Australian Values

[Phil Spencer]

Yesterday whilst listening to the ABC talk back radio there was a lively discussion on Australian values and what it means to be Australian. What surprised me is that mostly third, fourth and fifth generation Australians contributed and the words used to describe Australians in 2006 were mostly:

Raciest:(
Inward looking:(
Money grubbing:(
Judgmental:(
Materialistic:(
Intolerant:(
Self interested:(I thought have I been living on another planet! When I became a Justice Of The Peace I took an oath to to treat every one fairly regardless of race, religion, economic or ethnic background and I thought that these were good Australian values to have, am I wrong?

Every time a politician says this or that is 'Un Australian' I wonder what being an Australian means.

So what do you think fellow forum members?

What defines us as a nation?
What does it mean to you to be Australian?
What do you think Australian values are or should be?Comments from our overseas members would also be interesting and welcome.

Regards

Phil Spencer

[masoth]

Five of your blue faces do not apply to me, and if conscious of being the 'odd one out' in a large group is a problem then I must be racist. I've never considered being 'judgementa'' as other than a desirable trait.

* I do think Australia, generally, is a place willing to accept till proven otherwise.
* I do think Australia, generally, dislikes having foriegn behaviour forced upon it.
* I do think Australia, generally, prefers to keep it's own ways after comparison with others.

soth

[echnidna]

Yesterday whilst listening to the ABC talk back radio there was a lively discussion on Australian values and what it means to be Australian. What surprised me is that mostly third, fourth and fifth generation Australians contributed and the words used to describe Australians in 2006 were mostly:

Raciest:(
Inward looking:(
Money grubbing:(
Judgmental:(
Materialistic:(
Intolerant:(
Self interested:(I thought have I been living on another planet! When I became a Justice Of The Peace I took an oath to to treat every one fairly regardless of race, religion, economic or ethnic background and I thought that these were good Australian values to have, am I wrong?

Every time a politician says this or that is 'Un Australian' I wonder what being an Australian means.

So what do you think fellow forum members?

What defines us as a nation?
What does it mean to you to be Australian?
What do you think Australian values are or should be?Comments from our overseas members would also be interesting and welcome.

Regards

Phil Spencer

Most of those crititsicms are correct to varying degrees.
Look at these forums and the way a witchhunt can start coz someone gets their knickers in a knot. Thats when you can see these things.

But as a country we are far less racist than most other countries.
We don't cut peoples heads off for disagreeing with those in power.

As far as the list of selfish items goes that's occurring due to party politics which is inclined to think stuff em if they're not one of us.

Some of the dick head things governments do are bad in the long term
The industrial relations stuff is a good example. The hungry mean spirited lot. whether business or worker are screwing our standards and way of life.

If wages get screwed down businesses won't make more money, in fact they might even go broke, because people will have less money to spend so all businesses will have less customers.

Stuff the Labor party and Latham for inflicting Howards mean spirited lot on us:mad: :mad: :mad:
anmd for not getting their act together:mad: :mad:

[Wood Borer]

I fit into the 5th or 6th generation category and I tend to agree with the comments you listed.

The attitude of many people is quite different to the values I hold dear, most of these values are consistent with those held by my ancestors.

Sad isn't it, but we need to be tolerant of the opinion of others even if it doesn't make sense to us, even if we think they are going at breakneck speed towards a cliff and certain death.

Many probably think my ideas and values are crazy - I listen, evaluate and either amend my thinking or dismiss their thinking.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

What defines us as a nation?
Our borders.

What does it mean to you to be Australian?
Cohabiting with others in our borders, like it or not.

What do you think Australian values are or should be?
What they are? Extremely varied... we're a bloody "melting pot." What they should be? What a loaded question!! No comment... don't wanna be labelled "judgemental" or "intolerant." :rolleyes:

And, for a change, I'm not being flippant. You may as well ask "what do you think European values should be." We easily have as much variety of sub-cultures... and back-peddling pollies trying to appease any country with a big stick have slowly stripped us of any Aussie 'cultural' ID we once had.

[Studley 2436]

I think most people are pretty happy with Australia. Perhaps it is interesting that this came from the ABC. Maybe it says more about ABC listeners than Australia?

Being Racist is no big deal. We all make decisions about people based on race. People behave in different ways because of their race or culture. I did notice when I was working in an International 5 star hotel that people with different races and cultures weren't worried about it so much.

