Australian vs American Culture: Firefighting, Sausage Sizzles, Nippers and Community
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- Опубликовано: 21 ноя 2024
- Damien Cave is the Vietnam bureau chief and global affairs correspondent for The New York Times, covering shifts in power across Asia and the wider world.
In 2017, He led a team opening The Times’s new Australia bureau, covering a region where both his grandfathers served in World War II, and inspiring him to write a book titled “Into the Rip” in Australia and, in the United States, “Parenting Like an Australian: One Family’s Quest to Fight Fear and Dive into a Better, Braver Life.”
One of the strengths of Australia is our high level of volunteering, pitching in to support community activities and organisations, looking out for each other other.
Yes definitely we pull together as a community. We don’t have a cult of individulism. Volunteering to do good in the community like clean Australia, lifeguards, Greening Australia, meals on wheels and getting involved in fund raising for various charities. It’s all in the Aussie DNA.
That's very interesting, because when you go to small towns, they're dying. The kids are leaving, the older people who have been volunteering for 50 years cant do it anymore & are dying, & there's noone to take their place. The community wants to have their Christmas parade, their annual fete, their this & their that, but noone will join the committee, noone will sell the raffle tickets, there's noone to even keep the RSL manned for more than 3 hours one night a week. I'm speaking from experience.
There may be clusters of helpers in more suburban & affluent areas, but that's not really the aussie way & culture anymore. I'd say partly because we've become more about serving ourselves & not our communities & partly because we have to work more & don't have time to volunteer. & in the small country towns the younger people need to leave to get work if they're not working in the family biz.
@@aussiejubes there’s a lot of truth in what you say. I still think we have that community spirit but we have to nourish and protect it. And I do live in a small town
@LeonieHarrison-h8j I come from a small town, and even those are now being over run with mass immigration.
Most of the jobs have been taken by Indians.
Australia better wake uo bc mass immigration is changing the very fabric of our society and not for the better.
Albo is to responsible for this and it's exactly what he wants.
Yes yes and yes
The mud and flood Army ,had to be Stopped because the Insurance Agents couldn’t get in to assess the flood damage !!!
That was reported on tv
As a US citizen living in Australia I could not agree w you more. Australia has much more of a community, we-are-all-in this- together vibe. I think PART... only part... of the reason is Australia's universal health care. When people's high taxes go towards health care, there is a sense of sacrificing for the public good. And this attitude is a strength, unlike the toxic individuality of the USA.
I think you’ve got that a little backwards. The universal health care is a product of the Aussie ethos of sacrificing small freedoms for the good of the community. The convicts and first settlers, and so many generations after them, had to band together to survive the harsh conditions, and from that the 'look after your mate' mentality entered the collective psyche.
My friend’s son went to live in Germany because of his job. He used to go for a walk “around the block” each night to keep fit. He said initially he always smiled and greeted people with a hello. Until……his German work mates told him to knock it off before he got arrested for harassment 😂😂😂. They told him it was a very weird thing to do in Germany.
My English mates also laugh at “You bloody Aussies; you just rock up at our front door to say hi & drag us out for a walk in the park, or a coffee: what IS it with you guys”
Sadly I think this open friendliness is starting to disappear.
But where I live (Bayside town on the Mornington Peninsula) everyone still says G’day & smiles if you say G’day.
When my English mate came over two years ago, he came back from going down the shops shaking his head and killing himself laughing. I asked him what was so funny? “You buggers; haha, I’ve been stopped for a “chat” about 5 times between here and the Supermarket. All sorts of funny weird off the cuff conversations. It’s so nice actually, there are lots and lots of lonely people in England. Nobody ever says hello to them.”
Do you know what, I actually felt some pride in my home town for including him in their chats. He said our reputation in Britain is that we’ll talk to the nearest light pole. I asked him if that was a bad thing. “After being here, I’d say absolutely not. It’s a great thing and it sets you apart. The Kiwis do it too. It’s an antipodean thing.”
❤Makes me proud to be an Aussie
It's starting to disappear bc the basic fabric of our society is changing bc of mass immigration.
Australian culture, very soon, will be gone, and a new culture will come.
This is exactly what Albo's plan has always been.
That just warms my heart…I live in a very warm community…every 2nd person has a dog and we take ages to do our walk as people, both with and without dogs, stop for a chat. We might be back home later than we thought we’d be but we’re smiling, and have so many stories to tell.
