand. If Indonesia wants to stay in Asia, and New Zealand decides to go with Oceania, then Australia's pretty much on its own; lucky us.

As for Antarctica, there are a few treaties from the 1950's that disallow any nationalistic claims to any part of Antarctica. Without those treaties, Australia would have a lot of space to stretch out, along with a lot of ice to play with. Perth would have its water problems fixed quickly, along with those of all the other cities.

Politically, things are weird. While the federal government is Liberal, all the states and territories are Labor. The Nationals helping out the Libs ensure a majority in both houses, but even without them, the Liberals wouldn't have things all that tough to get laws through parliament.

Oceania is littered with tiny nations that can hardly keep their heads above the waterline (both financially and geographically,) so it wouldn't exactly be hard to be called the 'megapower' of Oceania. Perhaps one should concentrate on buying out some of these countries, thereby unifying them.

who owns 2/3 of the world's media No, as much as I dislike the man, he doesn't.
Australia will never become a part of Southeast Asia, not unless the Asians take over the country(Which would be darned cool, since I'm an Asian! Hmmmmmmmmmmm :rolleyes:

Geologically, Australia is in with India, along with parts of Indonesia, East Timor and New Zealand. If Indonesia wants to stay in Asia, and New Zealand decides to go with Oceania, then Australia's pretty much on its own; lucky us.

As for Antarctica, there are a few treaties from the 1950's that disallow any nationalistic claims to any part of Antarctica. Without those treaties, Australia would have a lot of space to stretch out, along with a lot of ice to play with. Perth would have its water problems fixed quickly, along with those of all the other cities.

Politically, things are weird. While the federal government is Liberal, all the states and territories are Labor. The Nationals helping out the Libs ensure a majority in both houses, but even without them, the Liberals wouldn't have things all that tough to get laws through parliament.

Oceania is littered with tiny nations that can hardly keep their heads above the waterline (both financially and geographically,) so it wouldn't exactly be hard to be called the 'megapower' of Oceania. Perhaps one should concentrate on buying out some of these countries, thereby unifying them.

Police in the Solomon's islands
We fund the PNG economy (otherwise it crashes without us)
Member of coalition of Willing in Iraq
East Timor UN operations

We are a little busy ...

Except Reverend Fred Nile :)

But he's a reverend, he's supposed to talk about God.

dont forget the aid given to our "friends" during the tsunami

"friends" Uh-huh :rolleyes:, those dirty yellow folk got what they deserved and aren't to be trusted, right?

But he's a reverend, he's supposed to talk about God.

Our version of Pat Robertson in the US. :)
We now have Family First, though. Talking about family values all the time (as determined by evangelist Christian concepts of family).

Police in the Solomon's islands
We fund the PNG economy (otherwise it crashes without us)
Member of coalition of Willing in Iraq
East Timor UN operations

We are a little busy ...

And the Tsunami in Indonesia
Did we pop into Fiji when they had that atempted coup with George Spait?

Our version of Pat Robertson in the US. :)
We now have Family First, though. Talking about family values all the time (as determined by evangelist Christian concepts of family).

I thought they'd never get in after I heard one of their party workers mention burning lesbians/witches.

Uh-huh :rolleyes:, those dirty yellow folk got what they deserved and aren't to be trusted, right?

no ur a freak. i never said that, and however u came to that conclusion is beyond me. "Friends" refering to Indonesia, which allways has and allways will hate us, they got all bitchy cos we send peace keepers to stop the slaughter in eats timor and reply with "how dare you" how dare us what, help people in need.

I've just found a way that Australia can annoy EVERY nuclear nation on the planet. All we need to do is shut down all our uranium mines. Since we're sitting on about 40% of the world's uranium deposits, we shut down the mines, and within five years, the main global politics will be dominated by us. Current uranium demand can only be sustained for less than ten years without building more mines anyway, since they're using old nuclear weapons to supplement production to match demand at the moment. We Aussies will have America, France, et al by the short and curlies. It will also mean that we will become the main nuclear power, even if we never build a nuke.

Or we could end up nuked beyond recognition.

I live in Sydney, which I really love. Sydney city, that is. The Sydney suburbs are full of white trash, who, like the creator of this thread, have no idea about anything in the world around them. They vote Liberal because they somehow think that the outcome of an election is going to have a significant impact on interest rates, which of course they dont. They couldn't care less about anything beyond their own little fucked up lives. Hell, you've all seen Kath and Kim. Idiot fucking convicts.

Sydney city is European, Chinese and Korean - with quite equal proportions of each. Everybody is really accepting and tolerant of everybody else, you wont find anything like it in the world. People are worldly, intelligent and aware of the world around them - the fact that The Greens win the Sydney City seat in the federal election every year proves that.

The thing about Australia in general is that the whole populace, and the federal government, hates Sydney. There are so many snide remarks about city foalks and such, it's stupid. We're the only global city in Australia, we contain 2/3rds of the New South Wales population, we contribtute to the nation's GDP more than most Australian states do, we are, without doubt, the biggest, most important place in Australia, and indeed all of English speaking South East Asia. Yet both the NSW and Federal governments are determined to take the hideous amounts of tax dollars we sydneysiders pay and place them in all the shitty, B-grade "cities" and country towns in the rest of the nation. THEY DONT NEED IT LIKE WE DO. A Global city deserves the most amount of money being spent on it, because we are Australia's representative to the rest of the world. So many people live in this city of ours, yet we get the least amount of government money spent per capita on us.

I hate Australia, it is ruled and populated by ignorant, racist conservatives. I'm moving to Tokyo as soon as I complete my second rate education in one of Sydney's universities.

And the Tsunami in Indonesia
Did we pop into Fiji when they had that atempted coup with George Spait?

Man, losing track of our foreign operations ... too many

The Tsunami and follow-up Earthquake ones too. Potentially we might need to help again when those volcanoes go off.

Have to check with Fiji one, can't remember.

well they can nuke Sydney

I've just found a way that Australia can annoy EVERY nuclear nation on the planet. All we need to do is shut down all our uranium mines. Since we're sitting on about 40% of the world's uranium deposits, we shut down the mines, and within five years, the main global politics will be dominated by us. Current uranium demand can only be sustained for less than ten years without building more mines anyway, since they're using old nuclear weapons to supplement production to match demand at the moment. We Aussies will have America, France, et al by the short and curlies. It will also mean that we will become the main nuclear power, even if we never build a nuke.

Or we could end up nuked beyond recognition.

I suggest we either change the 'Three uranium mines' policy, or change where the mines are located to: The Great Barrier Reef; Ayre's rock; and Darling Harbour. ;)

I live in Sydney, which I really love. Sydney city, that is. The Sydney suburbs are full of white trash, who, like the creator of this thread, have no idea about anything in the world around them. They vote Liberal because they somehow think that the outcome of an election is going to have a significant impact on interest rates, which of course they dont. They couldn't care less about anything beyond their own little fucked up lives. Hell, you've all seen Kath and Kim. Idiot fucking convicts.

Sydney city is European, Chinese and Korean - with quite equal proportions of each. Everybody is really accepting and tolerant of everybody else, you wont find anything like it in the world. People are worldly, intelligent and aware of the world around them - the fact that The Greens win the Sydney City seat in the federal election every year proves that.

The thing about Australia in general is that the whole populace, and the federal government, hates Sydney. There are so many snide remarks about city foalks and such, it's stupid. We're the only global city in Australia, we contain 2/3rds of the New South Wales population, we contribtute to the nation's GDP more than most Australian states do, we are, without doubt, the biggest, most important place in Australia, and indeed all of English speaking South East Asia. Yet both the NSW and Federal governments are determined to take the hideous amounts of tax dollars we sydneysiders pay and place them in all the shitty, B-grade "cities" and country towns in the rest of the nation. THEY DONT NEED IT LIKE WE DO. A Global city deserves the most amount of money being spent on it, because we are Australia's representative to the rest of the world. So many people live in this city of ours, yet we get the least amount of government money spent per capita on us.

I hate Australia, it is ruled and populated by ignorant, racist conservatives. I'm moving to Tokyo as soon as I complete my second rate education in one of Sydney's universities.


from what we hear, Sydney city is completely GAY!

As for us being busy with a few assignments (Solomons, East Timor, PNG, Iraq), well, we could try buying PNG back, couldn't we? Or the Solomons if PNG is too big a task. Would we want a land border with Indonesia? Maybe not.

With Fiji: hmm, I'm not sure.

