Hey Pete...Questions about Australia

[kevrab]

Pete, I've really enjoyed your blogs about Australia. Got a few questions though.

1) What is the economy like down there? Are they struggling like the rest of the world is?
2) What are their views of American and all of us here? I know some countries are infatuated with the USA, are they?
3) Do they have national health care in place?

Thanks!

 

[catycatcat4]

Pete, I've really enjoyed your blogs about Australia. Got a few questions though.

1) What is the economy like down there? Are they struggling like the rest of the world is?
2) What are their views of American and all of us here? I know some countries are infatuated with the USA, are they?
3) Do they have national health care in place or is their system as screwed up as ours?

Thanks!

Politics are not allowed im pretty sure that part in bold counts as politics.

 

[lindsey clare]

can i answer? i'm not Pete but maybe it would be interesting to compare his thoughts with those of a local

1. (disclaimer: i know almost nothing about economics!). the GFC hit us along with everyone else, however we've been lucky to hold most sectors stable and personally, i haven't seen huge effects on many of the people around me, apart from my dad losing one day per week at work. i think compared to say, the UK and the US we have been lucky. some people have been calling it "the recession that never hit".

2. awwww, we love you guys! of course there is a healthy amount of cynicism about Americans - the same kind of stereotypes that exists about every nation. just as some Americans think of Australians as knife-wielding crocodile hunters who ride kangaroos, some Australians probably think of Americans as loud, gun-toting rednecks. know what i mean? but overall, i'd say we have a good view of the US. after all you are the people who brought us Disney... and burgers. though not the additional beets!

3. yes we have a national health care system called Medicare - http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/
i discussed this issue with Pete and Walter and it is an interesting comparison to say the least!

 

[kevrab]

Thanks Lindsey and I apologize to you all about any political stuff I brought into the board.

Back in the 70's my sister and her husband had a chance to actually move to Australia under some kind of homestead act but my mother talked them out of it.

 

[teskak]

1) GFC - Australia is the first country to Lift its interest rates as the consumer spending starts to ramp up. When the GFCe hit Australia (and particularly Western Australia) was in the middle of an outright boom where enormous amounts of money were made in the mining sector selling product to China.

The area you worked in was as remote as the Central Australia Pete described but people could earn $150,000 per year as a kitchen hand working 6 weeks on / 4 weeks at home. The state was awash with cash, now that has slowed down but there is nowhere like the 10% home reposessions that you read about for the USA.

2) Respect - Australians do not respect any nation, and part of the cultural pride is to poke fun at anybody. Australia was founded as a convict settlement made up of Irish who opposed British rule, criminals convicted for a variety of offences and the worst part of the British army / prison system who were transported to guard the prisoners for the rest of thier lives.

Early settlers also had it very harsh. (Keeping it nice...) Australians do not like the approach where it is percieved"My country is bigger / richer / stronger therefore righter in all matters of international politics..." The best and brightest minds still end up in the USA because that is where the money is. Alan Greenspan is an Aussie by birth, and so is one of the Nobel medicine prize winners.

Until a year ago Australia had a conservative government for 13 years which meant it was the first to sign up to follow the USA in its military actions. The Australian Special Forces were in Iraq 6 weeks before the declaration of hostilities scoping out targets...

Aussies are insanely proud of having the largest number of venomous snakes, spiders, scorpions etc

3) Medicare (I will keep this one nice as well) There are subsidies for doctor visits, but a significant co-pay if you are not unemployed or on a pension. There is no problem of which doctor aligns with which insurance policy as health insurance does not apply to out of hospital care. If you need treatment in a hospital as a public patient, then it is free. Urgent treatment eg heart attacks, trauma is available urgently and free. 'A friend's brother spent a month in ICU and another month in a rehab unit at no cost.

There can be a wait to get other tessts etc if using only medicare, and for "non-urgent" surgery such as hip replacements the delay can be unacceptably long 2+ years when on the public waiting list

There is no general issue of insurance refusing coverage of a condition or provision of service - eg who gets a liver transplant has nothing to do with insurance and everything to do with who is the sickest person on the waiting list with a chance of surviving the operation.

 

[kevrab]

Great info--Thanks.

Being an Irishman that part fascinates me. So, besides the aborigines, most Australians are of Irish descent? Must be interesting since we are all so damn moody and have quick tempers

 

[teskak]

Australians could best be described as mutts depending on which wave of immigration your ancestors came in on.

There were:
* Convicts from the Irish revolution who were catholic and would not pray at the Church of England Mass, the convict prison in my home state has another worship centre built by the prisoners for their prayer
* Convicts for any small charge - theft of a chicken was common along with a smattering of "ladies of ill repute" to keep the balance
* Soldiers the army wanted to get rid of, so they were sent to Australia
* Early settlers who were sold on the idea of riches and adventure and arrived to find an incredibly beautiful but incredibly harsh landscape were nothing was like England and many died early.
* When gold was found there were migrants from everywhere including China and Afghans
* After WWI there were programs for settlers to come out from England to open up tracts of land. they were also woefully unprepared for the harsh landscape. The existing Aussies were very racist against the Poms - but they integrated once the sunburn eased
* After WWII there were boatloads of immigrants from Europe, Italians, Greeks, Poles, Poms where the men principally came out, made some money and then brought thier families out. The existing Aussies were racist against the Wogs but slowly the cultures came together and the first generation born here are as Aussie as anybody else.
* In the 70s and 80s there were boat loads of migrants from Asia leaving Vietnam, Cambodia, China etc These migrants and their children now have prominent places in Australian society.