Kiwi’s are family so it’s natural for them to do it as well 😁
I am very pleased to say that where I live in beachside Victoria when I go for a walk 99% of people I pass will smile & say hello! This started in lockdown & thankfully has endured!
And beyond lockdown. Here in the Mornington Peninsula.
Rampant individualism is a sure way to a range of social problems. It’s good to have a sense of community responsibility. It binds without imposing and creates the understanding that what is good for all of us is better than that which only benefits a privileged few. The US is unraveling under its burden of so called ‘individual rights.’
This is the beauty of our Australian culture since the days of the convicts who were so isolated from the rest of the world that need to help each other survive in a strange land. They have a very strong sense of civic duty that gave rise to the cultural coherence and unity of purpose. Looking out for each other through bad times and together celebrating good times. Winning America’s Cup put the country into overdrive of national celebration. Aussie’s have a very strong sense of civic duty. Whether volunteering to engage in community activities or in crises in National disasters. Australian Country Women’s Association (CWA), RSL (Returned Soldiers League), Lion’s Club and many more. We need to educate the migrants who come from other countries that participating in civic activities is an important part of being an Australia. Not coming here to to study, work and get rich. This should be part of swearing allegiance to be faithful to the country. I hope and pray that we will never lose these aspects of being Australia. Australians stand together for each other and for the country….. No place for people who come here and cause trouble like protesting about something beyond their control.
The individualism is very much affecting Australia as well. Younger people aren't lining up to volunteer their time anymore in the same way they used to. It's more something mums & dads in mire affluent do at a sausage sizzle. Not so much long term on the small town hospital committee, to keep the Christmas fete going every year.
I am retired and every morning I go for a walk of about 2-5kilometres and nearly everyone I pass either says hello/hi or gives a smile of acknowledgement and it doesn't matter whether they are migrants or have been here a long time.
same here 🫡
That was always my experience but my wife and I are encountering more people on our walks, who will look down or look the other way.
A sad development.
@@lindsaybrown7357 i`m looking after my Dad in Brissie and yes i`ve come across people who turn their heads away . my place is at Tweed Heads and everyone says hello .
Anyone under 30 generally has anxiety, and looks away....
Social media is changing the people
@rarotime5555
Living in rural Australia, one thing I would do is teach firefighting and SES in schools in the hope we get more volunteers .
Chainsaw, bitch. And soy latt'e, in the country, a lawn.
One of my best memories is seeing fire trucks from NSW volunteers brigades driving down the Hume Highway to help fight fires in Victoria. Each truck had the brigade name, so you could identify the community that was going to help fellow Aussies in a time of need.
I used to courier on foot around sydney city and I would make a point of smiling at everyone. Sometimes u just never know what someone is going thru and flashing a smile may change their entire view of their day. Its free, painless and hurts noone on any level. If the world only tried to do it more, we wouldnt be so pent up about being individuals first and a community second. I love Australia, I have always thought how lucky we are to be here. Part of me is 2nd gen, part of me is convict. I would hate to live where noone smiled or was immediately suspicious of u simply because u smiled.
I’m in a lovely town in central Victoria and if I go down the street, I stop and chat to people I know and people I don’t know, especially if they have a dog.🐶. I love the Aussie steering wheel wave at people when driving where you just raise your fingers off the wheel to say Gday..Not in Melbourne but definitely in the country. I just love the community, our SES and CFA are all volunteers and have paid for that with their lives ♥️. They are all heroes!
I remember as a kid in the 70-80’s , the saying ,THANK YOU LOVE, it was a big saying , out of the blue I’ve been saying it and thought is it a right of passage when you are a older Aussie to say it .
i`m 65 and i still say thank you love and thanks darl . i picked it up from men and women at the factory i 1st started work in 1975 🫡
@@georgiegorge6679 I was born in 1975 and so was my wife, We say 'Darl'
Im a "hey love" kinda gal and im 59. When i was younger we used darl or sweetheart, now its love. I greet everyone the same way.. Hey love or Hey lovely.
@@CQuinnLady Deb uses 'lovely' just makes me want pancakes.
One of the main issues, all around the world, seems to be the elevation of "rights" over "obligations".
Yep, this
100% this. This is the essence of the problem
Always "My rights my rights my rights!!" and never "my responsibilities, my responsibilities". They have to go hand in hand. Rights without responsibilities is literal anarchy, and responsibilities without rights is basically slavery. They have to go hand in hand and I always thought accepting your responsibilities was part of being an adult.
