It’s interesting, I suppose, that many “Australian” celebrities aren’t Australian by birth, but really, I could probably think of dozens of “American” celebrities who, by that standard, aren’t “really” American.
To use just a few example, Bob Hope was born in England, and Knute Rockne was born in Norway, but that didn’t prevent them from becoming American icons. And practically NOBODY would say, “Well, they weren’t REALLY American.”
In the same way, NOBODY would look at Henry Ford or Colin Powell and say, “Well, they’re just BARELY American, since their fathers were born overseas.” They were born here, and they’re Americans. Period.
Right now, believe me, I understand why Aussies would want to deny any responsibility for Mel Gibson! But for the most part, I’d think almost anyone who grew up in Australia and who’s spent most of his/her life there is genuinely, legitimately Australian. And I’d like to think most Australians agree with me.
What I said was “Tasmania is part of Australia but it is seperate from the rest of the country.” Is there something in that factual statement you are disputing?
Yeah, I was gonna say, Alaska is part of the United States, and I’ve never heard of anyone identifying as an Alaskan (or a Hawai’ian) first and an American second. Do Tasmanians do that – Tasmanian first, Australian second?
No they most certainly do not, in my experience, and that’s the reason for the raised eyebrows. Everyone I know from thee would identify as Australian first and foremost, Taswegian second. It makes no difference that Tasmania is separated from the mainland - it’s still a State.
In fact, in terms of Australian population density, Tasmania’s pretty close to where the action’s at - south-eastern seaboard. It’s more Western Australia and NT which are isolated from the rest of the country.
'Cos a lot of people migrate here, and that’s been the case for a long time. F’rinstance, bunches of 80-year-old Greek ladies in my old neighborhood who came over in the 50’s.
A few decades ago we were paying 'em to come here. Julia Gillard is a Ten Pound Pom