I used to serve them at the buffet and someone would say for example I am muslim I can't eat pork. I would tell them what was in each dish and they would choose their food. No one was ever worried that there was food that they couldn't eat. They would just say that is not for me, or that is for them. It never mattered as long as there was something they could eat and there always was. Pretty basic to have Vego only dishes Fish only, keep the pork separate and so on. We even made sure there was an alternate to Beef.

There was a funny story once of a Compo stop over when a plane was delayed and the airliine bought a group a meal and a night in the hotel. They were going to be in at about 10.30PM when everything was normally packed up. What do we serve? Were going to serve pork but said no too risky. Beef was the choice but they turned out to be Hindu. No one knew until the meal went out and someone said we can't eat this it is beef. YIKES had to take it all back and cook pork in a real hurry *LOL*

Studley

[namtrak]

The pessimistic view of Australia is probably not too far off the mark.

I sort of summarise it as Australia the Mob is largely "white trash". Whereas Australia the Bloke is fair minded and willing to give everyone a go.

When we allow the media/politicians to hold our values up and say this is what we believe then we tend to take the lowest common denominator. Every Asian is not learning english, and every muslim is a terrorist, and every Lebanese is causing riots at Cronulla and every Sole Parent is breeding like a rabbit and every neighbour is a crackpot ad infinitum.

And when we stand alone at a barbie with the boys we treat everyone as equals and everyone gets a fair shot at proving their own worth.

That is how I see Australia.

[DanP]

Yesterday whilst listening to the ABC talk back radio there was a lively discussion on Australian values and what it means to be Australian. What surprised me is that mostly third, fourth and fifth generation Australians contributed and the words used to describe Australians in 2006 were mostly:
Raciest:(
Inward looking:(
Money grubbing:(
Judgmental:(
Materialistic:(
Intolerant:(
Self interested:(

What a load of rubbish.

Mainstream Australia is none of those things, except maybe judgmental. But not judgemental of race/creed, jusdgemental of individuals (tall poppy).

There are several very vocal minority groups who are all of those things and it is those who give the rest of us a bad name. But the average Australian is accepting and tolerant and really couldn't give a shyt where you come from, as long as you do your bit.

That's what I reckon anyway.

Dan

[Termite]

What a load of rubbish.

Mainstream Australia is none of those things, except maybe judgmental. But not judgemental of race/creed, jusdgemental of individuals (tall poppy).

There are several very vocal minority groups who are all of those things and it is those who give the rest of us a bad name. But the average Australian is accepting and tolerant and really couldn't give a shyt where you come from, as long as you do your bit.

That's what I reckon anyway.

Dan
Yep, I agree with Dan especially about the minority groups. Lets face it, we all have an asrehole but it's only the ones that fart that get noticed.;)

[Zed]

an aussie could have been born anywhere on the planet.
an aussie could have parents from somewhere else.
an aussie holds thier heritage proud.
an aussie will help an old lady across the street.
an aussie dont care what god you pray too.
an aussie is fair and fair dinkum.
an aussie helps kids and woe betide the @s-wipe who hurts anyone's.
an aussie dont care what colour you are.
an aussie will stand up and be counted.

this I hold true. I hope you do too!

God bless australia.:)

[Wongo]

I think Australia is a bloody great nation.

[Zed]

I think Australia is bloody great nation.

Now Wongo, let me edumacate you my aussie brother :

is A bloody great nation.

or

is THE bloody great nation

[Shedhand]

If the number of positive responses in this thread is indicative of the attitudes of Australians as a whole then the only thing wrong is that we have a miserable little twerp and a smirking pickpocket in charge in Canberra. And we can fix that (possibly as early as February next year if the whispers among senior Libs can be believed).

The trouble is too few people care to stand up to the noisy minority led by millionaire fools like Alan Jones, John Laws and there mad ultra right mates.

And because no-one else cares enough I switched off. I don't buy newspapers anymore because Rupert's far right of Genghis Khan and is trying to turn us into Seppo clones.

Off the box.... :o

[Rossluck]

Racist:(In Oz we're doing really well at the moment. Great place, good standard of living, good weather, we're not much interested in racial issues. You only start looking around at differences (colour, gender, financial situation, religion and so on) when things are tough and you want someone to blame(e.g., Nazi Germany, depression, Jews). We're not looking around.

Inward looking:(I've heard consistently that Australians are some of the most "worldly wise" people around. That's why we're among the world's most active travellers.

Money grubbing:(Yeah, so what. We've been taught to "foller the dollar" by great teachers: firstly imperialist Britain and then by the US of A.

