# Aussies - nice pick on your PM! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833 "2011-03-07T20:50:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Incref](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@Incref](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incref)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/21 "2011-03-08T07:44:42Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > Not only a woman but also a ranga, living in sin and an atheist. God bless Australia!! Sometimes I wish for a ‘like’ button on the dope! Pity she isn’t a fan of marriage equality though… ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/22 "2011-03-08T13:24:36Z")
A looker? Seriously? I’ve just spent a couple of weeks in Australia and she was always on the telly (obviously). She has dreadful hair (a potentially nice colour but the most unflattering helmet-cut you could come up with - and apparently her partner is a hairdresser??!), a dreadful rictus grin of a smile and she walks like her pelvis is on backwards. And don’t get me started on her voice. She’s from Barry, so she could at least _sound_ hot like Stacey off Gavin and Stacey, but apparently the Welsh accent was beaten out of her as a child. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/23 "2011-03-09T00:42:35Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > Yeah, we’re a liberated lot down under. Recently in the NZ govt the top three spots were held by women. Didn’t we manage female PM, leader of the opposition, Governor-General , and Attorney General at one point? > [@](#): > > But I wish our female PM had had even half the looks of Ms Julia. Well, she was a childless atheist who was living in sin (at one point). Guess you can’t have everything. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/24 "2011-03-09T01:09:27Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Didn’t we manage female PM, leader of the opposition, Governor-General , and Attorney General at one point?.. Don’t forget your monarch has been a woman for almost 60 years. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/25 "2011-03-09T01:35:14Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Don’t forget your monarch has been a woman for almost 60 years. What was she before? ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/26 "2011-03-09T01:36:51Z")
> [@Incref](#): > > Sometimes I wish for a ‘like’ button on the dope! Pity she isn’t a fan of marriage equality though… She is in private, but is worried about losing the conservative vote. I don’t get it though, by not supporting she is driving people to the Greens which I suppose give labor their preferences, but as a matter of principle Labor should support it. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/27 "2011-03-09T02:17:29Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Don’t forget your monarch has been a woman for almost 60 years. Good point, good point… so has the Australian one. 😉 (Just in case: The Queen of New Zealand and the Queen of Australia are technically different people who both reside in the body of QEII of the UK… or something like that. A UK friend of mine was amused when on becoming an NZ citizen he got to swear fealty to the Queen of NZ as distinct from the Queen he already had). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/28 "2011-03-09T02:20:48Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > What was she before? Before that _he_ was George VI… but back then we called him King. 🙂 Monarchies are continuous, monarchs discrete… well, except for those that aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/29 "2011-03-09T02:48:59Z")
Happy International Women’s Day! ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/30 "2011-03-09T02:56:08Z")
> [@Agnostic\_Pagan](#): > > Okay, now I love her - and you mates for electing her! In the nicest possible way, it’s really not a good idea to try using Australian slang unless you actually live here, because you’ll invariably get it wrong. 😉 Also, not everyone in Australia loves (or even voted for) Ms. Gillard, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/31 "2011-03-09T04:26:52Z")
> [@Agnostic\_Pagan](#): > > PS why do you Aussies make immigration so difficult? Only 30 or 40 million americans would jump ship and head south.😉 Because American companies Down Under have done a bloody good job already of screwing up the country. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/32 "2011-03-09T09:27:03Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Didn’t we manage female PM, leader of the opposition, Governor-General , and Attorney General at one point? > Well, she was a childless atheist who was living in sin (at one point). Guess you can’t have everything. 🙂 Was Shipley still leader of the Nats when Helen was elected? I can’t remember exactly - I know Jenny was our first female PM, but Helen was the first elected one. But I tells ya - I gotta feel sorry for poor Peter, he has also struck me as the male equivalent of the “good wife”. The only thing that disappoints me is that Ruth never made PM ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/33 "2011-03-09T09:50:44Z")
Julia Gillard is sort of pretty, in some ways, but her accent is excruciating. ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/34 "2011-03-09T10:09:36Z")
