# Anyone available to do an "Ask the Aussie" thread? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407 "2010-04-16T23:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/81 "2010-04-23T08:33:15Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > As has been said, there are a lot of immigrants in Oz and a lot of the joking is racial. Much of that would definitely raise eye brows over here but is really good natured and all in fun. For example when I was installing one piece of equipment I cut my hand and some blood dripped on it. They all know that I’m Jewish so the big joke all day was about how that machine was now blessed to make them lots of money. That sounds about right. There’s plenty of real, ugly racism in Australia, but there’s also a greater tendency to make light of racial and ethnic and cultural issues. There really are situations where people can say the sort of things you’re talking about and not mean anything by it except to make a good-humored observation about people’s differences. Casual stereotyping of Jewish people is very common in Australia, and i think one of the reasons is that, while Australia has a small but thriving Jewish community, it does not have the sort of national presence or history that Jewish Americans do. I had a friend whose wife was notoriously tight with money, so he used to refer to her as Mrs. Goldstein, and no-one really thought anything of it. Of course, i don’t claim to know how actual Australian Jews feel about this sort of thing; i’m sure some of them are as offended as an American Jew would be. One reason i don’t know is that i hardly know any Australian Jews; i met more Jews in my first few months in America than i met in my entire life in Australia. Sometimes the different attitudes to “harmless” casual racism have trouble bridging the cultural barrier between Australia and the United States. Harry Connick, Jr., was recently a guest judge on a stupid Australian variety show, and one of the acts was four white guys in blackface. Connick was clearly quite upset, and the Aussies were just as clearly perplexed as to why he was upset. And these Aussies were not uneducated rednecks; they were, i think, all doctors. Many (not all) Americans tend to be more finely attuned to the historical significance, in their own culture, of things like blackface minstrelsy, and to understand why a bunch of white guys painting themselves black might be offensive. Australia, lacking the particular history, doesn’t always engender the same sensibilities. I also know Australians who recognize that the word “nigger” is very offensive in the United States, but still don’t quite grasp the historical significance, and don’t quite understand exactly how beyond the pale it is. But even moving beyond what might be interpreted as fairly innocuous things, there’s plenty of genuine, hateful racism in Australia. When i was in high school, in the 1980s, it was in a part of Sydney with a lot of Asian immigrants, especially from Vietnam. Like most of my friends, i used to refer to them as “slopeheads,” and complain that they should just go back where they came from and/or learn to speak English. Luckily, a bit of travel and some growing up allowed me to leave that shit behind, but it lingers in the culture. It just tends to shift from one group to another. In the 19th century, and right up through WWII, Chinese in Australia were subject to much hostility. In the immediate post-WWII period, the immigrants most often targeted by racism were Mediterraneans, from places like Italy and Greece. Then, after the wars in Indochina and the subsequent increase in immigration from Vietnam, Cambodia, etc., south-east Asians became the racists’ punching bags. And, in the last decade, attention has begun to focus on people of Middle Eastern descent. A news organization in Australia recently fired one of its own cameraman for calling a news subject, in the course of filming him, a “fucking terrorist.” > [@hajario](#): > > The Aborigine situations is different. (BTW, IIRC “Aborigine” is no longer the politically correct term.) The only times I have heard anything truly racist, and it wasn’t that often, was about the “Abos.” They are said to be alcoholics, lazy and all on government assistance. It’s my impression that the New Zealanders have done a much better job as a country of embracing their Native culture. Actually, in cases where you need a word to describe all of Australia’s indigenous people as a single group, there’s nothing wrong with Aborigine, or aboriginal Australian, or indigenous Australian. If you are referring to specific groups, there are more specific words for particular regions (Koori. Murri, etc.), and there are also even more specific words for particular tribes. It’s certainly true that the “Abos”, as you say (and there are more offensive terms, too), have had it very tough, and i also agree that New Zealand has been far better on this score than Australia. Things have improved recently, and the apology a few years ago for the Stolen Generations was a good move, but plenty more needs to be done, and the attitude of many Australians is still quite hostile. I think, in part, that hostility sometimes develops from a guilty feeling; Australian know, for the most part, how badly the Aborigines have been treated, and it’s one area where it’s hard to fob the