Judgmental:(What would they know ....

Materialistic:(See "money grubbing..." .

Intolerant:(Tolerance presupposes repugnance. When you "tolerate" something, you're saying "I don't like you, but I will tolerate you." I'd rather be honest.

Self interested:(What else is there? :D

[Wongo]

Now Wongo, let me edumacate you my aussie brother :

is A bloody great nation.

or

is THE bloody great nation


Oops

Wongo (who is likely to fail the English test:o )

[Iain]

If money grabbing or materialistic is the urge to own your own little bit of dirt here I fail to see the problem.
Mr Jones and his mates are happy to condemn this if they are collecting your rent and telling you what a 'good, honest hardworking Aussie' you are while considering how to screw you a bit harder.

[Phil Spencer]

If the number of positive responses in this thread is indicative of the attitudes of Australians as a whole then the only thing wrong is that we have a miserable little twerp and a smirking pickpocket in charge in Canberra. And we can fix that (possibly as early as February next year if the whispers among senior Libs can be believed).

The trouble is too few people care to stand up to the noisy minority led by millionaire fools like Alan Jones, John Laws and there mad ultra right mates.

And because no-one else cares enough I switched off. I don't buy newspapers anymore because Rupert's far right of Genghis Khan and is trying to turn us into Seppo clones.

Off the box.... :o

I think that 'Shedhand' sums up the feelings of most working Australians, thanks for the comments my faith is restored. My next question is:

If the mob in Canberra is so hopeless and misguided how did this happen? Should we form a party of our own and displace them?

To qualify for membership one would have to be a woodworker as it seems that we are the most level headed, perhaps we could persuade 'Gumby' to come out of retirement and lead us, imagine that 'Gumby' as PM!

Regards

Phil

[craigb]

I think that 'Shedhand' sums up the feelings of most working Australians, thanks for the comments my faith is restored. My next question is:

If the mob in Canberra is so hopeless and misguided how did this happen? Should we form a party of our own and displace them?

To qualify for membership one would have to be a woodworker as it seems that we are the most level headed, perhaps we could persuade 'Gumby' to come out of retirement and lead us, imagine that 'Gumby' as PM!

Regards

Phil

Do you have a probem because the majority didn't agree with you?

What's Gumby got to do with it?
There is no Gumby.

:confused: :confused: :confused:

[Phil Spencer]

Do you have a problem because the majority didn't agree with you?

What's Gumby got to do with it?
There is no Gumby.

:confused: :confused: :confused:

I never have any problems craigb, with my initials being PMS I cause them. Seriously I wondered what every one thought.

I know that Gumby cracked the sulks and left miss him.

Regards

Phil

[Harry72]

What a load of rubbish.



There are several very vocal minority groups who are all of those things and it is those who give the rest of us a bad name. But the average Australian is accepting and tolerant and really couldn't give a shyt where you come from, as long as you do your bit.

That's what I reckon anyway.

Dan
Couldnt agree more Dan, being a Australian is about being a mate!
The most of us dont care if yer green blue or multicoloured yer still a mate... hey mate have a beer

[Shedhand]

Sammy Kekovich has got it right. Have a barbie, invite the neigbours. If you can't pronounce their names, just call 'em mate and give 'em a lamb chop. :)

[Ashore]

Zed and Dan got it right , who gives a ##### where you are from or who you believe in
Mind you at the barbie don't touch my chop I like it turned twice and not when you decide

There have been political views (though funny to me )posted earlier in this threads and those posting them have every right to post them however I personally don't agree And I am sure they don't mind me posting mine
I don't want to go back to the good old pre Howard days, when we had no children in poverty, the banana republic and 18% intrest rates etc etc
You may have a dislike for the present government as indicated by earlier posts "the only thing wrong is that we have a miserable little twerp and a smirking pickpocket in charge in Canberra. "I can only say have a good honest look at what preceded the present Government and then tell me when employment levels were higher, inflation was lower, standard of living was higher.
I am not having a go at anyone personally just my opinion.


Rgds

[black1]

i am, you are, were all AUSTRALIANS. isnt that how the song goes(apart
edit: we are (insert above)
from those born and living :cool: in another country).

[Auld Bassoon]

Quite so Ashore!

[DanP]

But it was the recession we HAD to have.:rolleyes:

[Iain]

i am, you are, were all AUSTRALIANS. isnt that how the song goes(apart from those born and living :cool: in another country).
That is a major typo, I thought we still was

[JDarvall]

It must be kinda hard to know what exactly Australians are......if, being Australians, we've never been anything else.