I live in Sydney, which I really love. Sydney city, that is. The Sydney suburbs are full of white trash, who, like the creator of this thread, have no idea about anything in the world around them. They vote Liberal because they somehow think that the outcome of an election is going to have a significant impact on interest rates, which of course they dont. They couldn't care less about anything beyond their own little fucked up lives. Hell, you've all seen Kath and Kim. Idiot fucking convicts.

Sydney city is European, Chinese and Korean - with quite equal proportions of each. Everybody is really accepting and tolerant of everybody else, you wont find anything like it in the world. People are worldly, intelligent and aware of the world around them - the fact that The Greens win the Sydney City seat in the federal election every year proves that.

The thing about Australia in general is that the whole populace, and the federal government, hates Sydney. There are so many snide remarks about city foalks and such, it's stupid. We're the only global city in Australia, we contain 2/3rds of the New South Wales population, we contribtute to the nation's GDP more than most Australian states do, we are, without doubt, the biggest, most important place in Australia, and indeed all of English speaking South East Asia. Yet both the NSW and Federal governments are determined to take the hideous amounts of tax dollars we sydneysiders pay and place them in all the shitty, B-grade "cities" and country towns in the rest of the nation. THEY DONT NEED IT LIKE WE DO. A Global city deserves the most amount of money being spent on it, because we are Australia's representative to the rest of the world. So many people live in this city of ours, yet we get the least amount of government money spent per capita on us.

I hate Australia, it is ruled and populated by ignorant, racist conservatives. I'm moving to Tokyo as soon as I complete my second rate education in one of Sydney's universities.

Excuse me! I'm an Chinese Australian who lives in the NT and is affected by Asian events. I don't vote Liberal and hate White Johnny who lives in Sydney if you didn't know.

Go ahead and move to Japan, the people who don't acknowledge their crime committed on China during WW2.

Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight Fight

from what we hear, Sydney city is completely GAY!
We are very proud of our homosexual population, of which I am a member.
We are considered by many gay rights groups as a haven from homophobia, and, along with San Francisco, a gay capital of the world.

Indonesia, which allways has and allways will hate us Yes, that's right. They ALL HATE US :rolleyes:

Yes, that's right. They ALL HATE US :rolleyes:

what the hell are u on about, and what the hell are u on!

Excuse me! I'm an Chinese Australian who lives in the NT and is affected by Asian events. I don't vote Liberal and hate White Johnny.

Go ahead and move to Japan, the people who don't acknowledge their crime committed on China during WW2.
I am quite aware of the atrocities Japan inflicted apon China over the course of history, not just the world wars, and am completely and utterly horrified at them, just like every Japanese citizen (who is educated about them) is.

Our version of Pat Robertson in the US. :)
We now have Family First, though. Talking about family values all the time (as determined by evangelist Christian concepts of family).

Oh, and they also want to burn bottleshops, buddhist and hindu temples and mosques. People actually VOTED for them?!?! WHY?

I am quite aware of the atrocities Japan inflicted apon China over the course of history, not just the world wars, and am completely and utterly horrified at them, just like every Japanese citizen (who is educated about them) is.

Not really. Japanese education is very biased and their system minimised exposure to this kind of information. The current spat between China and Japan exposes this. I would not move to Japan myself (as I am Chinese) and they are racist any peoples in the world too.

Oh, and they also want to burn bottleshops, buddhist and hindu temples and mosques. People actually VOTED for them?!?! WHY?

cos they dont like u

what the hell are u on about, and what the hell are u on! Calm down mate, this is the internet. No need to get worked up over binary code.

I'm pointing out the flaw in your comment pertaining to the bulk of Indonesia's population. Contrary to what you may believe, most Indonesians are either ambivalent, or positive about Australia on the whole. Certainly, they may not like our past actions, or be critical of our foreign policy, but unless they are islamic extremists, it's highly unlikely there is a large amount of animosity.

BTW, I'm on love, and everyone is invited!

I live in Sydney, which I really love. Sydney city, that is. The Sydney suburbs are full of white trash, who, like the creator of this thread, have no idea about anything in the world around them. They vote Liberal because they somehow think that the outcome of an election is going to have a...of tax dollars we sydneysiders pay and place them in all the shitty, B-grade "cities" and country towns in the rest of the nation. THEY DONT NEED IT LIKE WE DO. A Global city deserves the most amount of money being spent on it, because we are Australia's representative to the rest of the world. So many people live in this city of ours, yet we get the least amount of government money spent per capita on us.

I hate Australia, it is ruled and populated by ignorant, racist conservatives. I'm moving to Tokyo as soon as I complete my second rate education in one of Sydney's universities.


Voting Green isnt a big acheivement. If the country was run by the greens there wouldnt be an economy to brag about in sydney, as all the companies that occupy the big buildings would be out of business and the aboriginals would have to be consulted every time you want to take a piss.

Also, Australia's Unis have a proud reputation as the amount of foreign students will attest to. By all means, australia isnt perfect, but if you think Australia is racist and conservative try going to the middle USA, or try being a white person in Japan.

Oh, and they also want to burn bottleshops, buddhist and hindu temples and mosques. People actually VOTED for them?!?! WHY?

No, he hates Gays though (hate is not a strong enough word).

I don't vote Liberal and hate White Johnny who lives in Sydney if you didn't know.
Raised in the western suburbs, on white bread, glorified war stories and sport.
The federal government isn't Liberal - it is a coalition between the nationals and the liberals. The nationals hate Sydney, as do most liberals. So even if Howard was raised in Sydney City (though how such an ignorant conservative could come out of such a city I dont know), he would be under a lot of pressure to spend billions of dollars "helping out" farmers and not spend a dollar on Sydney.

Voting Green isnt a big acheivement. If the country was run by the greens there wouldnt be an economy to brag about in sydney, as all the companies that occupy the big buildings would be out of business and the aboriginals would have to be consulted every time you want to take a piss.

Also, Australia's Unis have a proud reputation as the amount of foreign students will attest to. By all means, australia isnt perfect, but if you think Australia is racist and conservative try going to the middle USA, or try being a white person in Japan.

Here Here

Just wondering as an ignorant Canadian, what is the political situation like in Australia, is there a strong party with a majority, or a bunch of parties squabling over nothing and getting about the same amount done like in Canada?

Raised in the western suburbs, on white bread, glorified war stories and sport.
The federal government isn't Liberal - it is a coalition between the nationals and the liberals. The nationals hate Sydney, as do most liberals. So even if Howard was raised in Sydney City (though how such an ignorant conservative could come out of such a city I dont know), he would be under a lot of pressure to spend billions of dollars "helping out" farmers and not spend a dollar on Sydney.

His father was spotted at an Oz Nazi meeting in the 1930's or 1940's (or his father's car) according to some. Explains him? :p

Just wondering as an ignorant Canadian, what is the political situation like in Australia, is there a strong party with a majority, or a bunch of parties squabling over nothing and getting about the same amount done like in Canada?

currently there is a military coup in Melbourne, a hiv crisis in Sydney, incest in Hobart and a flock of birds in Darwin

The only uranium around Sydney is at the Lucas Heights reactor. Coral doesn't have much uranium in it, it's more calcium. Most of the uranium is in NT, with some in the desert in all mainland states, excluding Victoria.

The thing about Australia in general is that the whole populace, and the federal government, hates Sydney. There are so many snide remarks about city foalks and such, it's stupid. We're the only global city in Australia, we contain 2/3rds of the New South Wales population, we contribtute to the nation's GDP more than most Australian states do, we are, without doubt, the biggest, most important place in Australia, and indeed all of English speaking South East Asia. Yet both the NSW and Federal governments are determined to take the hideous amounts of tax dollars we sydneysiders pay and place them in all the shitty, B-grade "cities" and country towns in the rest of the nation. THEY DONT NEED IT LIKE WE DO. A Global city deserves the most amount of money being spent on it, because we are Australia's representative to the rest of the world. So many people live in this city of ours, yet we get the least amount of government money spent per capita on us.

I hate Australia, it is ruled and populated by ignorant, racist conservatives. I'm moving to Tokyo as soon as I complete my second rate education in one of Sydney's universities.


Firstly, I live in Brisbane and I think it is a wonderful place. It's a large country town of 1.2 million friendly people. As part of the 'whole populace' I for one do not hate Sydney, nor do I know anyone who does. As for snide remarks, I think that pretty much every Australian makes some sort of snide remark about someone, somewhere. It's not that we hate Sydney, we just want to make fun of it, just like we want to make fun of almost everything else.