blame off onto someone else. Some react with concern; others get defensive. It’s not simply a color thing, because black people from Africa, and African Americans tend to get treated pretty well. I have a friend who works out in my gym. He’s an African American guy who was in the US Marines for over 20 years, from the late 1970s through the late 1990s. During that time, he made multiple trips to Australia, and all he can ever tell me about it is how great a time he had, and how he never sensed even the slightest racism during his time there. I’ve tried to point out to him that he is a somewhat unusual case, and that there is plenty of racism in Australia against other groups, but he just won’t hear it. He says he felt far more comfortable, as a black man, in Australia than he felt in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/82 "2010-04-23T08:48:03Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > This is _sort of_ true. Sort of. > > While Australians tend to eschew the cheering, flag-waving patriotism of Americans, there are plenty of Australians who wallow in a very unbecoming sense of superiority, and who are very narrow-minded about what constitutes proper Australian behaviors and practices. > > It’s no coincidence, i don’t think, that the term "un-Australian’ is one heard quite frequently, in a similar way that un-American is heard quite frequently in the United States. The attempt to prescribe appropriate actions and thoughts might seem, at times, to be tongue-in-cheek or half-hearted, but the fact is that there exists a considerable subset of Australians who take this stuff deadly seriously, and who are very intolerant of contrary opinions. The idea of “A Fair Go” is deeply, deeply entrenched in Australian and NZ culture > [@](#): > > The funny thing is that, alongside this fairly unreflective nationalism or patriotism, Australia is also home to a particular kind of parochial inferiority complex. Many Australians will, in one breath, talk about how Australia is the greatest country on earth, and in the next will desperately seek reassurance that the rest of the world is aware of Australia’s existence. > > If an Australian does something significant on the international stage, you an be sure that the news stories will lead not only with the accomplishment itself, but will also make much of the fact that Americans/Brits/Europeans/whoever have noticed how awesome this particular Australian is. There appears to be a constant need for Aussies the reassure themselves that they really are more than a small backwater that the rest of the world doesn’t think about very much. I’d definitely agree with this. One of my favourite Mambo T-shirts shows a Godzilla-like monster completely destroying a city- wreckage everywhere, general chaos, and I won’t swear that said monster isn’t breathing fire. The caption is “Were any Australians hurt?” Why this is funny (he says, going on to explain the joke) is that news reports on international events on Australian TV will embarrassingly often attempt to try and relate said event to Australia. “An Earthquake in China has killed 17,000 people and completely destroyed a small city, rendering a further million people homelesss. No Australians are believed to be amongst the casualties.” That sort of thing. There’s also a huge cultural cringe issue here too… On one hand, we tend to look at home grown “entertainment” and deride it as complete shit (because it generally is, IMHO) but on the other hand we wonder why our entertainment industry sucks so much and why our TVs and Radios are full of American or British shows, movies, and music. > [@](#): > > One other thing i’ve noticed about Aussies since i moved to the US is that, despite the fact that Australians get bombarded with American news and popular culture, there are still plenty of otherwise smart and well-educated Australians who are happy to make the most facile and simplistic generalizations about the United States. I think the Aussies on this message board are far better than average in this regard, maybe because they interact with so many Americans right here on the Dope, but if i had a dollar for every time i’ve heard an Aussie start a sentence with, “Yeah, but Americans are all…” then i’d be a rich man. Whilst I agree with the spirit of what you’re saying, I think the average Australian- even the really bogan ones- know a hell of a lot more about the US than the average or even above-average American knows about Australia. Read some of the questions SDMB members ask about Australia in threads- some of it’s really frightening, like they’re actually amazed we have the internet or electricity and speak a civilised language. I’ve spoken often of my experiences with people in the US- people who really should know better (like tourist guides, hotel maitre d’s, and people with degrees)- admitting they don’t know where Australia is, or anything about it beyond maybe the fact there’s a place called Sydney there. Somewhere. > [@mhendo](#): > > [Another Excellent Post] Bravo. I don’t think I can add anything to this other than to say I agree pretty much completely with you and my experiences match yours pretty much 100% from the sounds of it. The only thing I really disagree with is: > [@](#): > > It’s certainly true that the “Abos”, as you say (and there are more offensive terms, too), have