I do here comments from people visiting from overseas, about how friendly we all are, and how we offer help where we can and all that. Easy going.

But thats not always the case I suppose.

I prefer Australian country people though in general. More of them seem more willing to stop and talk, have a laugh, and offer help more than I've noticed from city types. Everybody knows everyone else etc. Living in the city, I saw little of that. But then that might be similar in other countrys as well ????

Spose, there's good and bad everywhere

[Christopha]

When you pull up on a rough track in the Flinders Ranges and a while later another $WD pulls up and a Vietnamese bloke, his Aussie missus and their kids get out and the little slopy bloke says "G'Day mate, Owyagoin?" you can't help but grin and think "thank Christ we're Aussies all!"
When some little bloke or blokette turns up here from anywhere on this planet, works hard, lives well and wants to say "Owyagoing?" then he is as Aussie as me and you. I don't give a bats bum what yo look like, what you sound like, what you do for a crust just as long you want to be here rather than anywhere else then you are an Aussie! Goodonya!

[echnidna]

right on chris

[boban]

Zed and Dan got it right , who gives a ##### where you are from or who you believe in
Mind you at the barbie don't touch my chop I like it turned twice and not when you decide

There have been political views (though funny to me )posted earlier in this threads and those posting them have every right to post them however I personally don't agree And I am sure they don't mind me posting mine
I don't want to go back to the good old pre Howard days, when we had no children in poverty, the banana republic and 18% intrest rates etc etc
You may have a dislike for the present government as indicated by earlier posts "the only thing wrong is that we have a miserable little twerp and a smirking pickpocket in charge in Canberra. "I can only say have a good honest look at what preceded the present Government and then tell me when employment levels were higher, inflation was lower, standard of living was higher.
I am not having a go at anyone personally just my opinion.


Rgds

Whilst I've voted for the little twerp since 1996, I have a number of grievances that simply cannot be swept to one side because of their good financial management.

The workplace relations are for me are the last straw, regardless of how well they have managed the economy. I've said this before, they dont affect me at all, not directly anyway. But it will affect those who can least afford it.

While Menzies was "British to his Bootheels", it seems that Johnny wants to lead us down an American path as far as health care, workplace relations, religious fanaticism and foreign policy are concerned. That scares me no end. Does that make me part of the majority. Mandate my bum.

Oh, and as far as this country is concerned, it has in my opinion changed in the last 20 years and will continue to change. I remember when Wogs were the targets, then Asians and now Arabs. Eventually we see a degree of assimilation (a good thing in my view) and a degree of acceptance, both of which take some time. For what its worth, I think that it is a matter of time and exposure that does the trick.

I couldn't give a stuff what someone looks like, but I do care how they act. If they are rude, ignorant, arrogant, intolerant or whatever and it seems to be a trend particular to a certain race then my initial attitude will be to expect more of the same, until shown otherwise. If that's racist, then that's what I am.

I judge individuals based on my experiences with that individual. What do we call that, individualism? There you go, I'm an individualist, racist son of a mother. Bugger the labels.

Time to dismount.

[echnidna]

Jeez Boban,
Some of you wogs are good blokes :) :) :)











:D














:D






Most of them are,
in any race theres only the odd bad apple

[boban]

Don't let yourself be fooled Bob.....:D

[echnidna]

:cool:

[dazzler]

Hey,

Christopha's observation is spot on - G'day Mate!

The only thing I think needed is that new people, regardless of where they come, should be encouraged somehow to settle outside of the main urban centres to try and speed up integration. Which is what I think the values that they are talking about.

Everyone being able to talk together and get on like mates!:D

Sorry Sheddie......gunna be a long time till labor replaces Heartless Jonnie. Kevin RUDD......nah................Julia...............nah......

Just look at the latest kim reinvention - "I have decided to be tough, no more mr nice guy" ........what a croc!:rolleyes:

My 2c on the politics----Rudd will move on beasley b4 next election, howard will stay, hand to costello and he will stay for at least 2 terms.....

Labor have no-one......and by god we need an opposition:rolleyes::mad:


MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE:D

Dazzler

[Daddles]

Labor have no-one......and by god we need an opposition:rolleyes::mad:


No we don't, we need a government:mad: (sorry Ashore, so you dead wrong ... but that's okay, it seems you're not alone :D )

Richard