Since I know there are a few Australians active here, and because we are a much-misunderstood nation, let's start the AMA "Ask a ____" series with the folks Down Under
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I love it. We get to eat a ton of yummy salads and generally have an awesome BBQ. Usually Christmas isn't scorching so we still have hot foods too. This past Christmas we had stuffed pumpkin, Caprese salad, roasted vegetables, roast potatoes, garden salad with edible flowers, sushi, portugese tarts, berry tarts and pudding. Those who ate meat had BBQ prawns as seafood is a HUGE Christmas food.
Most people still have the tree and everything, it's just slightly warmer and probably more casual with picnics and outdoor parties being favourable.
hah yeah they are fairly popular. I think Since as far back as I can remember Neighbours is on Channel 10 at 6:30(after the simpsons) and Home and Away is on Channel 7 at 7pm.
Home and Away is still pulling in ratings, it's been going 21 years now.. thats so sad... Neighbours is still plugging along but I think the ratings are falling for that.
If the storylines they pop out are any indication.
How would you solve the issues that contemporary Aboriginals face? Is the Australian government responsible to help this population, given previous actions against Aboriginals as a people?
ooooo I like this question. I lived with my brother for a little while in an Aboriginal community about 200 or so Kilometers outside of Alice Springs. It was certainly a life changing experience. With so many of us living in coastal cities we really do become out of touch with what life is like for so many Indigenous Australians. Where I was staying there was completely inadequate healthcare eg. a doctors office with one doctor - if something serious were to happen you would be in a lot of trouble. The school was a small building that was falling apart and there was one teacher to teach all of the children/teenagers in the town
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The answer above is damn good, so I don't think I have much more to add, but I do think that while the government needs to do *something* to help, it can't just be mindless payouts or integrating them into society or anything like that. Health, poverty and loss of culture are probably the biggest problems, but I can't say that I know what the solutions are.
Ahhh these would be lovingly referred to as bogans. I have probably met equally racist/sexist people from UK/North America but bogans, once fueled with alcohol are certainly *ahem* noticeable.
In terms of sexism, no more so than UK/NA, and possibly even less so in many respects.
Racism is more difficult, it's sort of our Janus face. On the one hand, there is an immense cultural diversity, especially in the cities, that is often celebrated and considered an important part of modern Australian identity. However, there has always been a strong undercurrent of racism that was encouraged and fed through official policies from Federation through to 1973 known broadly as the White Australia Policy. Over a decade of the Howard government (1996-2007) helped to flame old (and some new) prejudices through their nationalistic, populist, lowest common denominator style of leadership which has resulted in it somehow now being okay (and even admirable) to be openly racist again.
As, as is often the case in the New World, the indigenous people are always the worst off.
It is much like anywhere else. It has a lot to do with how a person was brought up, where they were brought up and when. Because Australia had the White Australia Policy up until very recently there is still a lot of lingering hatred for those who are not white. There is also a lot of negativity towards Aboriginal people and the word nigger gets thrown around...a lot. I have found this much more in small towns and rural areas though and not so much in the cities.
Because I live and work in a small town I come face to face with this every day. Much more so than I ever did living in Canada (and I lived my primary and high school years in a small town). Australia is still relatively new even compared to Canada so it is going to take some time for all of that crap to go away.
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Most people still have the tree and everything, it's just slightly warmer and probably more casual with picnics and outdoor parties being favourable.
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If the storylines they pop out are any indication.
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Racism is more difficult, it's sort of our Janus face. On the one hand, there is an immense cultural diversity, especially in the cities, that is often celebrated and considered an important part of modern Australian identity. However, there has always been a strong undercurrent of racism that was encouraged and fed through official policies from Federation through to 1973 known broadly as the White Australia Policy. Over a decade of the Howard government (1996-2007) helped to flame old (and some new) prejudices through their nationalistic, populist, lowest common denominator style of leadership which has resulted in it somehow now being okay (and even admirable) to be openly racist again.
As, as is often the case in the New World, the indigenous people are always the worst off.
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Because I live and work in a small town I come face to face with this every day. Much more so than I ever did living in Canada (and I lived my primary and high school years in a small town). Australia is still relatively new even compared to Canada so it is going to take some time for all of that crap to go away.
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