had it very tough, and i also agree that New Zealand has been far better on this score than Australia. Things have improved recently, and the apology a few years ago for the Stolen Generations was a good move, but plenty more needs to be done, and the attitude of many Australians is still quite hostile. I think, in part, that hostility sometimes develops from a guilty feeling; Australian know, for the most part, how badly the Aborigines have been treated, and it’s one area where it’s hard to fob the blame off onto someone else. Some react with concern; others get defensive. From talking to people, I get the impression rather a lot of White Australians feel the Aborigines _deserve_ the problems they’ve got for basically “failing to get their shit together” like everyone else. It’s a hell of a lot more complicated than that, of course, but it is sad and also nearly impossible to objectively explain to a “foreigner”, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/83 "2010-04-23T11:34:20Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Giles I believe was talking about independence in 1999. As such your figure of hundreds of thousands of deaths is incorrect. Yes. That part of East Timor’s history at least was relatively peaceful. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2010, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/84 "2010-04-23T11:59:08Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I know Law Degrees (in fact, degrees in general) from Bond are worth “less” than they used to be because now anyone can go there with HECS (or whatever they call it nowadays), but you’ll agree it’s not like the US or UK where having a degree from the “Right” university is of vital importance depending what field you’re going into. I don’t think it matters too much whether your nursing degree is from QUT or Griffith or USQ, for example. I was interviewing last week and only noticed the Uni that one applicant went to, and that because it was the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and his previous employment was in New Zealand. As you say, largely no-one cares however I have been on panels twice where other panel members have complained about the standard of graduates of the University of Central Queensland’s Sydney campus. I got the impression that they would gladly have culled their applications simply because that is where they earned their degrees. It wouldn’t occur to me to ask where someone earned a degree. In fact everyone in my unit at work has between one and three and, of the 14 people, I know where 3 received theirs because it has come up in conversation for other reasons. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/85 "2010-04-23T13:49:42Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] Whilst I agree with the spirit of what you’re saying, I think the average Australian- even the really bogan ones- know a hell of a lot more about the US than the average or even above-average American knows about Australia. [/QUOTE] Sort of. Australians get a lot of American television and the U.S., as a major player on the world stage, gets a lot of press in Australia. That said, those bits and pieces are not always the most accurate or complete picture of America. In my experience, the average Australian _thinks_ they know a ton about the U.S., but what they “know” is often inaccurate, dated, or sensationalized. When I was living in Australia, I had several conversations with people arguing with me about how the U.S. government is set up, what the health care situation is like, and similar subjects. They were often arguing from a very superficial understanding based on a few news reports they’d seen, but they were convinced they knew all about how things are in the U.S. Americans don’t know a lot about Australia, that’s true. When I first met my husband, I had coincidentally watched some late-night viewing of a documentary on cane toads. When he said he was from Australia, I said, “Oh, you all have a problem with cane toads, don’t you?” He thought that was very funny. That, and random knowledge of Australian wildlife that all American kids are grilled on throughout childhood, was probably the extent of my exposure to Australia. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/86 "2010-04-23T17:36:23Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > The idea of “A Fair Go” is deeply, deeply entrenched in Australian and NZ culture. Absolutely. It seems to me, though, that Australia’s notion of a “fair go” and its egalitarianism are often fairly shallow, and that if you scratch the surface, you can often find just as much of a “fuck you, i’ve got mine” attitude as in any other country. The terms are also easily hijacked by demagogues, morons like Alan Jones or John Laws or Howard Sattler, who preach the spirit of the fair go while appealing to populist anti-government and anti-immigrant sentiment, and who claim to stand up for the little guy while secretly taking money from banks in return for polishing the corporate public image. Australia certainly has considerably more egalitarian manners, and is considerably less formal in many ways, than the United States. As an undergraduate university student, i called all my professors by their first name; except in pretty unusual circumstances, that just doesn’t happen here in the US. And there are plenty of other areas of life where a general sensibility of equality prevails. I really like it, and i think it makes for a pretty relaxed culture in many ways. I’m just not always convinced that it runs very deep, at least among certain sections of the population. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Whilst I agree with the spirit of what you’re saying, I think the average Australian- even the really bogan ones- know a hell of a lot more about the US than the average or even above-average American knows about Australia. . Absolutely true. I just made the observation because we’re talking specifically about Australia. Also, i think there is much more excuse for American ignorance about Australia than _vice versa_. Let’s face it: for better or worse, the United States is about the most important nation on the planet. The decisions it takes on trade, on economics, on foreign policy, on the environment, affect every other country in significant ways. It is the largest national economy in the world (although slightly smaller than the European Union), the world’s largest debtor nation, and the most powerful military force in the world. Australia, for all that i love it, simply isn’t that important. The population is just over half that of California, the economy is about the same size as Mexico’s, and the country is half a day and a full hemisphere away. There are a good dozen countries that are more relevant to the day-to-day lives of most Americans than Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/87 "2010-04-23T20:36:58Z")
Question for the Australians… Your country was in the news here a couple months ago. Seems that there might be another serious movement afoot to make Australia a republic, like the one that ocurred (but failed) in 1998-99. Is this real, and if it is, do you think it’s more or less likely to succeed this time around? > [@C3](#): > > When [my husband] said he was from Australia, I said, “Oh, you all have a problem with cane toads, don’t you?” He thought that was very funny. He should have looked horror-stricken — then stared off into the distance, muttering in _sotto voce_, “Cane toads . . . oh God, the _ **cane toads** _ . . .” [QUOTE=C3] When I was living in Australia, I had several conversations with people arguing with me about how the U.S. government is set up, what the health care situation is like, and similar subjects. They were often arguing from a very superficial understanding based on a few news reports they’d seen, but they were convinced they knew all about how things are in the U.S. [/quote] This can be frustrating, and I don’t understand what motivates someone to do this. Years ago I had a baffling discussion with an English person which touched on the powers of the US federal government versus the state governments, the President, what Congress and the Supreme Court do, and all that stuff. During this discussion it didn’t seem to matter much that I was an American, living here my whole life, that I take a keen interest in American history and politics, and that for the most part, overall if not always in nitty-gritty detail, I know what I’m talking about here. But no, no, this person was convinced that the US president has the power to fire a state governor, for example, and other intransigent falsehoods. Very frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/88 "2010-04-23T21:08:54Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Question for the Australians… > > Your country was in the news here a couple months ago. Seems that there might be another serious movement afoot to make Australia a republic, like the one that ocurred (but failed) in 1998-99. Is this real, and if it is, do you think it’s more or less likely to succeed this time around? I don’t know what’s being proposed currently, but the 1999 referendum was designed by the then Prime Minister (John Howard) to fail. There was a clear majority of public opinion in favour of a republic, but those wanting a republic were divided in what kind of a model they wanted. In simplistic terms, there were at least three kinds of models being proposed: (1) a minimalist model, under which the President would be appointed by the Prime Minister, possibly with some involvement by Parliament. (2) a model similar to that in the Republic of Ireland, with the President elected by popular vote, but having limited powers, possibly codified in the Constitution. (3) a more radical model, with an elected President having similar powers to the President of the U.S. The referendum specified a version of model (1). This is one of those few cases where my wife and I voted different ways: she voted for it, because it at least got rid of the monarchy; I voted against it, because it put more power into the hands of the PM, and (once it was in place) you wouldn’t get any further reform. So because a large segment of the supporters of models (2) and (3) voted against the referendum, it lost. And (as I said), this was the result that Howard wanted, since he’s a monarchist. If the present government puts up a referendum, they’ll probably put up a version of model (2): a popularly elected President, with powers broadly codified in the Constitution rather than based on common-law royal prerogative. And such a referendum will pass, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/89 "2010-04-24T02:32:33Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Your country was in the news here a couple months ago. Seems that there might be another serious movement afoot to make Australia a republic, like the one that ocurred (but failed) in 1998-99. Is this real, and if it is, do you think it’s more or less likely to succeed this time around? Huh. There was? I must have missed it. I mean, sure, over the years it has reliably popped up as a topic (usually on slow news days) but I dont’ recall anything serious about it in recent history. If I did see something about it on the news I’d have attributed it to the usual media shit-stirring, to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/90 "2010-04-24T04:28:38Z")
