For those that fear coming to Australia!

[Gwiwer]

8 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

They spent their time thinking up tricks to play on him. The ones he remembers in particular which caused him issues  were language based, for example  when they told him that while "mate" is a term of endearment here, an even greater mark of respect was to call whoever you were talking to     c**t. 

 

 As in  "Thanks for the directions, c**t!" , "A schooner of beer please, c**t" and so on. 

Now that is "Australian-ness".  Extracting the Michael is a national sport.  Whether you take it on the chin or take it to heart might determine how you fare in society more generally.  

 

I got used to being the one with "the posh accent" and other occasional jibes.  Water off this duck's back.  I was on occasions addressed as "Oi - c**t" which was in the context actually a term of endearment.  A recognition of mateship.  But you have to know how to use it and how to take it.  Get it wrong and you might lose some teeth.  

 

My parents had all the paperwork completed and had been accepted for passage as "Ten Pound Poms" in 1962, shortly before I was due to start school.  Had they gone I would have grown up in South Australia, probably in some less-than ideal suburb of Adelaide.  For what ever reason they didn't go and pulled the plug at the last minute.  

 

I have long suspected that mother had jitters and brought enough pressure to bear about having her offspring (I have a sister two years my junior) being brought up in a "foreign" country.  Mother spent some of her own young life in Bermuda where her father was required as an Admiralty research scientist.   She remembered it with affection but it might have had an effect on any decision on going overseas again.  As a child you have no choice - as a parent you have far-reaching and life-changing decisions and choices to make.  

 

Father also had a story to tell.  A couple of years later one of his work colleagues was packed and ready to go.  Just he and his wife.  There was an office farewell on the Friday.  Ten days later, Monday-week morning, he was back in the office.  His wife had refused to leave the aircraft when they arrived "In the middle of nowhere" and demanded they return to the UK immediately.  They had gone to Perth WA.  Not quite "nowhere" even in the 1960s but pretty remote.  And not the city it is today by any means.  

[monkeysarefun]

59 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

My parents had all the paperwork completed and had been accepted for passage as "Ten Pound Poms" in 1962, shortly before I was due to start school.  Had they gone I would have grown up in South Australia, probably in some less-than ideal suburb of Adelaide.  For what ever reason they didn't go and pulled the plug at the last minute.  

 

 

Possibly Elizabeth -  which was being marketed to ten pound poms as a modern paradise  back then.

 

 

 

 

Jimmy Barne's family also moved to Sth Australia from Glasgow  in 1962. Who knows,  you may have shared the ship or the migrant hostel with him and gone on to be in Cold Chisel.

 

[DavidB-AU]

You wonder how history might have been different if William Young hasn't applied for assisted passage and what his sons George, Malcolm and Angus might have done if they had stayed in Glasgow.

 

 

Edited August 1 by DavidB-AU

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Possibly Elizabeth -  which was being marketed to ten pound poms as a modern paradise  back then.

My uncle owned a sporting goods shop on Rundle Street. It was the family business that he inherited. (I'm not sure whether it was in the area that became the Rundle Mall, but it was close.)

 

When he married my aunt, they built a house on the opposite side of Adelaide from Elizabeth - in the hills on the south side where they could catch a breeze and it was slightly cooler. After he died a couple of years ago my aunt sold the house - it was a perfect time capsule of 1970s décor.

[kevinlms]

Lots of questions here!

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-13/cairns-fatal-helicopter-crash-at-doubletree-by-hilton-hotel/104214840

[kevinlms]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-16/act-oakley-alligator-weed-sniffing-dog-map-lake-burley-griffin/104229042?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

[St Enodoc]

19 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-16/act-oakley-alligator-weed-sniffing-dog-map-lake-burley-griffin/104229042?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

"She marks the exact location, taking GPS coordinates, photos and noting the density and size of it and marking the site with flagging tape."

 

Why doesn't she just pull it out?

[kevinlms]

 

[Hroth]

On 16/08/2024 at 00:14, St Enodoc said:

"She marks the exact location, taking GPS coordinates, photos and noting the density and size of it and marking the site with flagging tape."

 

Why doesn't she just pull it out?

 

Because its better to identify the exact location for the application of a weedkiller than pull it up and risk leaving fragments that can re-root and continue to grow.

 

[kevinlms]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

Because its better to identify the exact location for the application of a weedkiller than pull it up and risk leaving fragments that can re-root and continue to grow.

 

Some of those noxious weeds (almost always they come from South America or South Africa) can be extremely difficult to remove, preferably irradicate. So yes, someone with the proper equipment is required.

 

Alternatively, you could say that the person who comes around with the weed killing facilities, should also be a dog handler and trainer.

[Hroth]

1 hour ago, kevinlms said:

Some of those noxious weeds (almost always they come from South America or South Africa) can be extremely difficult to remove, preferably irradicate. So yes, someone with the proper equipment is required.

 

Alternatively, you could say that the person who comes around with the weed killing facilities, should also be a dog handler and trainer.

 

On the other hand, its better to separate the operations as you don't want to poison your highly skilled dog!

 

[St Enodoc]

27 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

On the other hand, its better to separate the operations as you don't want to poison your highly skilled dog!

 

Silly me - I forgot this was a public sector/government activity. Why get one person to do it when you can employ two (plus the dog)?

[kevinlms]

2 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Some of those noxious weeds (almost always they come from South America or South Africa) can be extremely difficult to remove, preferably irradicate. So yes, someone with the proper equipment is required.