@Alex.The.Lionnnnn . I agree. It's a non partisan problem though.
@@Alex.The.Lionnnnn I have always wondered what a right is. To me it is what we as a community allow each other to do and that changes.
Even Rural Australia is loosing talking to others. I spoke to a stranger today at the Chemist and she walked away with a smile. Common Aussies lets put a smile back on other people's faces again. The most interesting thing people like talking about is themselves.
I'm 64 and more than happy to say hello to any stranger, get pissed off when people give me a half angry look..
yea, i sometimes get those looks or get ignored when i say hello to strangers. It used to annoy me, but now I take it as not everyone is in a friendly mood all the time. Similar age. 64 next month.
@@chrisschneiders6734 They're ruled by insecurity. Keep friendly. 👋🏾
Its ironic that my family came here in the early 70s & said "this place is 20-30 years behind" like it was a bad thing. Now, being "20 years behind" in our attitudes is a good thing. There was an Australian demographer who wrote a whole book (a decade or so ago) about how connectedness and collectivity makes communities & neighbourhoods better places to live rather than individuality & division.
Let me correct you, we were never 20 - 30 years behind, we just never were influenced by the rest of the world. Our attitudes are the same as the attitudes we landed with. We had nothing and we all had to work together to create something. That is core to our way of life. I hate it when I see groups of people who want to destroy that and bring their war ravaged hateful attitudes here, instead of working to enjoy a new life. I love culture and characters and Ive met plenty in my life, Ive been blessed to experience people from many walks of life who invited me in and shared with me their culture, and wanted to learn ours. But never were we behind at all, being progressive should never involve losing that sense of community. Maybe thats why ur family thought that way. Many countries progressed and lost their ability to work together as a nation. America sure has, they are imploding atm.
@CQuinnLady You are probably right about attitudes. Things like "highways", "freeways", the size of cars (pre 70s oil crisis), the amount of regulation of business, education standards....these were things the "behind" referred to. The Hume Highway being 2 lanes (one each way) outside of the metro centres & with potholes big enough to lose a VW Beetle (according to the papers)...vs multi-lane roads in similar US areas. Not sure about cities & whether or not they still had decent transport and/or were more walkable back then, since I was generally in rural areas. Maybe educational standards, although these days Australia is probably ahead of a large majority of US schools at least at the primary level, and possibly also at middle/high school level as well. I suspect curriculums all round are more diverse here.
Damiens book is a fabulous look into Australian life. Highly recommend.
Really enjoyed this conversation.
Australians are concerned about society as a whole whereas Americans worry about the individual to the detriment of society.
I live in Bendigo Victoria and everybody says G’day/ Hi. And most places I go with the exception of the cities.
And that’s why myself and 3 girlfriends from Melbourne holiday in Bendigo for a girls long weekend every 2 years, we love Bendigo 😊
Just finished listening to Damien's book. Thank you for a really enlightening and uplifting description of the country I live in. Found the description of Yonglu sense of kinship eye-opening and relatable, and something to aspire to. Well written, and even better to have the author reading it.
Easter Monday 2024 while travelling along the Calder Highway from Melbourne to Mildura, a freak storm uprooted a huge gum tree blocking traffic from travelling in either direction south of Wedderburn. We were the first car on the south side to have to stop. The police were contacted and arrived 40 minutes later. However, almost immediately people left their cars and began to clear the highway. Two blokes appeared with chainsaws (one chainsaw bar was about 40 cms long and belonged to a holiday camper. The second chainsaw's bar was about 60 cms and belonged to a farmer who lived adjacent to the highway. The farmer's wife was travelling back from Melbourne in the car behind us.) Two more blokes appeared with winches on their utes. The limbs and trunk were cut and winched, and people just did what they could to help.
Nobody "took command" but the tree took about 5 minutes more to be cleared away from the highway after the cops arrived...a total of 45 minutes. I don't think it occurred to anyone to wait until the SES were called. It was simply another moment when there is a job to be done you just pitch in and help out however you can. It is what we do so, so well as Aussies (regardless of where you happen to have been born!)
My fav moment was when a woman appeared with a broom that she had retrieved from her caravan and the cops and everyone else waited while she swept twigs and leaves from the highway!
Great story....proud of our Aussie community
Love that story. It's not an isolated incident either. Most of us will help others willingly.