> [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](#): > > Huh. There was? I must have missed it. The article I read on this was in the Washington Post, I think, earlier this year — but I’m having a hard time now searching the website for it. However, going by [this January 2010 article](http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/no-early-vote-on-republic-says-gillard/story-fn3dxiwe-1225821809087) in The Australian, it may be that the issue has already been postponed again, for the near future. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/91 "2010-04-24T11:29:08Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I’m sure you don’t mean to do it, but it really doesn’t come across as being particularly pleasant or “nice” for want of a better term. I was thinking about it the other evening and I don’t think it’s so much the _fact_ you’re disagreeing with me as the tone in which you do it. You are in the habit of making very absolute statements. “Never on-campus” for example. It’s just dead wrong, but you say it because you say you haven’t met someone who does or did. Yet you must know that there are residential colleges. It’s just lazy. You say in that whale thread that Australians don’t genuinely care about whaling, yet actual polls show that they do, very deeply. You make these off the cuff but very firm statements that would be bad enough in any context but in the context of telling people from outside Australia who don’t know better, it’s appalling. When your tone changes, mine will. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/92 "2010-04-24T12:01:12Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > You are in the habit of making very absolute statements. “Never on-campus” for example. It’s just dead wrong, but you say it because you say you haven’t met someone who does or did. Yet you must know that there are residential colleges. It’s just lazy. Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’ve already explained that. And pretty much every other Aussie respondent in the thread has backed me up- the numbers of Australian students living “On-campus” at universities is small enough to be statistically insignificant (or “never”, in shorthand) as a percentage of students at that campus. It goes without saying there will be some, and I think pretty much everyone knew that when I made the post. Like I said before, this is an informal messageboard, not a Peer Reviewed Journal Article. People are going to use shorthand, and I am fond of hyperbole as I find it a useful, and under-appreciated literary device. I don’t deliberately use it to annoy people or be “lazy”, as you put it. > [@](#): > > You say in that whale thread that Australians don’t genuinely care about whaling, yet actual polls show that they do, very deeply. You make these off the cuff but very firm statements that would be bad enough in any context but in the context of telling people from outside Australia who don’t know better, it’s appalling. When your tone changes, mine will. There’s still no reason for you to act the way you do. And like I said, you’re the _only_ one of the other Australian posters on the boards who “corrects” me in that way. I honestly don’t mind you disagreeing with me, since we clearly have very different experiences and different opinions, and that’s fine. But rather than just coming in with a short, brusque tone that basically says “WRONG, YOU CRETINOUS FUCKWIT!”, you could say “That’s not my experience” or “Interestingly, I’ve noticed the opposite” or something that manages to convey your difference of opinion/view in a more respectful manner, and then go on to share your own thoughts on the subject. Surely everybody’s happy then? ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/93 "2010-04-24T12:27:11Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’ve already explained that. And pretty much every other Aussie respondent in the thread has backed me up- the numbers of Australian students living “On-campus” at universities is small enough to be statistically insignificant (or “never”, in shorthand) as a percentage of students at that campus. > [@](#): > > It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero > > HHGTTG, Douglas Adams But you do need to be a touch more careful about rounding down to zero. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2010, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/94 "2010-04-24T13:00:49Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > You are in the habit of making very absolute statements. “Never on-campus” for example. It’s just dead wrong, but you say it because you say you haven’t met someone who does or did. Yet you must know that there are residential colleges. It’s just lazy. You say in that whale thread that Australians don’t genuinely care about whaling, yet actual polls show that they do, very deeply. You make these off the cuff but very firm statements that would be bad enough in any context but in the context of telling people from outside Australia who don’t know better, it’s appalling. When your tone changes, mine will. That sounds like the truth but I think if you reflected for even a moment you would see that you are going out of your way to argue with **Martini Enfield**. For instance I know that people live on campus because once, playing poker, I won rooms for the night at the University of NSW before a concert at Randwick. But I wouldn’t argue about his statement because compared to the whole “going away to college” mentality in the US the number of rooms is insignificant. Most big city Aussies I know, including myself and my kids, did their tertiary education while living at home at the nearest place they could find. Similarly, I don’t know where you dredged up the whaling reference, but I imagine that he has made some reference to how much people **actually** care about whaling and you choose to compare it to poll results. Well if I were asked about whaling I would be against it, however I have never had a discussion about it with anyone I know, nor have I ever heard anyone talking about whaling. In fact it was one of the subjects we talked about recently at work under the heading of “things the media talk about that no-one gives a shit about.” I have no dog in this fight but I thought it was interesting that, while my experience is the same as yours, I didn’t feel any need to correct **Martini Enfield** and wondered why you felt that you had to. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/95 "2010-04-24T13:28:33Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Seems that there might be another serious movement afoot to make Australia a republic, like the one that ocurred (but failed) in 1998-99. Is this real, and if it is, do you think it’s more or less likely to succeed this time around? I would consider it highly unlikely that there will be another referendum for a decade, probably longer. Australians really do like electing politicians. Sure we grumble about there inadequecies, but we have chosen to have rather a lot of them. In a population of 20 million we have three tiers of government and 9 parliaments. A self-styled true republican wants to put a fourth layer, which we need like a fourth arm pit. What we really need is one layer of governance less. The fundamental problem with the republican movement is that while a majority of the country wants an Australian to be our Head of State, there is no consensus on the model to appoint them, nor much more importantly, of the powers of the office. We are also hampered, in a good way, because the current system of government has proved to work very well. Australians do not want a politician to be our Head of State, emphatically. I would have ranked William Dean, (22nd Governor General and ex High Court judge appointed by Keating, though vitually for his entire term Howard was Prime Minister) would have been close to an ideal example. There is simply no way William Dean would have won, or probably even contested a election. However a “true Republican” wants only the option to directly elect our Head of State. The problem being if you do have a direct, popularly elected Head of State, then you are guaranteed that you’ll get a politician. There are a lot of serious Australian Republicans for whom the penny hasn’t dropped that what they want, and what they are voting for are incompatiable. I’m a minimalist “McGarvie model” republican who voted Yes in 1999 and will vote No to a proposal for direct, popularly elected Head of State, should there is another such plebicite in my life time. The 1999 referendum failed because sentimental republicans voted “No” in the hope of a more radical or populist proposal winning a future referendum and as a consequence pissed away their only opportunity to succeed for a generation. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407/96 "2010-04-24T13:34:53Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I honestly don’t mind you disagreeing with me, since we clearly have very different experiences and different opinions, and that’s fine. But rather than just coming in with a short, brusque tone that basically says “WRONG, YOU CRETINOUS FUCKWIT!”, you could say “That’s not my experience” or “Interestingly, I’ve noticed the opposite” or something that manages to convey your difference of opinion/view in a more respectful manner, and then go on to share your own thoughts on the subject. Surely everybody’s happy then? Do you see the irony in saying “never on campus” and “Australians don’t honestly care about whaling” and then whining about how being pulled up sharpish is disrespectful? You are disrespectful of the facts, and you are disrespectful of views of others that you presumptuosly and incorrectly report upon, yet you are so thin skinned you get all hurt when you get a dose of disrespect back. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-available-to-do-an-ask-the-aussie-thread/536407.md?page=4)