# 20 Million Australians! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 4, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868 "2003-12-04T04:16:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/1 "2003-12-04T04:16:03Z")
Today a new born baby will become the 20 millionth Australian: > **[20 million and counting](https://www.smh.com.au/national/20-million-and-counting-20031205-gdhx14.html)** … or maybe it will be a new migrant to this land. FWIW: > [@](#): > > \*\*The percentage of Australians born overseas had increased from 16 per cent to 23 per cent, and the percentage born in Asia had risen from 0.4 per cent to five per cent. \*\*20 million souls will put us somewhere around the population of the urban area of Mexico City, Seoul, or San Paulo. We still have some way to go before we catch up to Tokyo or the New York City area. :eek: Let’s see – 20 million Australians, 7,682,300 square kilometres (2,676,893 square miles), the world’s 15th largest economy – reckon we can fit baby #20,000,000 in somewhere? Go us. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/2 "2003-12-04T04:27:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jervoise \* > \*\*Today a new born baby will become the 20 millionth Australian \*\* Lovely day for it. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/3 "2003-12-04T05:13:47Z")
Watch out for [dingoes](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000922.html) , mate. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/4 "2003-12-04T05:14:05Z")
Strewth. ---
**Author:** ![Gerome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Gerome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerome)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/5 "2003-12-04T05:16:59Z")
Soon, we shall have enough to take over a slightly smaller country! Watch out, New Zealand! ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/6 "2003-12-04T05:20:33Z")
> [@](#): > > _Posted by Cecil_Whatever the case prior to 1980, baby-eating dingoes have now entered modern folklore. My intern Beth (Cecil has squads of interns) even turned up a Web site entitled “Babies Ate My Dingoes” (www.inet.ca/strangertimes/1/dingoes.ht ml). Ho ho ho. But it probably wasn’t very funny at the time. Sorry to be a wet blanket, but this is a pet peeve of mine. A baby girl lost her life. Whatever theory you choose to believe, a little girl died violently. The fact that it happened conveniently at the other end of the world for most of you doesn’t detract from the fact that a baby girl died. “Dingo ate my baby” jokes aren’t funny. R.I.P. Azaria Chamberlain Any doper that makes “dingo ate my baby” jokes, TLD will see you in the Pit. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/7 "2003-12-04T05:33:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*Sorry to be a wet blanket, but this is a pet peeve of mine. > > A baby girl lost her life. Whatever theory you choose to believe, a little girl died violently. The fact that it happened conveniently at the other end of the world for most of you doesn’t detract from the fact that a baby girl died. “Dingo ate my baby” jokes aren’t funny. > > R.I.P. Azaria Chamberlain > > Any doper that makes “dingo ate my baby” jokes, TLD will see you in the Pit. Thank you. \*\* I don’t think being from **the other end of the world** is a factor. Dingo jokes were a big thing right here in Oz, just as swimming jokes were when Harold Holt died. So we ended up with; the latest lead in the Henry Holt case is they’re looking for a dingo in a wet suit. Methinks you’ll have to pit half the country. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/8 "2003-12-04T05:42:39Z")
The average American looking for a cheap line on the SDMB knows about Harold Holt? I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/9 "2003-12-04T05:46:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*Sorry to be a wet blanket, but this is a pet peeve of mine. > > A baby girl lost her life. Whatever theory you choose to believe, a little girl died violently. The fact that it happened conveniently at the other end of the world for most of you doesn’t detract from the fact that a baby girl died. “Dingo ate my baby” jokes aren’t funny.\*\* The correct response to Americans cracking, “ **Help, a dingo stole my baby!** ” is “ **Help, a gunman is slaughtering my President!** ” Or a nice, tasteful World Trade Centre joke.\* - No, I’m not serious. ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/10 "2003-12-04T08:36:54Z")
So back to the topic, it took us 50 years to get from 10M to 20M. It is believed that due to declining births rates to get to 40M will take an additional 80 years. So sometime around the end of this century we could be living with twice the population and the same amount of water. Come on the rain. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/11 "2003-12-04T08:44:35Z")
EWWWWWWWWWWWWW. That many? How come you buggers didn’t keep my brother! He came home last week and he was much more suited to there 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/12 "2003-12-04T09:01:14Z")
Speak _real_ nicely to them, **calm kiwi** , and see if they can’t somehow yank him back for ya. 🙂 20 million Aussies. 4 million New Zealanders. We’re still just small fish in a big, big ocean. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/13 "2003-12-04T09:08:09Z")
Yeah that’s the deal **Ice**! Any Aussie out there want to have an obnoxious Kiwi brother for chrissy? ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/14 "2003-12-04T09:11:41Z")
20 million and you can’t get a pint out of one of them. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/15 "2003-12-04T09:22:32Z")
You can’t? I always found them quite liberal with the amber liquid. ---
**Author:** ![woolly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woolly)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/16 "2003-12-04T09:28:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Caught@Work \* > So back to the topic, it took us 50 years to get from 10M to 20M. Point of order: Australia reached 10mil in March 1959. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/17 "2003-12-04T12:48:26Z")
Congrats! I’d be happy change teams. Where do I sign up? - Shibb _“Dingo joke” free since 1985_\* \*And I always thought the reason behind the joke was making fun of Meryl Streep’s over-the-top-acting, not making light of a dead child. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/18 "2003-12-04T12:52:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TheLoadedDog \* > \*\*The average American looking for a cheap line on the SDMB knows about Harold Holt? I doubt it. \*\* I know about Harold Holt, and I’m American. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/19 "2003-12-04T12:57:51Z")
OK, I’m confused. What does Americans’ knowledge of Harold Holt have to do with Australians laughing at dingo jokes 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868/20 "2003-12-04T13:30:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ruadh \* > \*\*OK, I’m confused. What does Americans’ knowledge of Harold Holt have to do with Australians laughing at dingo jokes 😕 \*\* Beats the hell out of me. Now, let’s get back to the important stuff: what we can do with 20 million Australians? - kick Sri Lanka’s arse. Ghana and Yemen too, the puny 19 million weaklings that they are. - pool our body weights (let’s assume 60 kgs per Australian to take into account the little kiddies–giving us over 1.2 million tons) and outweigh the [total mass of faeces](http://www.notyourtypical.com/facts/facts.html) produced by the world’s citizens each day. I’m picturing a giant scale with all us Aussies shouting and jumping up and down on one side, and a mammoth stinky pile of human shit on the other side. Make of that whatever metaphor you will. - assuming we were armed, we could take on New Zealand’s army of [40 million sheep](http://aatravel.co.nz/tourist/farming.shtml). Of course, the Kiwis would be heartbroken… \*\* > [@](#): > > 20 million and you can’t get a pint out of one of them. \*\*Well maybe if you ground us up and added yeast, sugar and water… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/20-million-australians/216868.md?page=2)