Ask an Australian

[ace99]

Odd. Is it true that you aspire to join ASEAN? Why don't you just unify with New Zealand, New Guinea and a bunch of those random islands into your own economic whatever union?

I mean do you really want to be in the same organization as Burma and Camodia?

Also is there a rivalry with Indonesia?

 

[Tee Kay]

Odd. Is it true that you aspire to join ASEAN?

No. Maybe Paul Keating does.

Why don't you just unify with New Zealand

We tried. They preferred independence.

Actually, someone once said something like "New Zealand enjoys all the benefits of being an Australian state without actually being an Australian state". There's almost full freedom of movement between the two countries, for instance, and for a while New Zealanders in Australia even got Australian social security benefits.

Also is there a rivalry with Indonesia?

Not a rivalry but... it's a complicated relationship. Sometimes we find them scary or uncooperative but most of the time we just ignore them. We like Bali though.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Is my favorite rugby enthusiast Australian mad at me?

Abso-bloody-lutely not my man!! Sorry, will reply to your PM tonight without fail

 

[GenMarshall]

Other than Sydney and it's opera house, what other tourist destinations are there in Australia (I'm not sure if anyone would take an adventure into the Outback)?

For any Aussies that have taken a venture into the Outback, is it roughly similar to what one might see in the American Southwest... ...minus the cacti and illegal Mexicans sneaking in?

 

[Tee Kay]

Other than Sydney and it's opera house, what other tourist destinations are there in Australia (I'm not sure if anyone would take an adventure into the Outback)?

Great Barrier Reef, beaches, National Parks, interesting rock formations, old gold rush era towns and convict colonies, those sort of stuff. The Chinese also really like their casinos.

And Melbourne is a cool city to walk around.

I personally haven't seen the desert.

 

[Arwon]

Why is your Liberal Party conservative? Highly misleading.

There's actually two responses to this question. The first is to remember that outside the US, "liberal" basically means economically right wing (free markets and deregulation, etc). In the sense you mean, the Liberals haven't been liberal in either the social sense for a long time, and the Howard years pretty much entirely purged any small-l liberal influence from the party. There used to be a tradition of free votes on social issues but the fact that Tony Abbott enforced unanimous voting on the issue of gay marriage probably signified the party's final surrender to pure social conservatism.

The second and more interesting response is that the Liberals aren't even really consistently "liberal" in non-American terms either.

Historically the only thing unifying the political right in Australia has been opposing the Labor Party and organised labour. The Liberal Party wasn't even founded until 1949, before that there were an array of parties called things like Free Trade, Protectionist, Nationalist, United Australia, etc. The centre right has mostly existed in anti-Labor coalition since the 1920s.

Even today there's two right wing parties, the Liberal Party and the National Party.

Basically the Liberals historically represent the urban business interests, the Nationals are a rural/country party for graziers and farm owners. They exist in permanent coalition referred to as The Coalition. The details differ by state somewhat (in some states they're merged, in others the Nationals or a country party don't exist) but the division in the centre right is a feature of Australian politics.

Mostly at a federal level the differences are papered over and the coalition has been extremely displined to the point where we treat them as a single party.

It's usually had the amusing effect of meaning the Liberals have not only been fairly socially conservative for the most part, but also that they've not even been consistently small-l liberal in economic terms, due to the country interests' demands for protection and subsidies. It was actually Labor who drove the neoliberal agenda in this country in the 1980s and early 1990s.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

If that is "Australianess", you should bottle that and sell it in the US and the UK. Thanks again for turning me on to it.


Link to video.

No worries. Very glad you liked it. But let's do the Aussie version eh?


Link to video.

 

[Arwon]

Other than Sydney and it's opera house, what other tourist destinations are there in Australia (I'm not sure if anyone would take an adventure into the Outback)?

For any Aussies that have taken a venture into the Outback, is it roughly similar to what one might see in the American Southwest... ...minus the cacti and illegal Mexicans sneaking in?

Sydney and Melbourne are large, diverse and vibrant world cities on their own terms. Great destinations for food and also for generally just passing the time. You wouldn't travel this far for a couple of landmarks, you travel to experience those two cities over a longer period of time.

Outside the cities basically this is a country for nature lovers, we have basically every landscape on the planet except tundra and volcanoes (we even have the Australian Alps and a ski season) so a lot of the visitors come for that stuff.

From the East Coast "the outback" doesn't really even START until after about a day's drive inland. We make a distinction between the less remote interior ("the bush" or "the country") and the arid centre ("the outback"). The latter will kill you very quickly if you're unprepared, just like the North American deserts. The main difference is that the arid centre is both larger and a lot emptier than comparable desert areas in North America. Even the Mojave and Great Basin still have reasonably sized settlements throughout.

 

[azzaman333]

Other than Sydney and it's opera house, what other tourist destinations are there in Australia (I'm not sure if anyone would take an adventure into the Outback)?

Not sure about foreign tourists, but a lot of Aussies have a holiday through the outback at least once in their lives.