As for your budgetry comments, I would hardly call the funding that regional cities in north east NSW (Northern rivers area, which is the only area in NSW I have extensivly travelled recently and thus the only one I can comment upon) excessive, especially when the NSW government knows if they don't put in services (e.g. comprehensive medical facilities) they can just drive an hour north and be treated in a state capital. I mean, hell, even Queensland roads are better than large portions of that area.

With regards to the Federal tax system, I can't imagine that Sydneysiders pay a higher level of taxation than the rest of the nation, so I imagine your qualm is with the money not being spent in Sydney, right? What you don't realise is that spending some federal revenue outside of Sydney can help Sydney. Do you think more or less tourists would come to Australia if the government didn't spend money protecting the Barrier Reef? Would there be more or less exporters based in Sydney if the government didn't give grants to farmers?

But hey, I'm just a ignorant, racist conservative (who votes green) and you've got a second rate education.

Voting Green isnt a big acheivement. If the country was run by the greens there wouldnt be an economy to brag about in sydney, as all the companies that occupy the big buildings would be out of business and the aboriginals would have to be consulted every time you want to take a piss.

Also, Australia's Unis have a proud reputation as the amount of foreign students will attest to. By all means, australia isnt perfect, but if you think Australia is racist and conservative try going to the middle USA, or try being a white person in Japan.
A common misconception. The Greens' policies make a lot of sense; economically, socially and environmentally.
If it weren't for The Greens, Sydney would be lacking a lot of things that make it world famous. They're policies make perfect economic sense, it's just that they aren't focused on making the poor dirt poor and the rich filthy rich... They're not going to ban cars, make everybody vegetarian and force everybody to live in apartments. Read their policies before passing judgement.
Besides, you can't have an economy if there's no environment.

Australia is screwed up basically. We are too highly influenced by the US with the media owned by former Australia Rupurt Murdoch, who owns 2/3 of the world's media, and who pushes a rightwing view, which confveniently helps the propaganda machine of the US and Aus governments.

The ALP is screwed and will no longer represent people. The democratcs already fell apart. The Greens are the best we got, but they still wont win.

I propose a new Democratic Socialist Party of Australia - DSPA - ooo! We can have that Eagles song "Desparado" as our theme song - anyhow, in about 10-20 years time when I am in a suitable position, I plan to form said party as a new force within Australian and possibly world politics.

Who is with me? :sniper:

Late,

Not me. Sure Murdoch owns the australian, daily telegraph etc but they arent nearly as right wing as Fox is in the states so lay off the left wing warcrys.

Hey, Patra Caesar

What do you with those Cane Toads. There going be hopping around Darwin pretty soon?

A common misconception. The Greens' policies make a lot of sense; economically, socially and environmentally.
If it weren't for The Greens, Sydney would be lacking a lot of things that make it world famous. They're policies make perfect economic sense, it's just that they aren't focused on making the poor dirt poor and the rich filthy rich... They're not going to ban cars, make everybody vegetarian and force everybody to live in apartments. Read their policies before passing judgement.
Besides, you can't have an economy if there's no environment.

listen they want to legalize marijuana, disband the armed forces and open up the borders, if u even know what this would cause, you wouldnt vote greens

Just wondering as an ignorant Canadian, what is the political situation like in Australia, is there a strong party with a majority, or a bunch of parties squabling over nothing and getting about the same amount done like in Canada?

There are two main parties: The Liberal/National coalition and the Australian Labour party. Together they make up about 90%

The only uranium around Sydney is at the Lucas Heights reactor. Coral doesn't have much uranium in it, it's more calcium. Most of the uranium is in NT, with some in the desert in all mainland states, excluding Victoria.

Umm, if this is a reply to my post then I am sorry. I had thought the winking smiley at the end would have given you a clue that I was kidding..

cos they dont like u

WHat?

Hey, Patra Caesar

What do you with those Cane Toads. There going be hopping around Darwin pretty soon?

There are many fun things to do with cane toads. Golf clubs/cricket bats are a stable. Driving over them with cars too. Ignighting them can be difficult. I've heard that some chamicals react with their skin and cause them to die slowly and painfully, not great. My favourite however is capturing them in a plastic bag and freezing them. You never know when a froozen toad will be useful. ;)

Personally I think that the government should offer a reward of $5.00 for every bucket of toads you bring in. Unless you want to spend that money on Sydney. ;)

listen they want to legalize marijuana, disband the armed forces and open up the borders, if u even know what this would cause, you wouldnt vote greens

Their stance on the first issue is true, but the latter two are false. That's just Liberal party propaganda

and we (cunningham) were the first to get the Greens into the House of Representatives (in a by-election before the last election). yay! :D

There are many fun things to do with cane toads. Golf clubs/cricket bats are a stable. Driving over them with cars too. Ignighting them can be difficult. I've heard that some chamicals react with their skin and cause them to die slowly and painfully, not great. My favourite however is capturing them in a plastic bag and freezing them. You never know when a froozen toad will be useful. ;)

Personally I think that the government should offer a reward of %5.00 for ecery bucket of toads you bring in. Unless you want to spend that money on Sydney. ;)

Well, the NT gets f*** all funds sometimes.

I'm not keen on dead Toads with my food in the freezer.
Some folks say dettol kills them real quick (like drinking HCl for a human).

There are many fun things to do with cane toads. Golf clubs/cricket bats are a stable. Driving over them with cars too. Ignighting them can be difficult. I've heard that some chamicals react with their skin and cause them to die slowly and painfully, not great. My favourite however is capturing them in a plastic bag and freezing them. You never know when a froozen toad will be useful. ;)

Personally I think that the government should offer a reward of $5.00 for every bucket of toads you bring in. Unless you want to spend that money on Sydney. ;)

OOh, our uni gets them shipped in, and first yr biology and biomed ppl do experiments on them (after they're dead of course)

A common misconception. The Greens' policies make a lot of sense; economically, socially and environmentally.
If it weren't for The Greens, Sydney would be lacking a lot of things that make it world famous. They're policies make perfect economic sense, it's just that they aren't focused on making the poor dirt poor and the rich filthy rich... They're not going to ban cars, make everybody vegetarian and force everybody to live in apartments. Read their policies before passing judgement.
Besides, you can't have an economy if there's no environment.

lifted from www.greens.org.au..

"The Greens view the vitality of public education as fundamental to ensuring a 'fair go' society. Its vital that this education is free, universally accessible, and of the highest quality from pre-school to TAFE and university. More..."

universally accessible = wastefull and expensive. (think of uni courses which have no use in the market, ie. 5 million ancient history grads when theres a market for about 100.)

"Now, bi-lateral trade agreements are being used by the White House to promote corporate globalisation at the expense of the environment and the social good. More..."

what the hell is wrong with globalisation? Ask someone in china whether they prefer 1960's china to todays. Some say they are being exploited etc.. but if globalisation was an instrument of exploitation, then the chinese manufacturing employees would be worse off now than in the past.

"The Australian Greens believe that a strong public sector is a prerequisite for a healthy civil society and that some services, because of community service obligations and their essential nature, should be undertaken by public sector agencies. This is a necessary cost in a fair and equitable society."

This is classic socialist misjudgement. A large public sector crowds out the private sector, discourages entrepreneurship, as well as unessasarily taxing the people in the society.

If it weren't for The Greens, Sydney would be lacking a lot of things that make it world famous.

What exactly have the greens done in sydney that has actually made a difference? The only thing they ever do is complain and wax lyrical about how evil the major parties are. If the greens were in government then the country would be in a MUCH worse position, their policies would drive the economy into the ground and their overbearing big-government style would discourage anyone from trying to make money, which is the only was living standards rise and the only way the country can afford to help others.

Well, the NT gets f*** all funds sometimes.

I'm not keen on dead Toads with my food in the freezer.
Some folks say dettol kills them real quick (like drinking HCl for a human).

Yes, I think it reacts with the bacteria colonies it uses, killing the colonies, but I don't think it is always fatal. Just painful. There was an interesting thing about using cigarettes to kill them that I heard in HS, but I don't think it was true. Apparently they cannot swallow, so if you put a cigarette in its mouth it will suffocate. I don't believe this, even if it were true, wouldn't it fall out of its mouth when it jumped?

OOh, our uni gets them shipped in, and first yr biology and biomed ppl do experiments on them (after they're dead of course)

Yes, at HS we dissected toads (hense the freezing, they use them).

Hey, Patra Caesar

What do you with those Cane Toads. There going be hopping around Darwin pretty soon?

My father and uncle used to have great fun playing golf with them, using the toads as the ball :D.