I admire Julia Gillard’s ambition and resolve in a business known for it’s lethal lack of loyalty sometimes. Good on her. She’s succeeded at the very highest level and now she’s on first name basis with the World’s most famous President. But in my opinion, the guy you really want to see as Australia’s Prime Minister is Peter Garrett, former lead singer of Midnight Oil. Given a crack, given a real shot without being hamstrung, Peter Garrett would take the world by storm and the world wouldn’t know what hit it. He’d make Bono look like a wannabe AND he’d out argue David Frost on his very best day. But we might not ever get to see that Peter Garrett, beccause contemporary Politics tends to dilute earnestness in favour of demographic safety nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/35 "2011-03-09T10:40:23Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > In the nicest possible way, it’s really not a good idea to try using Australian slang unless you actually live here, because you’ll invariably get it wrong. 😉 > > Also, not everyone in Australia loves (or even voted for) Ms. Gillard, FWIW. Point taken, [no worries](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=599380&highlight=worries)! And I know she is not universally loved - she is a politician. 🙂 ## [QUOTE=Siam Sam] Admittedly, I’d pick her over Ka-Daffy. But that’s still a seriously butt-ugly woman, looks like a Simpsons character, although I’m sure she has a nice personality. [/QUOTE] Well, beauty is subjective. Eye of the beholder and all that. Is she extraordinarily beautiful? No, but I would rather watch her than most elected officials. And I have a weakness for redheads. And atheists. And Labor. She’s my type, even if she ain’t yours. Regarding her accent, you know that Americans are the worst at deciphering them, and when she addresses the House, most will likely assume that she is typical. So I can understand any dread. We had to suffer Bush Jr., who most certainly did not have the typical American accent (such as we have one, but the closest “standard” is the Midwestern ‘newscaster’). I could not listen to that man for more than five minutes at a time, but that was a combination of both the accent and what he was saying. So you have my sympathies there. **Boo Boo Foo** , I agree with you on Peter Garrett. I saw him in concert back in the day, and have always been impressed when he left music full-time for politics, and became a serious politician, not a one-trick pony. I would definitely love to seem address our House. Side note: Whenever I watch\* Sanctuary\* on Syfy - I don’t know if that is available in Australia, but Christopher Heyerdahl who plays Jack (the Ripper - need to watch the show to understand that part) reminds me of Garrett. (Not so much when the same actor plays Bigfoot.) ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/36 "2011-03-09T11:06:21Z")
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OMG, that’s so cute… you think Peter Garrett is a serious politician with potential to _run the country_! ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/37 "2011-03-09T11:21:38Z")
> [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](#): > > But in my opinion, the guy you really want to see as Australia’s Prime Minister is Peter Garrett, former lead singer of Midnight Oil. Given a crack, given a real shot without being hamstrung, Peter Garrett would take the world by storm and the world wouldn’t know what hit it. He’d make Bono look like a wannabe AND he’d out argue David Frost on his very best day. Bwaahaaa Now as a populist voice of dissent, Garret was top notch but that’s when he’s preaching to the choir. He wasn’t hamstrung, the limp is self-inflicted. He is 100% earnest but is out of his league. Passion, but not the Power. As Environment Minister his first decisions included approving the Wesley Vale Pulp Mill and the dredging of Port Phillip Bay, which cost him his core constituency. He couldn’t sell his arguments in Cabinet and hence lost the portfolio to a political hardnut in Penny Wong. His handling of the Home Insulation fiasco was a disgrace that cost lives. He’s struggling to hold ground in the politicking at the International Whaling Commission at a time when the Sea Shepherd are claiming near victory through direct action. He’s a bit like Barry Jones or Cheryl Kernot, the intellect that you like to hear make good points during the debate, but not trust to actually pull the levers. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/38 "2011-03-09T12:21:46Z")
It must have been tough for Peter Garret when he discovered all his idealism had no practical application. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/39 "2011-03-09T23:05:01Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Before that _he_ was George VI… but back then we called him King. 🙂 > > Monarchies are continuous, monarchs discrete… well, except for those that aren’t. yeah yeah it was a joke.. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833/40 "2011-03-13T11:59:51Z")
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. After kicking a Aussie Rules football about in the Oval Office, Julia continued her smoozing with an address to a joint sitting on the Hill. The fourth Aussie PM to have the privilege. Naturally, it’s an occasion to say lots of gracious things about your host, and rightly so. None-the-less it’s principally grist for local consumption because whatever Our Julia has to say it isn’t going to rate a mention on US media, and whilst the chamber is full of appreciative listeners few, probably less than 20%, are actually members of either the House or Congress. As the speech itself, it was the most excruciatingly, unctuous toadying imaginable. Extraordinary. The factional ice maiden who remained a cast iron stoic in the aftermath of the bushfires in her home state in 2009 was getting emotional of childhood memories of Armstrong walking on the moon. I’m not posting a link because I’m too embarrassed. In the aftermath she’s been memorably entitled “The Star Spangled Ranga”. Fortunately she is now safely back under local jurisdiction, and engaged in a dance macabre with her Foreign Minister, the increasing erratic, maverick or feral Kevin Rudd. She can’t pull him into line nor sack him else he’ll resign, cause a by election that Labor would likely lose and hence she’ll lose government. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aussies-nice-pick-on-your-pm/573833.md?page=3)