I was at a similar incident, and one man was really upset that recent back surgery meant he couldn't help clear the road.
My husband frequently says to me ( after I’ve been chatting happily on someone in the line at the super )”’Who was that ?” Me: “‘I’ve absolutely no idea - never met them before !” I arrived in Aussie 45 years ago from RSA …. still The Best Country in The World !! Aussie Aussie Aussie !! Oy Oy Oy ♥️ 🇦🇺
I genuinely believe that it's a choice. You choose to connect, you choose to care, you choose to be involved. When you ask people how's it going, people respond accordingly in Australia. We need to hold onto it. And not to make who we vote for part of our identity
I was raised loosely protestant, when my folks split, I was enrolled in cheapest Catholic private school just because it was half way between their houses.
I’m not religious, but their values around doing “works” really stuck with me. Thoughts (and prayers) aren’t enough, you actually have to go and do things for people to help if you want a community, not just strangers in neighbouring houses.
i found this discussion really interesting and comforting, because i feel like there is still a sense of community in australia - it just does depend on whether or not you want to participate in it or how far you want to immerse yourself. i guess it's a lot different in a smaller town - but in a capital city in the suburbs, you can still find that, but it is definitely dwindling. i think the change in a generation comes down to the increase in devices over the past 20 years or so. people have more ways to entertain themselves at home when a couple of decades ago or so, mobile phones weren't a big thing - definitely not smart phones and the internet was still a pretty new and emerging thing. when i say that.. i mean around the time where only 1 in 10 or so australian households had the internet. this development over time means people often seek out relationships online rather than meeting people naturally or being more openly social.
i'm intrigued by the comparison with the US. i see a lot of the US on social media, especially to do with politics and elections and it intrigues me how passionate they are about politics and how for some people it is all-encompassing. to the point where it seems like it's more "extreme left" vs "extreme right" and that that can dictate the difference between people being friends or not. it's so engrained in US society. whereas, i think australians don't have that much care for politics - they have their say and providing things aren't falling apart, people don't really get consumed by politics and i think that's a healthy thing. if you are to base your social groups purely on partisan grounds, you limit your social circles and overall life experience by half. i hope australia never gets to that point.
i find the obsession that americans have over being fearful of australia and it's animals to be such a bizarre one. people who live here know that your chances of getting attack by or killed by an animal are extremely slim - even if we may have more deadly animals. people take basic precautions and most of these animals or insects live in remote areas and most people won't encounter in their lifetime. the reason i bring that up is that americans literally have guns everywhere and everyone has them. the stats of gun deaths are horrifying. as an australian, that thought terrifies me way more than some animals i'm most likely never going to see - or if i do, most people have some sort of an idea how to deal with that encounter (be it a bite / sting / attack). i just can't fathom americans being terrified at australia when theres literally people owning AR-15s everywhere in the US with very few checks and balances.
great video - loved hearing both perspectives.
The biggest difference I see is basic manners. Table manners. Use of cutlery etc
Manners makes the man
That's not really manners, it's just etiquette.
The cutlery thing does my head in. They look so awkward holding a fork.
@@glenmale1748 like a toddler 😂
@PaxAlotin-j6r Is a name, yes. Anything more to offer?
I was struggling today with too many things in my hands, trying to get my key fob to open the apartment block foyer door. I dropped keys, phone and one of the three bags. A guy walking past turned around, came back and picked up and handed me the bag, another handed me my phone and keys, but not until he had opened the door with the fob and held the door for me to go through. Then a 'have a great day' and 'no worries' as I was thanking them, and they resumed their separate journeys. And that’s not unusual.
Strangers still say hello when you get on a bush walking trail ... Even close to Sydney Harbour. Yet if you were in the street they don't.
Its a numbers thing, in the city you could do nothing else if you acknowledge everybody
The difference is from the most important building in each town. In America a community is based around its church. In Australia it’s the pub. We keep government seperate from religion. The post office, government office are all associated with the pub. Even religious services were conducted in the ‘ballroom’ of the pub.
A book i would recommend reading called "Its a fortunate life" by Albert Facey. It shows the true hardship of outback life through the eyes of Bert Facey born 1894. A boy of 5years old sent off to work. Its a classic Australian literature and gives the reader an insight into life in Australia at the turn of the 20th century. Which in turn i hope helps those understand why our core beliefs are community not individualism.