The official story we Brisbaneites are told though is to pick them up with a plastic bag over your hand (yuk), turn the bag inside out so the toad is inside it and tie the top (shudder), then put the bag with toad inside in the freezer, and let them freeze to death (hell no, no way I'm having dirty cane toads hopping around inside my freezer, sealed bag or not) :p .

As a labor supporter, I'm a bit depressed over Australia's politics at the moment, and I suspect things will only get worse for most of us when little Johnny gets control of the senate. Oh well, there's only 2 and 3/4 years to go until the next election :).

Their stance on the first issue is true, but the latter two are false. That's just Liberal party propaganda

and we (cunningham) were the first to get the Greens into the House of Representatives (in a by-election before the last election). yay! :D

no,no theyre all true. i actually checked. and now if ur saying the greenies website is wrong, well then those hippies have some problems

As a labor supporter, I'm a bit depressed over Australia's politics at the moment, and I suspect things will only get worse for most of us when little Johnny gets control of the senate. Oh well, there's only 2 and 3/4 years to go until the next election :).

They should have kept with Simon Crean.

Another thing with cane toads I've just remembered from my teenager years, pour salt on them. I don't know if it kills them, but it certainly makes them jump :D.

I'm sure there's a unique NT way of dealing with Cane Toads.
I'll tell you when we have one.

* Dunks Cane Toad in beer *

isnt it weird how it started off with polotics, then it went to an Anti Sydney discussion and now its about killing cane toads, what next? :D

isnt it weird how it started off with polotics, then it went to an Anti Sydney discussion and now its about killing cane toads, what next? :D

I don't know. We are Australian!

Well, time to go for today.

* Aussie Aussie Aussie *
* Kill Toad Toad Toad *

:D

no,no theyre all true. i actually checked. and now if ur saying the greenies website is wrong, well then those hippies have some problems

"maintaining an Australian military defence based upon a wide definition of security" and "aiming for positive peaceful relations in our defence and other security plans" (quoting from the greens website: www.greens.org.au )

that doesn't appear to equate with disband the armed forces


and opening up borders? that's too ridiculous to dignify with a response. Don't go around spreading false information please

isnt it weird how it started off with polotics, then it went to an Anti Sydney discussion and now its about killing cane toads, what next? :D

But there wasn't an anti-Sydney discussion. There was just one Sydneysider who thinks that we are all ignorant, racist conservatives who steal all of Sydney's money. No one actually said a bad word about Sydney (except for the Sydneysider who complained about the suburbs being full of white trash).

Is that two blue-arse flies climbing up a wall? Let's argue over them! :D

As a labor supporter, I'm a bit depressed over Australia's politics at the moment, and I suspect things will only get worse for most of us when little Johnny gets control of the senate. Oh well, there's only 2 and 3/4 years to go until the next election :).

At least you have an Elected Senate. In some sort of throw-back to Britain, Canadian senators are appointed by the prime minister to serve a largely ceremonial role until they turn 75.

what happens when they turn 75?

what happens when they turn 75?

Someone feeds them cane toads...

what happens when they turn 75?

I dunno. Maybe they get too close to the fireplace and *poof* because they are notoriously drunk. I remember a few years ago they got really riled up because the cabinet in the house of commons was trying to take away their open bar during sessions. It was only time I've ever heard anything interesting come out of that side of Parliament.

I dunno. Maybe they get too close to the fireplace and *poof* because they are notoriously drunk. I remember a few years ago they got really riled up because the cabinet in the house of commons was trying to take away their open bar during sessions. It was only time I've ever heard anything interesting come out of that side of Parliament.

Ahh, my bad. Correction: Cane toads dipped in beer.

The Sydney arguments really remind me of the Toronto arguments here. Actually they are basically the same. Only Toronto is of much less regional importance in the world being only a 1 hour flight from New York.

At least you have an Elected Senate. In some sort of throw-back to Britain, Canadian senators are appointed by the prime minister to serve a largely ceremonial role until they turn 75.

Yikes, thats terrible. I won't feel so sorry for myself now.

The reason I was complaining though is because our senate is usually dominated by parties opposed to the government, so they keep, or are supposed to keep (remembering the Demoliberals and the GST), the government honest, and keep the worst of the bills out. With the Liberals dominating the senate from July (I think), little Johnny will be able to pass anything he likes, and thats bad news to most ordinary working Australians.

Someone feeds them cane toads...

LOL, they are poisonous, so that should work. Wonder if someone should send little Johnny a toady present :D:D.

ey what is it like in Canada?

ey what is it like in Canada?

First, the spelling is "eh." And second if you're refering to politics, then something of the nature "insane" could be referenced. We're currently under our first minority government in 20 years, which seems on the verge of collapse. Seems there was some actually quite minor corruption in Quebec that can alledgedly be traced back to the Liberal party which has been in power since the early 90's. Well this corruption and the inquiry to firgure it all out (which ironically has already cost more than the aleged corruption) have been the daily fodder around here and the opposition conservatives are now polling higher than the liberals. Some people are expecting the Conservatives to force an election with the help of the Bloc Quebecois a regional (but large) seperatist party.

i meant normal life

i meant normal life

Well I can only speak for myself, but I think most Canadians are more than a little relieved that spring is here once again. Then again I'm sure it's still winter in most of the country. I guess I shouldn't speak about weather seeing as how the part of ontario I live in is as far south as the north end of California.

it never snows in australia

I enjoy snow for about three days a year. Those being Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and my birthday when I usually go toboganing drunk or toboozening as we call it. Other than that snow is the bane of my existence. Our autumns are quite mild here though so we often don't have snow until January.

I'm a Chinese genetically born in Malaysia who lives in Australia (running an NS nation based on Israel).
I could be called Malaysian, but I call myself Chinese Australian.
My friend is an Australian-born Irishman, who is also half Welsh.
And he lives in England - guess how much stick he gets!!!
That's why I voted convicts ;)

Crazy convicts trying to run a huge desert island. It'll never work.

it never snows in australia
It does in the mountains. HAH.

Question: Did anyone vote "Oceania mega-power" who isn't (part) Australian?

I live in Australia (unfortuneatley) and would rather be in my wonderful home that is New Zealand. But seeing as Im here I will spread some wisdom onto you people. Australians are generally a confused and ethnically jumbled nation. Everyone SAYS that they will vote Johnny Howard out of government seeing as they're all supposedly against the war and against his policies and then they vote him back AND give his party the majority in parliment. Idiots. He's getting rid of Medicare, though he promised not to, and everyones so shocked. :headbang: :confused: Those who voted for him must be feeling like an idiot. He doesnt care about the people. He proved that by following his master, Mr. Bush to war. Most people here who are ACTUALLY Australian act like convists....Or cavemen, on their good days. Everyone else is from other countries, me + parents including, and have come here in search of a better life but have found that most jobs are prioritised for Australians and European Immigrants fill the factories. My dad was a lawyer in Serbia and speaks perfect English but his deploma isnt recognised here in Mates land. Though Australia is culturally diverse and generally accepting of everyone, they have an unfair and biased amount of nationalism that doesnt include the 75% of its population that arnt actually Australian. Now, i know all Australian out there will swear at me for this little rant but oh well. Thats the truth in my eyes. (Sorry for any spelling mistakes)

I suggest that Australia disassociate itself completely from Asia -- cultures should not mix, that's why they're separate.

I suggest that Australia disassociate itself completely from Asia -- cultures should not mix, that's why they're separate.

Here we go...

I suggest that Australia disassociate itself completely from Asia -- cultures should not mix, that's why they're separate.

I believe, from memory, that 7% of our population is Asian, and considerably more are of some form of mixed ancestry. We are an extremely multicultural society. Many of my friends are from Asian backgrounds. Cultures do and can mix, and thus lead to improved cultures.

I believe, from memory, that 7% of our population is Asian, and considerably more are of some form of mixed ancestry. We are an extremely multicultural society. Many of my friends are from Asian backgrounds. Cultures do and can mix, and thus lead to improved cultures.

Couldn't agree more.

So they cleaned up the syringes from Sydney's beaches?

ages ago, why be so negative against Sydney, every western country has this problem.