 

Alternatively, you could say that the person who comes around with the weed killing facilities, should also be a dog handler and trainer.

St Enodoc, you've agreed with me, but I'm suggesting that a properly trained dog and their handler, SHOULD NOT be doing the weed spaying at the same time. Completely different skill levels.

[St Enodoc]

7 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

St Enodoc, you've agreed with me, but I'm suggesting that a properly trained dog and their handler, SHOULD NOT be doing the weed spaying at the same time. Completely different skill levels.

My 'agree' referred to the first paragraph. See also my later reply to @Hroth:

 

17 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Silly me - I forgot this was a public sector/government activity. Why get one person to do it when you can employ two (plus the dog)?

One person + dog to identify the weed, second person to kill it. Possibly a third person to clean up after the dog...

[kevinlms]

28 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

My 'agree' referred to the first paragraph. See also my later reply to @Hroth:

 

One person + dog to identify the weed, second person to kill it. Possibly a third person to clean up after the dog...

It is hard to pick a single choice!

[pH]

[JZ]

Came across this and had to check it's authenticity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Holt_Memorial_Swimming_Centre

[Ozexpatriate]

5 hours ago, JZ said:

Came across this and had to check it's authenticity.

Is there a facsimile Chinese submarine in the deep end?

[Tumut]

On 28/07/2024 at 03:08, Ozexpatriate said:

It was quite devastating to the officers serving on the Queensland Police force. As you might expect they did their best to pay their respects to their fallen.

 

People like to think that Australia (or the UK for that matter) are very different to the US. Having lived in both Australia and the US, I assert that they are not that different - it is a matter of degree, the US being 10X the population of Australia and 5X the population of the UK.

 

No differently to the US there are armed nutters in Australia - just fewer of them. In terms of religious fervor, a Queenslander had this built - in Kentucky.

 

 

Hello All, reading the linked article, it would appear to actually be a For Profit Corporation, complete with Tax Incentives, for a Religious Themed Entertainment Complex, which, to my mind, has a lot more to do with making some people wealthy, as opposed to a "religious instruction" purpose that the operators proclaimed. America is very good at making "Religion speakers" coincidentally very wealthy. Regards, Tumut.

[Ozexpatriate]

1 hour ago, Tumut said:

it would appear to actually be a For Profit Corporation

Per their website:

Quote

Answers in Genesis (AiG) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit ministry organization based in the United States of America. 

So, not for profit. 

 

A 501(c)(3) is:

Quote

A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 501(c) nonprofit organizations in the US.

When people donate lots of money and you don't have to pay taxes, you can become quite wealthy. But it is not "for profit". 😉😉

 

There is a limit on what they are allowed to do differently from "for profit" corporations - the Johnson Amendment.

Quote

The Johnson Amendment is a provision in the U.S. tax code, since 1954, that prohibits all 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. 

 

Edited August 27 by Ozexpatriate

[Gwiwer]

11 hours ago, JZ said:

Came across this and had to check it's authenticity

Very authentic. 
 

Aussie wry humour at work. And the Aussie sense of “let’s name something after somebody” rather than use a generic or descriptive name. 
 

That happens in other places too. But not quite to the same extent. 
 

 

[kevinlms]

18 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Very authentic. 
 

Aussie wry humour at work. And the Aussie sense of “let’s name something after somebody” rather than use a generic or descriptive name. 
 

That happens in other places too. But not quite to the same extent. 
 

 

Never convinced that the pool was so named as a joke.

It was named after him, because he was the current PM and local MP at the time of his presumed death.

I'm sure that he would have approved.

 

Not quite sure why it was going to named as an Olympic swimming venue, as the swimming events had been held elsewhere during the 1956 Olympics. The only thing apparently in common, was that both venues had the same architect.

[Gwiwer]

Among very many other potentially confusing names is that for the Federal Seat of Dunkley in which we used to reside.  

 

Even a lot of local residents didn't understand why it was not named "Frankston" or something else geographically suitable.  Instead it is named for Louisa Dunkley, a trade unionist and campaigner for equal pay for women but who had no direct connection with the Frankston area.  "Dunkley Place" in Canberra is also named for her.  

 

More recently the Federal Member for Dunkley, Ms. Peta Murphy (a Frankston resident with involvement in many local organisations) died in office last year from breast cancer.  In February this year the Peta Murphy Breast Imaging Suite was opened and named in her honour at Frankston Hospital.  A rather more respectful and worthy naming.  

[kevinlms]

26 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

 

More recently the Federal Member for Dunkley, Ms. Peta Murphy (a Frankston resident with involvement in many local organisations) died in office last year from breast cancer.  In February this year the Peta Murphy Breast Imaging Suite was opened and named in her honour at Frankston Hospital.  A rather more respectful and worthy naming.  

Peta Murphy's last task as an MP was chairing an inquiry into the effects of gambling (aside from the fact that it's pretty well known, what happens to people that excessively gamble!).

Anyway her inquiry results were hidden away for ages, because the conclusion was to ban gambling ads during sport on TV.

So now the push is on to water down those bans, because FTA TV is allegedly in dire trouble and supposedly needs that revenue. The government also is addicted to the tax from them.

 

Fact is the big corporate bookies (mostly UK owned) have only got themselves to blame, for over advertising - aka killing the goose who lays golden eggs.

Edited August 27 by kevinlms
Typo and wrong word

[PhilJ W]

We are inundated with gambling ads here in the UK. The big corporation bookies make substantial donations to political parties and one in particular (that is now out of office).