Job Discussion Forums

[TEAM_PAPUA]

Does Australia have a culture?




T_P

[The Red Baron]

[Deborann]

Of course Australians have a culture - actually they have a number of cultures. First there is the Indigenous culture, which is 40,000+ years old and despite various attempts by well-meaning but misguided governments and not-so well meaning and still misguided religious groups is still extant particlarly in the remote communities.

Secondly it has the 'work to live' culture which means that weekends, holidays (generally 4 weeks per year) and time off (including sickies) are taken very seriously. Try to change this culture at your peril! This facet makes Australians the most relaxed, easy going mob to meet in the world.

Then there is the sporting culture - if they don't play a sport, the majority of Australians follow a sport and can talk at great length about it. Don't mess with this one. Put them near water and they turn into fish (both swimming and drinking!)

Then there is the culture of humour - subtle as the English, with a strong tendency to laugh at themselves, take the mickey out of others and puncture anyone's pomposity!

Then there is multi-culture - Australia is one of the most mixed nations, with the fewest racial tensions. They are happy to celebrate Chinese New Year, Christmas, Greek and Italian festivals, Buddha's birthday - whatever - you put on a party and the Aussies will come!

The non-Indigenous Aussies came to Australia as convicts (people who demonstrated risk-taking behaviour, as well as political dissidents), guards (those used to command), and free settlers (people willing to risk their lives on a 6 month journey to the unknown) and adventurers. Current Aussies inherited the creativity, adventurous spirit, willingness to have a go and lack of fear from their migrant forebears.

Apart from all that - they are tall, good looking and fun to be with. Australian women can change tyres, paint houses, run companies, dance sinuously, out-drink the Chinese men (and most other nationalities as well) anyday and can still look gorgeous and be the best company at any party.

What more are you looking for?

[JosephP]

And Aussie women can swear in the most charming manner.

[The Red Baron]

Absobloodylutely!!
Deborah has it exactly right.

[The G-stringed Avenger]

Thanks Deborah.

You make me proud to be an Aussie.

And go our olympic champions!

[Magoo]

That's it. I'm getting really sick of you sycophants crawling into the Barons pants. Remember; a cool 'n' groovy avatar does not a nation make. Deborann: Australian culture cannot be 40,000+ years old.
Everybody here knows that Chinese culture is 5000 years old and that NOTHING, not even God, predates the Chinese. They invented everything, including Aussie Rules Football, so kindly keep your ignorance to yourself. I take issue with your view of the Aussie sense of humour. Subtle is not a word that I'd use to describe it. There seems to be a certain delight taken in trying to offend people's sensibilities, which I find boring, although the Aussies at Dave's tend to turn this theory on its head, a tad.
Laugh at themselves? I've found young Australians to be incredibly defensive when it comes to any joke about the place. I could understand boredom at the tired old 'ball 'n' chain' cheaplaugh.co.uk, but this seems to prompt a reaction of,"There are loads of recent immigrants/Asians/fine, upstanding people in this land of plenty!" Sh1t, they're only 'joking'.
Having said all that, these attitudes and reactions are from young Aussies living in London, so I don't take them as a benchmark for all Australians. We all get defensive when living abroad, especially living in a waaaay superior culture. Still, I thought it was time for some negativity.

[Deborann]

Yep I can imagine the Chinese having conniptions at a culture older than their's by the odd 35,000+ years. But it took us an awful long time to figure out that the earth wasn't flat either - another fact that everybody knew!! Ahh well.

If you want subtle Aussie humour watch "Kath and Kim", "The election chaser" "Frontline" (the TV series not the movie) "The Games" and a plethora of others.

Baron - is there space in those pants for all of us?? Magoo can have the back room!

[The Red Baron]

Magoo can kindly stay waaaaay away from my back room, thank you VERY much!
You gotta remember, Magoo, that the Aussies you meet in the Land of the POm, are really only TRAINEE travellers, and as such are not in their prime. They have not yet passed beyond the Bazza McKenzie stage. Some, unfortunately, never will So, your negativity is not actually misplaced, but please take note, I will not tolerate continued negativity on this thread. I won't ban you this time, but heed the warning.