Now the big migration is Afghanistan and Africa - they are still getting accostomed to the Australian way of life and it will be a while before they are fully a part of the Aussie culture.

Yes, we are really quite a blend.

 

[lindsey clare]

Great info--Thanks.

Being an Irishman that part fascinates me. So, besides the aborigines, most Australians are of Irish descent? Must be interesting since we are all so damn moody and have quick tempers

heheh, that would be funny but it's not quite true. though the first few generations of Australian settlers would have come from Britain, we now have LOTS of residents who have migrated from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, not to mention all the Kiwis (small nod to DH). and pretty much everywhere else. it's a real melting pot (at least in the urban areas).

 

[lindsey clare]

teskak you are too quick for me!

 

[kevrab]

So, do you think if I immigrated to Australia all of my bills would follow me there?


Don't you guys have any questions for us Yanks?

I mean, you don't know how exciting it is to live in the tundra state of Michigan where the weather is always cold and the economy colder.

 

[teskak]

My view of America is shaped by reading the Community Board - especially during Election season before the restrictions on politics & religion.

(tongue firmly in cheek)

 

[lindsey clare]

haha teskak!

no questions that i can think of right now, but that's why i read the DIS boards too

but that probably brings us back to Aussies' view of the US. we have a pretty good general idea (i think) because our culture is pretty well saturated with Americanisms. our media, for example, is very US influenced. movies, books, podcasts

 

[kevrab]

haha teskak!

no questions that i can think of right now, but that's why i read the DIS boards too

but that probably brings us back to Aussies' view of the US. we have a pretty good general idea (i think) because our culture is pretty well saturated with Americanisms. our media, for example, is very US influenced. movies, books, podcasts

OK then, a question---What were Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman thinking when they made the Australia movie?

 

[Minnie Lor]

Very interesting conversation.

 

[teskak]

I think Nicole Kidman & Hugh Jackman made Australia because they liked Baz Lurhman and hoped it would become something similar to his other big budget movies like Moulin Rouge.

Forgot to mention that Australia's relationship with New Zealand is I guess similar to the USA relationship with Canadians. Minimal border controls and visa requirements between the 2 countries, lots of Kiwis come to Australia to work, sit on the dole....... Many many non-Dis friendly jokes concerning Kiwi's, sheep and unnatural relations

Aussies hold very few things to be sacred, besides 2 football grand finals, a horse race, the 3 day weekend, the pub and a 1915 disasterous battle at what is now known as ANZAC Cove http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZAC_spirit we find it bemusing the degree of sacred and passion displayed by USA to national pride / flags and politicians.

During the Australian elections the revalation that a leading candidate (later Prime Minster) visited a strip club in the USA was not met with shame or disgust but instead "Thank Christ he is NORMAL" But his excuse of being too drunk to look or remember was a bit sad.

 

[lindsey clare]

i haven't seen Australia! how unAustralian of me

i'm not sure why i haven't cause i'm a big Baz fan. from what i gathered, it was an ambitious export of a movie - tied in with lots of overseas tourism promotions. i think it may have missed the mark locally as noone i know had much to say about it.

teskak, Kiwis can't get the dole here these days. they get Medicare but that's about it. i think the rules changed about 5-10 years ago.

 

[teskak]

Sorry - I guess that was the "racist Austrlian" coming out in me

 

[AbbyAnder]

Hi,

I was reading with some interest and bemusement the blog from Pete and Walter's ABD in Australia.

I have a question...did he actually enjoy himself? I can't really tell from the blogs (or maybe it was all tongue in cheek that I didn't quite get).

Looking at the photos though, it made me a little embarassed to consider the amount of country in our own backyard that I haven't seen (and don't even consider as holiday options when Disney comes into the conversation )...

 

[lindsey clare]

haha AbbyAnder, don't worry, i think that is just Pete's sense of humour. i got quite indignant at all his derision of the food here, but then, you can't blame the guy for not finding all our best restaurants in such a short amount of time. i'm STILL discovering where the best places are to eat and i've lived here all my life!

and don't worry, you're not alone in being embarrassed about that. i have only been to three states! (and they're the three most "common" ones. oh and the ACT, hehe). now that's embarrassing.

 

[teskak]

Hi,

I was reading with some interest and bemusement the blog from Pete and Walter's ABD in Australia.

I have a question...did he actually enjoy himself? I can't really tell from the blogs (or maybe it was all tongue in cheek that I didn't quite get).

Looking at the photos though, it made me a little embarassed to consider the amount of country in our own backyard that I haven't seen (and don't even consider as holiday options when Disney comes into the conversation )...

I think Pete had an amazing time in Australia and it was something he had been dreaming about for many years. But surprising as it seems, he had a bit of a culture shock with some of the differences between Australians and USA. I think some of those came out with the menus offering only Aussie Burgers, although the Cairns bathroom with a view would freak me out as well.

I think a lot of expectation built into a comparatively small time. Pete & Walter should instead come back for 4 weeks just self guided, say Great Ocean Road and then more time in Sydney - but of course I am biased for Northern WA and the Bungles to really blow thier minds with scenery.