Fantastic book
I read that book and it had a lasting effect on me as I realised how fortunate we are in Australia and we have it so easy compared to older generations
Awesome book read it years ago, thanks for the reminder, will go back and read it again 😊👍🇦🇺
@@HelenIsaacs-l9e It gave me the exact same feels. I recommend it every chance I get, just to show what life was really like at the turn of the 20th century and why we really are the lucky country.
@@BarbaraMacDonald-bq1lb its definitely one to be kept and read several times over
Intelligent considered opinions. Very interesting - Thanks.
The very last sentence is everything. I doubt it can be done. We can’t have the highest immigration rate in the world plus the official multicultural ideology and expect the country to retain the old Anglo-Celtic ethos, which section of the population has just recently now slipped into a minority. This happened to America a long time ago and we are following the same path. You can’t massively change the population and expect it to stay the same.
The colour of someone’s skin does not define them. What changes a society is when you assess someone based on their appearance rather than treat people for what they are.
Go argue with some other straw man you've invented
Brits will tell you they are not open with strangers and don't want to be approached or acknowledged, and trhey also find it better here.
@bruceevennett955 culture just coalesced from the ether eh?
I walk a lot and every "migrant" says hello. I also worked in a large hospital and in nine years the only patients that were rude and hostile to me were Australians.
We don’t have a social circle that must be aligned to our politics. Of course there are organisations & groups who do but our own personal friendship groups aren’t dependent on the party you support. Generally our political views are our own & we may discuss around election times or we may simply go in the booth & vote. Seeing how overwhelmingly polarised the US is right now based on which party you support I desperately hope we keep our way.
In the states they congregate in different ways. A BBQ is generally a party or get together, where as in Australia we have sectioned off the sausage into its own thing. Each state having a different take on the sizzle. American BBQ's though are a feast for any newcomer. I mean the glazes and char marinades are amazing. Then there's the fried chicken.
50 years ago I think most Australians had a link to the country that has disappeared
Depends on the generation, and their upbringing. I agree to a limit !!!
THINK of multiculturalism ???
All you need is a link to people. Nothing to do with the country.
@@julesmarwell8023 LOL That's all you bigots have
It's still strong ❤️
will check this later, this guy is a real Australian, apparently it is almost impossible to do us well, Qlder's say eh... at the end of sentences like Canadians or some NZs...or cus or bro at the end. but the eh? is kinda on the up ...as in ..."Say Yep...or Nah?""
These days, many people walking have earbuds so "Good morning" is not acknowedged. Very sad.
There’s a very good book on this clash between value and values; admittedly a book on economics, but so interesting.
“Values” by Mark Carney.
Mateship. In a nutshell.
Volunteering has declined along with the middle class. If you need two or three jobs to get by, you don't have time to volunteer. Growing financial inequality means shrinking volunteering.
People stopped saying hello in big city's as at some point the density of people means, that it just thebonly thin you end up doing and it become tedious.
Economics teaches selfishness
Don't worry, Australia has been watching very closely to what the US is doing next in terms of the wokeness culture.
Im 38 and in the time I've grown up i could see us getting Americanised. Hearing younger kids than me and then my own kids speaking like yanks is sad.
Australian vernacular, especially in the cities, is being taken over by American slang.
We are slowly losing our culture and the worst of American culture is taking over, here and everywhere else in the world.
I have really noticed the difference over past 10 years. It all starts with language.
Take-away not to-go
Chips not fries
Burgers are not sandwiches
Rubbish bin not trash can
Metre not meter (a meter is a dial)
Lollies not candy
Zed is the letter not Zee
"Based on" not "based off" This one is really my kryptonite!
You may think I am just being overly pedantic, but our culture is all wrapped up in how we express ourselves. We truly need to embrace and recognise our unique vernacular or we risk becoming a Southern Hemisphere California.
Don't even start me on politics... so many Australians actually believe they can vote for the Prime Minister like it's an American presidential campaign. I despair.
Hmmm...I noticed that some years ago when our Government! changed our school grounds to 'Campus' , Semester rather that Terms....our Government 😢
hmmm forced? I think knowing how to poliitely decline the things you dont want to do or arent able to do is important as you typically have a choice in those situations
Oh please to quote what you said “We (Australia) need to more internationalised?! We have had a large migration in the past from Brits Italians Greeks and now Asian countries you do not know what you are talking about mate.