I live in Sydney, which I really love. Sydney city, that is. The Sydney suburbs are full of white trash, who, like the creator of this thread, have no idea about anything in the world around them. They vote Liberal because they somehow think that the outcome of an election is going to have a significant impact on interest rates, which of course they dont. They couldn't care less about anything beyond their own little fucked up lives. Hell, you've all seen Kath and Kim. Idiot fucking convicts.
Sydney city is European, Chinese and Korean - with quite equal proportions of each. Everybody is really accepting and tolerant of everybody else, you wont find anything like it in the world. People are worldly, intelligent and aware of the world around them - the fact that The Greens win the Sydney City seat in the federal election every year proves that.
The thing about Australia in general is that the whole populace, and the federal government, hates Sydney. There are so many snide remarks about city foalks and such, it's stupid. We're the only global city in Australia, we contain 2/3rds of the New South Wales population, we contribtute to the nation's GDP more than most Australian states do, we are, without doubt, the biggest, most important place in Australia, and indeed all of English speaking South East Asia. Yet both the NSW and Federal governments are determined to take the hideous amounts of tax dollars we sydneysiders pay and place them in all the shitty, B-grade "cities" and country towns in the rest of the nation. THEY DONT NEED IT LIKE WE DO. A Global city deserves the most amount of money being spent on it, because we are Australia's representative to the rest of the world. So many people live in this city of ours, yet we get the least amount of government money spent per capita on us.
I hate Australia, it is ruled and populated by ignorant, racist conservatives. I'm moving to Tokyo as soon as I complete my second rate education in one of Sydney's universities.

Good, we wont miss you, you obviously have a problem with white people by calling them all ' white trash' etc which makes you nothing but an ignorant racist pig. Go with my blessing, and the sooner the better.

How do people regard Australia ("The Land Down Under") around here?

:p I live here and even i dont know... lol i voted all four

It's gonna be called the "Howard Empire" as opposed to Australia when johnny takes over the senate next month :)

I don't see how a small minority of people in Australia belonging to an American organization (KKK) is a great example when Australians slag off the less than desirable elements of America. Hell, most of us slag off these same undesirable elements within our own country.

Well, when Aussies go about saying that Australia is so perfect compared to the US, it serves nicely to puncture their arguments.

Actually,I like alot about Australians. The whole idea of "a fair go" may not be applied perfectly, but it's a good goal and most of you do apply the idea, which is one of the reasons I like Australia so much.
And Aussies take the piss out of themselves with great aplomb.
The usual mention of such things goes something like this:
Aussie: The US is racist.
Me: What about "White Australia:, Hansen, and the "deep north"?
Aussie: Yeah, they suck!
*We both drink some good beer*

I have seriously considered moving there when I'm done with Japan.

I live in Sydney, which I really love. Sydney city, that is. The Sydney suburbs are full of white trash, who, like the creator of this thread, have no idea about anything in the world around them. They vote Liberal because they somehow think that the outcome of an election is going to have a significant impact on interest rates, which of course they dont. They couldn't care less about anything beyond their own little fucked up lives. Hell, you've all seen Kath and Kim. Idiot fucking convicts.

Sydney city is European, Chinese and Korean - with quite equal proportions of each. Everybody is really accepting and tolerant of everybody else, you wont find anything like it in the world. People are worldly, intelligent and aware of the world around them - the fact that The Greens win the Sydney City seat in the federal election every year proves that.

The thing about Australia in general is that the whole populace, and the federal government, hates Sydney. There are so many snide remarks about city foalks and such, it's stupid. We're the only global city in Australia, we contain 2/3rds of the New South Wales population, we contribtute to the nation's GDP more than most Australian states do, we are, without doubt, the biggest, most important place in Australia, and indeed all of English speaking South East Asia. Yet both the NSW and Federal governments are determined to take the hideous amounts of tax dollars we sydneysiders pay and place them in all the shitty, B-grade "cities" and country towns in the rest of the nation. THEY DONT NEED IT LIKE WE DO. A Global city deserves the most amount of money being spent on it, because we are Australia's representative to the rest of the world. So many people live in this city of ours, yet we get the least amount of government money spent per capita on us.

I hate Australia, it is ruled and populated by ignorant, racist conservatives. I'm moving to Tokyo as soon as I complete my second rate education in one of Sydney's universities.


Ha, ha, ha! You'll be seriously fucking disapointed.

Shintaro Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, makes Pauline Hansen look nice and rational. No major politician in the US or Australia could get away with the totally racist shit he has.

Racism exists everywhere. Even amongst their own race interestingly enough.

I'll guess from the outset that this person must be a troll, as the chest-beating, cultural cringing, fanatical bile is too demonstrably ignorant and too closely fits the cliched (and hopefully inaccurate and unfair) stereotype of the inner-Sydney, Green-voting homosexual demographic he/she has claimed to belong to. It's always terribly disappointing when close stereotype-fitters are shown to actually exist, so I'll assume he or she is just taking the piss.

DISCLAIMER/STATEMENT OF INTEREST: I live in Sydney, but not in the CBD. I do however travel and work there on a daily basis.

WARNING: This is pretty much an essay. Sorry.

I live in Sydney, which I really love. Sydney city, that is. The Sydney suburbs are full of white trash, who, like the creator of this thread, have no idea about anything in the world around them.
I'm guessing you probably live, study, work (or collect your welfare cheque), attend your protest rallies and buy your drugs all in a three-kilometre radius, unlike the suburban "white trash" who generally have to undertake a considerable commute each day and along the way expose themselves to what we call "life". (Common sense would suggest the latter of these would have a greater idea about "anything in the world around them" than the former, but more on that below.)

As for these suburban "white trash", let's look at some statistics for various parts of Sydney to see if we can shed some light on their identity.

INNER SYDNEY (ie Choo-Choo Bear's city utopia)
41% born overseas
32% speak a language other than English

CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN (suburban)
44% born overseas
57% speak a language other than English

FAIRFIELD-LIVERPOOL (suburban)
49% born overseas
59% speak a language other than English

Just in case you think I'm only picking on the "poor" areas, let's throw in the privileged Lower North Shore, which in spite of its heriditary mansions and rich enclaves still compares quite favourably with the cosmopolitan CBD:

LOWER NORTHERN SYDNEY (suburban)
36% born overseas
25% speak a language other than English

While Inner Sydney certainly does have an impressively high level of first generation immigrants and people with a non-English-speaking background, those figures aren't much higher than the majority of areas in suburban Sydney, and as demonstrated above, are considerably lower than some very large regions, showing the lunacy of dismissing suburban Sydney as "white trash".

They vote Liberal because they somehow think that the outcome of an election is going to have a significant impact on interest rates, which of course they dont.
Are you actually arguing that interest rates and inflation are completely independent of a government's financial policy?

They couldn't care less about anything beyond their own little fucked up lives.
Gee, if they're lives are so fucked up, surely you'd forgive them for being a little concerned about them!

Hell, you've all seen Kath and Kim.
Wow, an argument based on a sitcom based on a stereotype! I'm convinced! Every family in the US is exactly like The Simpsons, right?

I'm struggling to see how you could be more ignorantly prejudiced.

Idiot fucking convicts.
Whoops, there you go.

Do you also advise us to never trust a Greek, because their ancestors betrayed the Trojans?

Sydney city is European, Chinese and Korean - with quite equal proportions of each.
I'm guessing you must think "Sydney city" equals "the people I share my apartment with". Let's look at the self-described ancestries of residents of the Inner Sydney region in Australian Census 2001:
English 20.8%
Australian 17.7%
Southern and Eastern European (combined) 13.2%
Irish 9.8%
Other North-West European 7.5%

That's 69% out of the way already. Just quietly, I'm not liking your chances of Chinese and Korean COMBINING to make an equal proportion with the Europeans, never mind EACH of them achieving that. But let's just confirm that little suspicion of mine.

Chinese 5.7%
Other North-East Asian 1.0%

Just in case you're getting your Asian races mixed up (I know that's something the suburban "white trash" would do, not a refined and intelligent citizen of the world like yourself, but just in case ...), "Other South-East Asian" came in at 1.4% and "Southern and Central Asian" hit 1.1%.

I guess we have two possible explanations for this.

1. You're so completely insular that you don't even know what's going on in your beloved Sydney CBD, never mind the rest of the city or country (or dare I ironically point out, "the world around you").

2. All those Chinese and Koreans that you see, apparently making up approximately two-thirds of the people surrounding you in the Sydney CBD, don't actually live there but reside in the "white trash" suburbs with the other clueless masses. (Which would be kind of funny, them not being white and all. And probably a bit uncomfortable too.)

As you can see, neither alternative really helps your argument.

Everybody is really accepting and tolerant of everybody else
Except of those nasty scumbags from the suburbs. And the majority of the population who voted for the current government.

People are worldly, intelligent and aware of the world around them
Aware of everything except for their racial composition, apparently. Oh yeah, and what's going on in the suburbs.

- the fact that The Greens win the Sydney City seat in the federal election every year proves that.
Other people have taken up the battle on this hilarious claim. As somebody else pointed out, one look at The Greens' official website is enough to show how ironic your little rant really is.

