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The Forum > General Discussion > What's Good and What's Bad about Life in Australia?

What's Good and What's Bad about Life in Australia?

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Dear Hassie,

I'm not worried about my grandchildren.

I am proud of the way my sons and their wives
are raising them and I am sure that they will
have the same values that our parents gave to us.
We survived and I'm sure they will.

We've got a healthy economy. A reasonable education
system. A stable political situation and a fairly
tolerant society. We are fairly safe, free from the
war zones, that we see on the daily news and free
from major crimes. Sure there are things we can
(and do) criticise, but really if we're honest about
things - we don't have that much to complain about.
Posted by Foxy, Monday, 9 March 2015 4:39:44 PM
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Yes we still live in a great country, but I fear we might be losing that top position as we tend to demand more and more from other people and I think that goes for every strata of society. Self sufficiency seems to be something we don't think about now. It's all about entitlements. Integrity and honesty seem to have been replaced by drugs and deception. No longer does self responsibility become a part of our lexicon.

I have suggested on these pages before that I think advertising has become an immoral aspect of our lives that preys on the subconscious in a way that makes us feel we must have everything because we deserve it. It's all just there, don't worry it can all be paid off in the future and that also applies to governments as well. We now have to spend 11 billion dollars in interest alone on what we have borrowed this year and a third of the nation's revenue is spent on welfare.

I just hope that we can continue to be the Lucky Country because that's what a lot of it has been, pure dumb luck. We should be thinking about a little more hard work and little less about public holidays and sickies.
Posted by snake, Monday, 9 March 2015 5:26:10 PM
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What I like about Australia is that I can still hunt;
hunting for me is a significant part of my heritage and I look back with pleasure at the first times that I went hunting with my father. His father before him had hunted and so on back into the past.
My maternal grandfather shot the firs rabbit in the Uralla district.
Posted by Is Mise, Monday, 9 March 2015 6:29:36 PM
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.

I was young and fancy-free when I was living in Australia. My only possessions were the clothes I was wearing, a second-hand motorbike and the money in my pocket. When I left the family home in outback Queensland at the age of eighteen I stayed with a friend in Brisbane for a while before getting a job in Mitchell about 600km west of Brisbane for a couple of years, where my pay was board and lodgings.

Then I got a job in Sydney and rented a house overlooking Sydney Harbour with a couple of mates. That was great. I had a company car, lots of girls, lobster and champagne on the balcony, etc. Still, my only possessions were the clothes I was wearing and the money in my pocket (no motorbike).

Seeing all those sailing boats and ocean liners going in and out of the harbour while basking in the sun on the balcony made me feel like jumping on one of them. But I first had to save some money by working on the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme as a pick and shovel man. Again, it was free board and lodgings (in a workers’ camp) but this time there was also a wage which went straight into the bank.

I sailed from Sydney to Southampton on the” Fairsky”, hitch-hiked around Europe, worked on a fishing trawler in Iceland, and the money ran out in Paris. I knew nobody, couldn’t speak the language and didn’t have a work permit but got a job in insurance and survived.

From this observation point, the way I see it, the first wave hit Australia 50,000 years ago when the African boat-people arrived. The second wave hit 227 years ago when the convict-slaves were deported here. The third wave is pounding the coasts now with political and economic refugees.

Given our history and culture, I think it would be selfish for Australia not to do whatever it can not to help these people. Anybody who is willing to risk his or her life to get here is worth his weight in gold.

.
Posted by Banjo Paterson, Tuesday, 10 March 2015 12:49:52 AM
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Jay, unfortunately the Suze's of the world don't recognize the word 'realism' so they classify anything said about immigrants/ indigenous as racism.

Now who ever said the only ones who benefit from immigration were immigrants would be clearly wrong if they were to use that phrase in Oz.

The simple indisputable fact is we wouldn't be the same place if not for the likes of the Greeks, the Italians or the Chinese to name a few. It's just when you throw Christian hating races in to the the mix it was always going to end in tears, and boy has that happened.

Australia had one huge advantage over most other civilized countries, that being our youth, which meant we could see how certain types not only failed to assimilate in their new countries of choice, but they were also wanting to take over. It's just that our forefathers were too damned stupid, or aragant, to have seen the blatant obvious when they threw open the doors to these other people who saw a different land of opportunity to the others I mentioned, as to them, the opportunity was to move here, have their multiple kids, knowing someone else will do the hard yards and our leaders were stupid enough to allow it.

In yet another display of continued stupidity, our leaders, having caught a couple of misfit thugs going off the join ISIS, stopped them from going rather than stooped them from returning.

We should have let them leave to never return.

So these thugs will now sit here and fester and intensify their hatred against those who have supported them, us!

An absolute joke!

So as I say, some people just can't differentiate between racism and realism, it's not that they can't, they just choose not to. Its a case of the old 'don't let the truth get in the way of a good story' situation.
Posted by rehctub, Tuesday, 10 March 2015 6:04:34 AM
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Dear snake,

Working hard is a given in our family.
We've always done that.
However we do look forward to spending time
with the family as well - that's why holidays
are enjoyed with relish. As for sickies?
Those are only for extreme dire situations
when there's no other option available.

Dear Is Mise,

Isn't it great that we have so many areas where
you can indulge in your favourite sport?
The diversity of our landscape and the openess
is what many people find so attractive when
they come here.

Dear Banjo Patterson,

What an interesting life you've led.

My dream has always been to live by the sea.
My fantasy would be a home or an apartment with harbour views.
Who knows, perhaps when we retire.

Dear Rehctub,

I watched "Australian Story," last night.
It was about a prominent Muslim Lebanese family
in Sydney. They spoke of many things but their
love and appreciation of Australia came out loud
and clear. One of the sentiments expressed I still
remember - and it was that "Wouldn't it be lovely
if people would judge us as Australians, not as
Muslims. "

I guess that day is still a long way off when the
majority continue to be judged by the behaviour
of a few extremists or misguided people.

The fear-mongering isn't a good thing - epsecially
when done so well by our politicians and the media.
Posted by Foxy, Tuesday, 10 March 2015 10:18:40 AM
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