In Brisbane we still say hi to each other when you walk past - especially when hiking or even walking your dog on the footpath
Well we have sane gun laws. 🙄
Aussie has become a mini US wannabe.
Sadly, I think some young people feel that way, because of the web. They have to realise that WE setthe standard, not any other country. And we have nothing to be ashamed of.
Which is crazy since US citizens don't get the employee benefits or social benefits that we do.😊
@TheEnezedone: Ahh yes, another "yank" hater has entered into the comment section. You should move to SE Asia because you'll have plenty of company!
God help us if we wannabe Americans.
Yes...look at stupid halloween
How many people in Australian cities will stop for somebody?
The community values being spoke about here in Australia exist in regional areas. In the cities? Hmmm....nah...Cities do NOT have this.
Are we trading away those community values?
The same is said in pretty much every "westernised" country, we aren't unique in that regard in australia
Compassion overload. When there's constant need for assisting, burn out is common.
I dissagree, whilst cretainly not as prevalent as in regional areas, it still exists in the cities. Perspective is important...If you go from experiencing strong community spirit (regional) to a city where it is less so, it can feel like none, even though that is objectively not true. The flip side would be the experience of the interviewee here (coming from the US) or even more starkly, if you were to come from a large Chinese city (where community really isn't part of the culture) to a city in Australia, you would likely have a very different take on community spirit here. Cheers!
Except that's not quite true. Go to any type of sporting club in a city, be it Junior level or Senior, and that community is thriving, just as it is in schools ( hence him talking about sausage sizzles). Yes, we don't live in each other's pockets in cities, knowing everyone's business but as he noted we are still great participators in community events. Mums and dads setting up the hudles at Little Aths, grandpa going on the Grade 2 zoo excursion, whole families participating in the school year level weeding weekends and the like. Abd when the bush burns, ir floods, or is blown away the city is very quick to put its hands in its pockets to help them out.
Unless you have lived in a community like the American one, it is hard to grasp how community minded we are on a very natural level.
Probably half true, country and cities are a different pace, but it only takes a few seconds to say hi. We're not having a 2 hr yak.
Not gonna lie but if you wore an 'L' plate around your neck with a name-tag saying "Aussie in training", people would have gotten the joke and would have loved you for it.
While I agree Josh, that Australia was very anti-snow flake. That was true a decade ago. Today we are governmentally mission driven to shaping snow flakes. Under the charade of being inclusive.
Get over yourself. Nothing of the like.
True, the past decade has seen some "bracket creep" on the anti snow flake mindset - largely media and beurocracy driven. However, in the last couple of years, there is a growing (largely unpublicised) groundswell of pushback from ordinary Australians against that broader trend, as if to say, that's far enough, thanks. Everything has limits, beyond which risks farce, even inclusiveness. Cheers!
@@phillipevans9414 I have to hope that reason might prevail over... The (bureaucracy) nanny state gone mad.
@@somefatbugger Yeah, nah.
You've conflated two completely different topics. Being inclusive of ALL of our Australian diaspora has nothing to do with being a snowflake. A generation ago, for example, it was the norm to exclude someone who uses a wheelchair from life in general as though they were a lesser being. Today whilst we are still have quite a ways to go, you'd be mortified if you were the one doing the excluding. That is all that is happening with the next section of community that has, until now, being excluded. We are merely changing the dynamic. A society that does not progress will crumble into dust.
It must be good to be the faces of America Australia but you look like you could come from the same place I would have expected a little bit more red and a bit more black are well must be my imagination
I've never been down under and I don't think I'll ever be.
One of the main not the same is here in Australia we say pull your finger out. In USA you say pull your thumb out. So finger doesn't rhyme but thumb does. T
Hmm, took me a bit to realise what you were saying..😊
A big difference between American and Australian culture is Americans have more patriotic fervour and national identity than Australians. If Australians were as patriotic as Americans, Australia would already be a fully Sovereign nation as a Republic with its own Australian Head of State, but so far they are complacent , indifferent and content to be under Britain's Monarchy , subjects of Britain's King and a British Head of State !
The king has no power over Australians. He can’t order us to war or enforce any laws. I would much rather bumble along like we are than put up with the super patriotic jingoism of America. “USA Greatest country in the world”, what a load of hot cock.
American patriotism is equivalent to Australian wankerism.
Really, I suggest you look at the country women's assortations around Australia. there is a very lively country people out there
Fogger