The thing about Australia in general is that the whole populace, and the federal government, hates Sydney.
I wonder if it has anything to do with those inner city snobs who ridicule the intelligence and the "fucked up lives" of the rest of the populace.

There are so many snide remarks about city foalks and such, it's stupid.
Well, I'm glad your post was a "snide remark free zone". Oh wait.

We're the only global city in Australia, we contain 2/3rds of the New South Wales population
Oh wait, you've found a use for those suburban folk -- they're handy for padding Sydney population when it's convenient for your argument. Five million does sound much better than 300,000, I'll admit.

we contribtute to the nation's GDP more than most Australian states do, we are, without doubt, the biggest, most important place in Australia, and indeed all of English speaking South East Asia. Yet both the NSW and Federal governments are determined to take the hideous amounts of tax dollars we sydneysiders pay and place them in all the shitty, B-grade "cities" and country towns in the rest of the nation. THEY DONT NEED IT LIKE WE DO.
It's lucky our governments understand the problems and costs involved in deploying roads, railways, communication and electrical services, health services, welfare services and basic goods over large, sparsely populated areas a lot better than you do. But hey, what do you care? You've got a doctor on the next block, a hospital down the road, no problems getting your phone or power hooked up and five supermarkets within walking distance. GIVE SYDNEY MORE MONEY SO IT CAN HAVE AN EVEN MORE EXTRAVAGANT FIREWORKS DISPLAY ON NEW YEAR'S EVE!

A Global city deserves the most amount of money being spent on it, because we are Australia's representative to the rest of the world.
And where are we demonstrably deficient in that regard due to a lack of funding?

So many people live in this city of ours, yet we get the least amount of government money spent per capita on us.
Probably because we all live the closest together (making infrastrcuture far more efficient to deploy) and require the least government assistance (due to the greatest job availability).

I hate Australia, it is ruled and populated by ignorant, racist conservatives.
What a pity. I guess you just need to find a country exactly like Australia, but slightly less conservative -- based on your claim, you seem to fit perfectly in every other regard.

I'm moving to Tokyo as soon as I complete my second rate education in one of Sydney's universities.
Why wait? Based on what I've read so far, I don't think you're getting anything out of that education.

I believe, from memory, that 7% of our population is Asian, and considerably more are of some form of mixed ancestry. We are an extremely multicultural society. Many of my friends are from Asian backgrounds. Cultures do and can mix, and thus lead to improved cultures.

Actually it is a much higher percentage according to the most recent censis, which I think put the figure between 1/4 and 1/3.

ages ago, why be so negative against Sydney, every western country has this problem.

I am not against Sydney. I was merely asking if a problem that is harped upon no end on those current affairs shows was being addressed. Just because someone may say something that does not throw a city in its best light does not mean that it is hated.

And where are we demonstrably deficient in that regard due to a lack of funding?


Not that I agree with Choo Choo Bear, but I hear your train system is inadequate. And if anyone complains that this is another anti-Sydney comment I might just loose my banana...

Actually it is a much higher percentage according to the most recent censis, which I think put the figure between 1/4 and 1/3.
I am not against Sydney. I was merely asking if a problem that is harped upon no end on those current affairs shows was being addressed. Just because someone may say something that does not throw a city in its best light does not mean that it is hated.

The beaches are combed regularly by machine thingys, of course abetter solution would be to stop handing out free needles to the scum.

Everyone SAYS that they will vote Johnny Howard out of government seeing as they're all supposedly against the war and against his policies and then they vote him back AND give his party the majority in parliment. Idiots. He's getting rid of Medicare, though he promised not to, and everyones so shocked. :headbang: :confused: ...Most people here who are ACTUALLY Australian act like convists....Or cavemen, on their good days. Everyone else is from other countries, me + parents including, and have come here in search of a better life but have found that most jobs are prioritised for Australians and European Immigrants fill the factories. My dad was a lawyer in Serbia and speaks perfect English but his deploma isnt recognised here in Mates land. Though Australia is culturally diverse and generally accepting of everyone, they have an unfair and biased amount of nationalism that doesnt include the 75% of its population that arnt actually Australian. Now, i know all Australian out there will swear at me for this little rant but oh well. Thats the truth in my eyes. (Sorry for any spelling mistakes)

Firstly I have to agree, people who voted for John Howard and expected interest rates to stay the same and medicare to be unchanged are in for a rude shock. For some of us however it is not surprising at all. :( I wouldn't agree that most Australians act like convicts, but cavemen is somewhat apt... As for most jobs being prioritised for Australians, that is only natural. I imagine most jobs in Serbia are prioritised for Serbs.

The problem with a diploma in law is that even if valid and recognised it is not a high enough qualification here to practice law. As a minimum you need a bachelor degree, which would mean at least a further two years of university study. As for nationalism that does not include 75% of the population I think this figure is distorted out of all proportion. Australian naturalism is for the most part very inclusive in my experience.

The beaches are combed regularly by machine thingys, of course abetter solution would be to stop handing out free needles to the scum.

Is this a council based program? Or is it state or federal government?

Not that I agree with Choo Choo Bear, but I hear your train system is inadequate. And if anyone complains that this is another anti-Sydney comment I might just loose my banana...

I agree, its totally fucked up, India or Pakistan would probably have cleaner and better seviced trains than us, the trains are covered in grafitti, some of them are filled with rubbish and they pong, one I got on yesterday was squeaking nonstop all the way from Mittagong to Cambelltown, then you have Costa the fuckwit who couldnt run a brothel properly in charge of state rail, who put that moron in charge, everything he touches he fucks!
The new millenium trains are a frickin joke, still have problems, because the contract to build them was given to Clyde train building who werent up to the job, the whole contract should have gone to Gonninans in Newcastle, yeah it would have cost more but at least we wopuld have had what every other progressive modern city ijn the worl has, a half decent rail service, plus half the rail staff are rude aggressive fukwit middle easterners who dont give two fucks about anything, their so lazy they wont even anwser you if you ask them for a time on the next train, they just put their hands up an shout at you, too lazy to even go walk into the office behind them and find out.
Sydneys rail has become a filthy cesspool!

Is this a council based program? Or is it state or federal government?

Council.

Ah City Rail is in poor shape, Costa couldn't organise a piss up in a brewry. Australia is awesome though and I'm not really appreciating some of the people bagging it out in this thread, especially seeing as most of them have no clue what Australia is actually like.

I voted Howard though, mostly becuase he is fairly stable and Latham was a bit of a joke and as it turns out, wouldn't have been physically able to do the job anyhow. I am a little miffed at the way our healthcare system is going, that is one area where I certainly do not want Australia following the U.S. trend.

So who do you think will take over from John Howard? Costello? Abbott? Or do you think John Howard is an immortal beast from hell and thus will never need to be replaced? ;)

I think of fun, friendly people, sunshine, heat, open spaces, sharks and the most heartrending folk songs about war ever written.

I am, shamefully, perfectly ignorant about Australia's politics, and the only social issue I have any sense of is that the indiginous people have a hard row to hoe in many respects. I would like to know more about how Australia works, and what it is like for various people to live there.

I think of fun, friendly people, sunshine, heat, open spaces, sharks and the most heartrending folk songs about war ever written.

I am, shamefully, perfectly ignorant about Australia's politics, and the only social issue I have any sense of is that the indiginous people have a hard row to hoe in many respects. I would like to know more about how Australia works, and what it is like for various people to live there.

Imagine Texas and Canada rolled into one, but without the guns, the snow and the death penalty.

So who do you think will take over from John Howard? Costello? Abbott? Or do you think John Howard is an immortal beast from hell and thus will never need to be replaced? ;)

Immortal Hell Beast, clearly.

Not that I agree with Choo Choo Bear, but I hear your train system is inadequate. And if anyone complains that this is another anti-Sydney comment I might just loose my banana...
Yes, it's certainly declined noticeably in the last two years, with too few trained staff, insufficient peak hour rail bandwidth and a network which can see an entire line put out of action by a problem on the other side of the metropolitan area, but comparing it to third world countries is absolutely laughable (not that I'm implying *you* have, of course). One problem is that people in Sydney have been so spoilt in the past by universally high quality infrastructure that it's apparently a state of emergency (hysteria fuelled by the tabloids, of course) if in a given week multiple trains are cancelled and on-time running drops to an unforgivable 90%. By way of comparison, the above-ground muti-carrier rail system in the UK is far more unreliable and the impact of that unreliability on commuters is far greater, yet the people there seem to accept it with a sense of resignation, as far as I can tell.