The number 1 destination I'd recommend for foreign tourists is Healsville Sanctuary. Gives a great cross-section of the diverse Australian fauna. There's also some beautiful scenery around there, and a variety of good local wineries and breweries for food and drink. Worthwhile spending a couple of days out there IMO.

For any Aussies that have taken a venture into the Outback, is it roughly similar to what one might see in the American Southwest... ...minus the cacti and illegal Mexicans sneaking in?

I've never been to the American Southwest, and I'm not sure what you'd expect to see there. But it depends on where you are. There's a dramatic difference from the south east to the northern states.

 

[Camikaze]

For tourism, there's places like the Flinders Ranges, Grampians and Warrumbungles that would probably be pretty interesting for tourists.

Travelling through Australia is something you really want to do once, but only once. Part of the experience is the mind-numbing boringness that allows you to appreciate the sheer immensity of the place. For example, I remember going from Cobar to Broken Hill (a distance comparable to Paris-Amsterdam), and the one thing we stopped for on the way was a large tree, which is famous (that is, as famous as a tree on a deserted road can be) for being a large tree. That was the most exciting thing on that journey. There was one town (and we didn't stay long, because it's not a nice place). I think there's one other roadhouse along the way, but nothing other than that. And it's not like the start and end point are a thrill a minute either. Keep in mind that this is in the most populous and third smallest state. The first time you do that, it's pretty neat. But there's really no need to do it twice.

Why don't you just unify with New Zealand, New Guinea and a bunch of those random islands into your own economic whatever union?

New Zealand is listed as a state in the preamble to the Australian Constitution; they just haven't opted to join up.

 

[classical_hero]

Oh, I'm sorry. "Jesus' Birthday". On the winter solstice.

(You celebrate it in fact whether you do so in spirit or not.. )

Jesus wasn't born in winter, we are celebrating his conception.

 

[NinjaCow64]

Other than Sydney and it's opera house, what other tourist destinations are there in Australia (I'm not sure if anyone would take an adventure into the Outback)?

I'd say, as someone who lives here, that every place has something worth looking at. For places that haven't been mentioned in the thread already, Canberra has a bunch of museums, art gallerys and historical stuff in it. And if you come during Floirade or the Folk Festival you get a flower show or an ear full of folk music, if that's your thing. And if you like cold climates and lots of little towns with midly interesting things in them, Tasmainia has you covered. Oh! And theres Ayre's Rock aka Uluru if you are interested.

For any Aussies that have taken a venture into the Outback, is it roughly similar to what one might see in the American Southwest... ...minus the cacti and illegal Mexicans sneaking in?

I'd say our desert is a lot more orangey/red. But other than that, completely the same.

 

[Arwon]

Yeah Canberra's got attractions. You need a local to show you the good stuff that isn't the national institutions though.

Not sure about foreign tourists, but a lot of Aussies have a holiday through the outback at least once in their lives.

Yeah I've done an Adelaide-Coober Pedy-Alice Springs-Tenant Creek-Mt Isa-Longreach-Charleville-Bourke road trip heading back to here. It's basically the sealed highways that most closely circle the group of deserts which include the Simpson and Strzlecki deserts. Pretty epic. Incredibly desolate and and mindnumbing, but also beautiful. As Cami said, you really need to experience it once. It's pretty hilarious how low your interest threshold drops out there.

 

[JohannaK]

And here I thought Canberra was the ultimate hellhole of mindnumbing boredom...

 

[Arwon]

Canberra's slogan should be "welcome to Canberra, fun will not be provided". You can have fantastic lifestyle here, but you have to make it happen. It's a diffuse city, difficult to figure out on a brief visit or without local knowledge.

 

[Quackers]

What is BBQ culture like in Australia?
Is it a weekly thing, a summer-only thing? Do houses come with special BBQs built into the garden or side of the house? What would be cooking in a typical Ozzie BBQ?
..Oh and a national dish?
..and what do you think about all those Britons taking your jerbs?

..oh 8,000 posts DING DANG DOO

 

[Arwon]

If we have a national dish it's probably a kebab or pad thai these days.

 

[Smellincoffee]

[...] we are celebrating his conception.

That's a first. I've never heard of Christians celebrating the conception, and I've had experiences with churches from high (Catholic, Episcopal) to low (Pentecostal). Of course, there are the Catholics who celebrate the immaculate conception..

 

[JollyRoger]

Jesus wasn't born in winter, we are celebrating his conception.

It seems a bit odd that Christians would be celebrating an out-of-wedlock conception. It seems a couple got a bit carried away celebrating the Winter Solstice.

 

[kochman]

It seems a bit odd that Christians would be celebrating an out-of-wedlock conception. It seems a couple got a bit carried away celebrating the Winter Solstice.

The immaculate conception is not out of wedlock conception between man and woman.
If one entity can have rules that don't apply equally, it's God.

Jesus wasn't born in winter, we are celebrating his conception.

What?
Christmas was chosen because it coincided with the large pagan ritual of the time... to merge the followers into something more familiar.