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The media have engaged in ambulance chasing on a grand scale over the appalling bushfires. It is accompanied by flag-draping nationalism of the “Aussie spirit” type.
Why can’t we mature a bit and recognise that in adversity the best and sometimes the worst is brought out in people? It is not an “Australian” thing when good deeds are done, but a reflection of our shared humanity. This is universal. We don’t cite the misdeeds of looters, arsonists and scam artists as reflecting the Aussie spirit.
Maybe one day we can aspire to something a bit higher than downmarket nationalism.”
David Barr Balgowlah, letter to the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Is it really necessary for politicians and commentators on the bushfires to bang on about Aussie mateship and how Australians know how to overcome hardship, as though those traits do not exist outside this country? Resilience is a common thread for people throughout the world.”
Con Vaitsas Lakemba, letter to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Filed under: Aussie Aussie Aussie, Sport | Tags: Australian Open, Jelena Dokic
Two comments on the behaviour of the crowd watching the match between Jelena Dokic and Alisa Kleybanova at the Australian Open:
The Herald describes the crowd rising to their new champion (“It’s Jelena’s day”, January 26). In fact the crowd were disgusting in their bias. They applauded Alisa Kleybanova’s faults and roared with appreciation at unforced errors. There was hardly a murmur when she levelled at 6-6 in the third set. One felt the crowd would have thrown their chairs at Kleybanova if they hadn’t been screwed down.
Max Perry Maroubra
Sorry, Alisa Kleybanova, for the bias, the jingoism and the rotten sportsmanship you had to contend with at the Rod Laver Arena. You may be surprised to know that most Australians believe in “a fair go”, and commend your play and behaviour under the most difficult circumstances.
Lois Pembroke Killara
“Much as I love Australia Day, celebrating it by attending an official ceremony seems somehow, well, unAustralian.”
James Cook, Kalaru, letter to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Filed under: Aussie Aussie Aussie, State of the nation | Tags: Cronulla, un-Australian, ute
“I AGREE there is something un-Australian about driving around with an Australian flag flying from a ute or four-wheel drive (First Byte, Letters, 26/1). I suspect it is an expression of red-necked in-your-face aggression rather than pride in being an Australian. This idea seems to have come into vogue about the time of the Cronulla riots.”
Michael Stanbridge , Bonnet Bay, NSW, letter to The Australian, in response to this earlier letter:
“There is something very un-Australian about vehicles, mainly utes and four-wheel-drives, being driven around with flags attached. Australian culture is fast being diluted by imitators of anything American. What’s next, gun racks?”
R. Elphinstone, Ormiston, Qld.
Filed under: Aussie Aussie Aussie, International relations, National insults, The Media | Tags: Kath and Kim
“NBC sent the first two episodes of Kath and Kim, and both were jaw-dropping in their awfulness. In fact, by the end of the second episode, a stray thought occurred: Maybe an apology to Australia is unnecessary because the American version misses the mark so badly that it’s barely recognisable as a distant cousin to the original.”
Television critic for the San Francisco Chronicle ,Tim Goodman, pans the US version of Kath and Kim. Mike Kelly, critic for the Toledo Blade , was not convinced that the original could have been funny, either:
“The series (…) is a remake of a popular Australian comedy program, but if stuff like this is considered funny Down Under, folks there probably think that Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe, and Hugh Jackman would make a terrific lineup for an updated version of the Three Stooges.”
Filed under: Aussie Aussie Aussie, Ethnic Insults, Religion | Tags: Camden
“Why is that racist? Why is it discriminatory? It’s very simple: people like some things but don’t like other things. Some of us like blondes, some of us like brunettes. Some of us like Fords, some of us like Holdens. Why is it xenophobic just because I want to make a choice? If I want to like some people and not like other people, that’s the nature of the beast.”
Emil Sremchevich, president of the Camden/Macarthur Residents’ Group, which notoriously rejected a proposal by the Quranic Society to build a school in the area. The Residents’ Group has subsequently welcomed a Catholic organisation’s plans to build a 1000-student high school nearby.
Filed under: Aussie Aussie Aussie | Tags: Australian Protectionist Party, Darrin Hodges, Sutherland Shire
“To ensure that the Sutherland Shire remains a safe, peaceful and harmonious community of Australian heritage, it is important to prevent overdevelopment. Building large blocks of units encourages ‘Asianisation’ (for example, see Strathfield and Burwood).”
Darrin Hodges, NSW chairman of the Australian Protectionist Party. The 42 year old IT consultant, 42, from Engadine, also said Sutherland Shire should be a place for white Australians:
“It’s the birthplace of the nation. Europeans discovered and built this country and I can’t see any reason why the shire or any other part of Australia should not remain predominantly European.”
Filed under: Aussie Aussie Aussie, International relations, Sport | Tags: Beijing Olympics
“The Brits have overtaken Australia on the medals table. This darkness has descended, and yet there has been no declaration of national emergency. Clearly, Kevin Rudd hasn’t been the same since trying the Great Wall red at the opening ceremony dinner.”
So reflects Peter Hanlon. What has gone wrong?
“Once, not so long ago, Australians were a proud people who walked tall with jutted jaws. The Poms were a source of amusement, a fallen imperial master weeping over a dog-eared scrapbook, its tattered images of Steve Redgrave, Seb Coe, Mary Rand and those blokes from Chariots Of Fire fading by the day.
As much as it hurt, you’d hear them say: “Why can’t we be good at sport, like you Aussies?”
Triumphal, you’d smile, pat their bowed heads, and offer an almost heartfelt, “There, there, at least you’ve got Amy Winehouse.”
Now there’s not a hutong in Beijing you can disappear down without a smug cockney voice trailing you on the breeze, Bazza McKenzie impersonation in full swing. “Jeez cobber, what’s happened to the Aussies, mate, ay? Bloody crook, fair dinkum!” Oh, the shame.”
Filed under: Aussie Aussie Aussie, Sport | Tags: ABC, John Coates, Olympic Games
Comments by the Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates, in his quest for more funding lest Australia slip down the medals table, drew several negative responses from readers of the Sydney Morning Herald, who felt that Coates was not exactly promoting the Olympic spirit:
“Shock! Horror! John Coates says Australia won’t net the same number of medals as in Athens four years ago. Apparently this is something Australians should be distressed about. I thought the Olympics was about participation and friendship, not which country wins the most medals. What an appalling culture we are breeding.” Rose Panidis.
“The gold medal for naked self interest and breathtaking cynicism goes to John Coates.” Stuart Miller.
“Perhaps some federal programs, such as rescuing the Murray-Darling, or carbon emissions reduction schemes, could be pruned or canned to find this money. Then we can watch those all-important medals rolling in.” Joan Brown.
As for the televising of the games:
“I hope the ABC proves there is more life than sport and jingoism.” Robert Pallister.
“Three days until the opening ceremony and I’m sick of the Olympics already.” Steve Barrett.
The Art of the Australian Insult 