I catch the train every day and while peak hour trips are unpleasant due to the crowds, I hardly imagine that's unique to Sydney. It's frustrating, for certain, when the train is late or cancelled, and I'll vent my anger at the railway along with everybody else when it happens, but to be fair I can't recall a cancellation on my service in the last two months, and I think there's only been one occasion in that period when it's been more than a few minutes late.

Finally, somewhat ironically given the context in which this issue was raised (the demonstration of a need for Sydney to recoup funding from regional areas), one of the recent solutions to driver and rolling stock shortage has been to reduce the number of regional and off-peak train services in favour of the peak hour Sydney suburban ones.

To be honest, I'm more concerned about practices in public hospitals in some areas of the city, as the consequences of under-funding and inadequate procedures in that domain can be far more serious. Of course, as things in this regard are even worse in rural New South Wales, I can hardly demand that they give us back our tax dollars so we can fix it.

I didn't realise there was a perception that needles were a problem on Sydney's beaches. In all my time on those beaches, I've never seen one myself, nor do I know anybody who has, nor have I ever even heard of anybody who has. Are needle encounters supposed to be a common occurrence?

One thing I've always noticed as a massive difference between Australia and the United States is their attitudes to their leaders.

I've noticed a lot of Americans (obviously not all though) have the attitude that even if they didn't vote for the President, once he's been elected they support him and stand by him, as he's their representative to the world.

In Australia, on the other hand, if you're the Prime Minister you're pretty much guaranteed instant and ongoing vilification, including being booed by 80% of the crowd whenever you appear at sporting events, and generally being personally blamed for anything that goes wrong anywhere in the country at any time. Even when a PM is elected with a frighteningly massive majority, you would be hard-pressed to find many people who would admit to voting for him. You've probably already seen several examples of that in this thread. I think one of the problems Australians have is their total disdain for authority or people whose success might cause them to think they're better than anybody else -- the Prime Minister by default wraps both of these "undesirable" characteristics into one package.

and the only social issue I have any sense of is that the indiginous people have a hard row to hoe in many respects.

Mostly their own fault, and a wefare system that bends over backwards to keep them as useless as possible, and doesnt go anywhere near the real problems of the Aboriginal people.
Myself I feel sorry for them, they are trapped between the modern Australia and the one we took off them.
The only ones that can dig them out of it is them, as for the UN going off halfcocked about how badly we treat them, they should get a clue and live in Australia for a few years to understand properly the reasons for the problems, we house them in free houses with every modenity and they trash the places within days, they get free 4 wheel drives if they own property, they get the lowest interest loans and preferential treatment at social services. We are not the beasts the ignorant and apathetic UN try to point us out to be, the bastards we always stick by the UN (god knows why) and this is how they treat us, they are an inane, corrupt useless waste of money and well past any need to be taken seriously anymore, the sooner the US leaves it to reveal it for what it really is, the better.

Mostly their own fault, and a wefare system that bends over backwards to keep them as useless as possible, and doesnt go anywhere near the real problems of the Aboriginal people.
Myself I feel sorry for them, they are trapped between the modern Australia and the one we took off them.
The only ones that can dig them out of it is them, as for the UN going off halfcocked about how badly we treat them, they should get a clue and live in Australia for a few years to understand properly the reasons for the problems, we house them in free houses with every modenity and they trash the places within days, they get free 4 wheel drives if they own property, they get the lowest interest loans and preferential treatment at social services. We are not the beasts the ignorant and apathetic UN try to point us out to be, the bastards we always stick by the UN (god knows why) and this is how they treat us, they are an inane, corrupt useless waste of money and well past any need to be taken seriously anymore, the sooner the US leaves it to reveal it for what it really is, the better.

I have to agree, they are made useless by the huge amounts of money thrown at them. The few who decide not to take handouts and work are hurt by this. These bludgers reflect poorly on them and they have to have their taxes spent on keeping these people unemployed. Personally I think if the government redirected funds which go directly to the bottle shop/petrol station/hardware store into providing them with a better (and compulsary) education then some of these problems may be averted. The facilities in rural areas with large aborigional populations are dismal at times. What ever action is taken, it will only be one step towards addressing this problem.

I didn't realise there was a perception that needles were a problem on Sydney's beaches. In all my time on those beaches, I've never seen one myself, nor do I know anybody who has, nor have I ever even heard of anybody who has. Are needle encounters supposed to be a common occurrence?

If you listen to the tabloid current affairs shows they seem to imply that Sydney's beaches are just months away from being shut down, especially Bondi beach. Of course they would never run a story like this about Brisbane, simply because Brisbane is half an hour inland (up river) and the beaches are mud flats with mozzies and mangroves.

If you listen to the tabloid current affairs shows they seem to imply that Sydney's beaches are just months away from being shut down, especially Bondi beach.
My only fear for the future of the beaches is public liability claims, from people who put themselves in wheelchairs in swimming/surfing/diving accidents and then ridiclously sue the council that administers the beach in question -- for negligence :confused: . There've been some big payouts in the last few years, and given the trend in the more litigious branches of Western society of shutting down anything that might possibly even cause somebody to think about suing somebody else, you'd have to think it's only a matter of time ... :mad:

My only fear for the future of the beaches is public liability claims, from people who put themselves in wheelchairs in swimming/surfing/diving accidents and then ridiclously sue the council that administers the beach in question -- for negligence :confused: . There've been some big payouts in the last few years, and given the trend in the more litigious branches of Western society of shutting down anything that might possibly even cause somebody to think about suing somebody else, you'd have to think it's only a matter of time ... :mad:

Blame the blood suckin lawyers, get rid of these pests and we get rid of a lot of our problems. If I could have it my way, in my country at least, the whole lot would be dumped into the middle of the simpson desert with 100 kg lead weights welded to steel chains around their legs.

The Labour party is going really bad, not only did they recruit Peter Garret but now they are talking about getting eddie McGuire, Kim Beazly, HA!

:D Eddie for Pope :rolleyes:

My only fear for the future of the beaches is public liability claims, from people who put themselves in wheelchairs in swimming/surfing/diving accidents and then ridiclously sue the council that administers the beach in question -- for negligence :confused: . There've been some big payouts in the last few years, and given the trend in the more litigious branches of Western society of shutting down anything that might possibly even cause somebody to think about suing somebody else, you'd have to think it's only a matter of time ... :mad:

One way of dealing with this problem is by limiting the amount of damages that any one person can claim. Of course, if a multi-mega company has screwed you over royaly you won't be too happy with these limits, but it beats stopping everyone from being able to use civil litigation.

:D Eddie for Pope :rolleyes:

Eddie McGuire is like a chainsaw, in that he is a loud, dangerous tool.

Eddie McGuire is like a chainsaw, in that he is a loud, dangerous tool.
Damn I hate that guy :headbang:

eddie McGuire is everything that is wrong with Australian television.

I live in Australia (unfortuneatley) and would rather be in my wonderful home that is New Zealand. But seeing as Im here I will spread some wisdom onto you people. Australians are generally a confused and ethnically jumbled nation. Everyone SAYS that they will vote Johnny Howard out of government seeing as they're all supposedly against the war and against his policies and then they vote him back AND give his party the majority in parliment. Idiots. He's getting rid of Medicare, though he promised not to, and everyones so shocked. Those who voted for him must be feeling like an idiot. He doesnt care about the people. He proved that by following his master, Mr. Bush to war. Most people here who are ACTUALLY Australian act like convists....Or cavemen, on their good days. Everyone else is from other countries, me + parents including, and have come here in search of a better life but have found that most jobs are prioritised for Australians and European Immigrants fill the factories. My dad was a lawyer in Serbia and speaks perfect English but his deploma isnt recognised here in Mates land. Though Australia is culturally diverse and generally accepting of everyone, they have an unfair and biased amount of nationalism that doesnt include the 75% of its population that arnt actually Australian. Now, i know all Australian out there will swear at me for this little rant but oh well. Thats the truth in my eyes. (Sorry for any spelling mistakes)
sorry I am 6 generations Australian and agree with your views.

Unfortunately the only political party that I have found I agree completely with the policy of, was the Victorian Unity Party, which seems to have disappeared as of late.
see - http://unityparty.org/

VOTE 1

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor party are a pack of morons.

Vote #1 Family Party.