Speaking of the Olympics, we ARE doing rather well, dontcha think? IN part, this is due to our innate sense of "nothing is impossible".
Remember, read the WORD of DEBORAH...she is our resident articularian.
She writes better than I can speak.........and I speak bloody triffic!!

[The G-stringed Avenger]

[The Red Baron]

[distiller]

Come on, let's face it the first Americans were the Native Americans and the first Australians were the Aboringals. It's like me stealing your dog, changing his name to "OZ" and then saying you never owned "OZ", you owned some other dog when of course we're talking about the same dog. Changing the name of the physical place doesn't change the fact that those people were here well before the whites and that the locals actually did quite a bit for them when they originally landed and didn't have the skills needed to survive and prosper.

I find it funny that Australians often like to think of themselves as above the fray on issues like racism when Australia has had a miserable record. They just forget the hugely popular White Australia policy that lasted well into the 70s and the mammoth struggle it was to get rid of it! I'm not saying that anyone did much better but portraying Australia as this happy little land where the all races are and have been living in harmony is just wrong. There's a bit of "Australian exceptionalism" underlying this forgetfulness and in this respect puts Australians in the same boat as the Americans who have also decimated a native culture, took the land, then offered no rights to the natives or other people of color and still like to think they did little or wrong or that it was inevitable. Thankfully, Australia came along too late for slavery or they'd certainly have a nasty history of that to answer for too.

I actually really like Australia and Australians but I often find them unable to examine their past with anything but kid gloves. So join the club, Australia, of formerly overtly racist societies who are reforming themselves. Actually, you've already got a membership; you just don't know it.

[The Red Baron]

distiller, we know all that, and most of us acknowledge the past, but that doesn't mean we agree with "GovernmentPolicy".
As it happens, none of us can change the past. You will have to agree that all the
sins of our forefathers were committed by (mostly) English people. Most major continents suffered from European arrogance, greed and ignorance.
The White Australia policy did exist, and in some pockets of current government imaginations, still does exist. We actually had a form of slavery, when Natives of Pacific Islands were indentured to work the sugarcane in Queensland. Then the Italians took over, followed by the Greeks, so that was the end of that!
In general, we are truly more accepting of others, generally more tolerant, and naturally, much nicer.
Every "white" country is racist to some extent. Some are extreme, some are sneaky.
At the moment, we have to put up with the policies of our Lapdog, and his rabid bunch of sycophants....hopefully, that will change in the coming weeks. I reckon, this bloke is sooooo "suckarse" for Bush, he will call the coming election for the first week in November.

[distiller]

Baron,

Hopefully we can make the rounds and show Bush and all his buddies the door. The policy versus people subject is a good and one I always find interesting. Right now with Iraq and some ultra conservative policies we are again seeing huge gaps between the basic ideas and beliefs systems of the common person and the practices of those people's government in both Australia and the US. The scary part is that so many people in both countries see no problem with this.

[Magoo]

Not my bum-cheek, Baron. Oh, the joys of marriage...
I think [looking serious] that the problem with the younger Aussies is similar to that of the younger Irish. Our cultures and histories-our identities-are all intertwined, but the present generation is going through a bit of an identity crisis. Aussies and Pads are (rightly) sick of being labelled brain-dead rednecks/sh1t-shovellers, especially when they see that their standards of education are often superior to those of England (although perhaps not Scotland). Aussies, especially, share a lot of genes with the Poms, so there is a conflict between loyalty to country and to one's family. Another reason, perhaps, is the insecurity of living abroad; people tend to go on the defensive. I spent two years in HK pre-1997 and the Brits were an embarrassing anachronism, telling me and my friend how to talk to 'the servants' :roll I've really liked the Australians whom I've met in China, perhaps because they are a welcome change from some of the younger FT's and their constant whinging