I agree, its totally fucked up, India or Pakistan would probably have cleaner and better seviced trains than us, the trains are covered in grafitti, some of them are filled with rubbish and they pong, one I got on yesterday was squeaking nonstop all the way from Mittagong to Cambelltown, then you have Costa the fuckwit who couldnt run a brothel properly in charge of state rail, who put that moron in charge, everything he touches he fucks!
The new millenium trains are a frickin joke, still have problems, because the contract to build them was given to Clyde train building who werent up to the job, the whole contract should have gone to Gonninans in Newcastle, yeah it would have cost more but at least we wopuld have had what every other progressive modern city ijn the worl has, a half decent rail service, plus half the rail staff are rude aggressive fukwit middle easterners who dont give two fucks about anything, their so lazy they wont even anwser you if you ask them for a time on the next train, they just put their hands up an shout at you, too lazy to even go walk into the office behind them and find out.
Sydneys rail has become a filthy cesspool!

Melbourne's rail system is even worse than Sydney's. I'd bet every single other Melbournian will agree. Ever since that bastard Kennett privatised it, our rail, tram AND bus system is nothing but a joke. For a long time our entire city was divided into East side/West side, with a clear barrier in between. There were two different train services, running on different lines. And even though unlike Sydney we don't need to purchase tickets whenever we travel, our metcard system is probably the dumbest in the world.

More recently of course, is the Connex/National Express scandal. National express quit its role as the operator of the M-train line of trains and trams and the State Government had to bail out billions. Connex eventually took over the entire system, but that meant that several lines were constantly a delayed, a few by nearly an hour for each train!!! Other lines were put out of commission for days, especially with the February rainstorm, and people had to use buses instead. It gets even worse when you consider the new Connex and M-train European carriages haven't totally superceded the older models, the former M-train carriages haven't even been repainted yet, and there's still one or two 1970s silver electric trains running about.

AS long as Austrailia doesnt mess with me then I have no "beef" with them. But if they do mess with me, youd better watch out...

...Mate :mad:

"When China awakens the world will tremble"-Napolean Bonaparte

Lets talk less about Austalia being a superpower and more about China.

I'm not Chinese i'm British but that seems where its heading with the ever increasing growth in the China economy ,they have a vast population and manufacture most of the world's goods compared to Australia who has a far smaller population and far lower economic growth.

AS long as Austrailia doesnt mess with me then I have no "beef" with them. But if they do mess with me, youd better watch out...

...Mate :mad: Oooooooookaaaaaaayy :rolleyes:

I'm not Chinese i'm British but that seems where its heading with the ever increasing growth in the China economy ,they have a vast population and manufacture most of the world's goods compared to Australia who has a far smaller population and far lower economic growth. Well certainly China is suited to becoming an international superpower, that said, don't expect their economy to hold together so well over the next few years. I foresee a rather painful brick wall ahead for China's development.

Melbourne's rail system is even worse than Sydney's
As someone who uses the Melbourne train service everyday, and as someone who has had numerous experiences with the Sydney rail network, I think I am qualified to say that despite the flaws in Melbourne's system, it is in no way as horrendous as the Sydney service

The Australian Labor party are a pack of morons.

Vote #1 Family Party.

The one which advocated burning lesbians as witches?

The Brisbane rail system (Queensland Rail) is quite good. Most trains run on time, they're quite clean (for the most part). The staff are a bit lethargic, but that's Queensland for you. Plus our new bus expressways are wonderful to travel along. Two lanes, only for buses, 110km speed limit, bus every five minutes and they're all air conditioned now (except the school buses, but kids don't vote so screw 'em!). They (city council who built it) plan to spend billions more extending it, before congestion becomes a problem. You don't have to worry about winding roads, it turns into tunnels and its heart is under the Queen Street Mall (under the Myer Centre). Simply wonderful. Too bad for the other poor suckers who are either stuck on a bus on the road, or other traffic though.

The Brisbane rail system (Queensland Rail) is quite good. Most trains run on time, they're quite clean (for the most part). The staff are a bit lethargic, but that's Queensland for you. Plus our new bus expressways are wonderful to travel along. Two lanes, only for buses, 110km speed limit, bus every five minutes and they're all air conditioned now (except the school buses, but kids don't vote so screw 'em!). They (city council who built it) plan to spend billions more extending it, before congestion becomes a problem. You don't have to worry about winding roads, it turns into tunnels and its heart is under the Queen Street Mall (under the Myer Centre). Simply wonderful. Too bad for the other poor suckers who are either stuck on a bus on the road, or other traffic though.

I spend some time in Qld when I was at Qld Uni (not the QUT, the wannabe QU). Nice train service, but the bus service at the time was rather unreliable at times. Air con now? We got nice Mercedes buses in the NT though.

As someone who uses the Melbourne train service everyday, and as someone who has had numerous experiences with the Sydney rail network, I think I am qualified to say that despite the flaws in Melbourne's system, it is in no way as horrendous as the Sydney service

Are you sure about that? I've experienced the Melbourne train service at its very worse, just after the Feburary rainstorms and floods. Four lines were completely cancelled and commuters were forced to use buses whilst five other lines suffered major delays. Sydney's train service must be one of the worst in the world if its worse than Melbourne's.

i'm from a small city in west oz called Albany and we don't even have a train service.

but it doesnt matter much as there not really anywhere it could take you that you can't walk to.

i'm from a small city in west oz called Albany and we don't even have a train service.

but it doesnt matter much as there not really anywhere it could take you that you can't walk to.

So you get most of your "big stuff" moved by road train then?

Are you sure about that? I've experienced the Melbourne train service at its very worse, just after the Feburary rainstorms and floods. Four lines were completely cancelled and commuters were forced to use buses whilst five other lines suffered major delays. Sydney's train service must be one of the worst in the world if its worse than Melbourne's.

Yes, but that's not on a daily basis, is it? Sydney's problems are day in, day out.

The problem is that the Sydney network is hitting capacity constraints, and the NSW government don't see it (or they'd rather get rid of CityRail and replace it with a horde of BUSES, which are in no way suited to the large transport task that Sydney is (can take 40 minutes on a bad day to cross Sydney's CBD during peak hour).

So you get most of your "big stuff" moved by road train then?

we do have a train service in that context which brings wheat and woodchips and such to the docks but theres no passenger trains through the city.

but road trains are quite common too for same purpose, i assume thats what you meant.

The Australian Labor party are a pack of morons.

Vote #1 Family Party.



VOTE SOCIALIST ALLIANCE!!

I spend some time in Qld when I was at Qld Uni (not the QUT, the wannabe QU). Nice train service, but the bus service at the time was rather unreliable at times. Air con now? We got nice Mercedes buses in the NT though.

We don't call it 'QU' because that confuses people with QUT, so we say 'UQ' (University of Queensland).

Are you sure about that? I've experienced the Melbourne train service at its very worse, just after the Feburary rainstorms and floods. Four lines were completely cancelled and commuters were forced to use buses whilst five other lines suffered major delays. Sydney's train service must be one of the worst in the world if its worse than Melbourne's.

yes and my line was one that was cancelled, I managed to bus it to west footscray, where I waited 3 hours for a service into the city, which I was not upset about, because I thought the train service reacted well, considering they had buses ready within 15 minutes of the first cancellation.
The spot where the line was flooded (between Seaholme and Newport), is a raised section of track about 3m above a floodplain, was about 3 feet underwater....

but yes it is ALOT better than the sydney system, for obvious reasons, but I do not think the main problems with the sydney system are due to the current service provider, I think it is due largely to geography and the way the tracks are set.

#3 is the only option
For all you yanks and poms on this thread Australia has 40% of the total world's uranium
That's right 40% of all the uranium in the world. if we wanted to could build more nukes then the U.S. We are also the size of the 48 states or mainland U.S. and have the 15th largest economy in the world
If we are not a super power I don't know what is. When you also consider we have the fourth largest economy in asia and just over 20 million people, that's impressive. Why do you think Bush wanted us involved?
I am not trying to be offensive but we are a hell of a lot more powerful than we appear, and while we have problems we still have the least problems for a nation that I know of

As people who actually LIVE in Australia we have nothing against our stupid transport system hell it's the only friggin way we can get to school. But anyway we agree that our government is a US puppet. There are so many starbucks in this country that you cannot get one decent cup of coffee anywhere. Everywhere you stand in Australia except for the crappy deserts, there is a Mc Donalds round the corner. From where we stand we get the impression that every second building in America is a McDonalds. But hey thats just us. BRENTWOOD INTERMEDIATE GIRLS TENNIS TEAM ROCKS!!! (and the soccer teams okay too).

...If we are not a super power I don't know what is. When you also consider we have the fourth largest economy in asia and just over 20 million people, that's impressive...

What you describe here is a first world power, not a super power. There is only one super power at the moment, the United States. However China is only a few short years away from joining America as a second super power IMHO.