Where did we go? What happened to Australia? What happened to the World? So many questions and sadly, the answers are all “ Politically Incorrect “ and lie in the dustbin of Regret and the basket of “ How I wish we had stayed insulated from Elsewhere. “
I listened to a song today that damn near broke my heart. From John Williamson, a great Australian.
As I listened, I felt such sadness and loss of what I once felt was sacrosanct and is now a fast fading memory of times gone when Australia was " STRAYA ".
My sadness lies in seeing the passing of a much loved and beloved Society that embraced me when I moved across the ditch in the 1970’s from the home of the Bledisloe Cup, a Flightless bird and a peculiar piece of fruit.
When I first arrived, I had no clue what a round of sandwiches was. I assumed, incorrectly, that it must mean a sandwich made from a hamburger bun rather than bread. It didn’t take long, running a workers snack bar, to be told that I had got it all wrong.
I learned that Bundaberg Rum was Patriotic and chilly bins were eski’s, jandals were thongs and that I had to stop clipping my vowels and learn to speak Strayan. All of which I did, because this was my home.
However, I secretly cheered on the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup and, as a Queenslander, NEVER backed the Blues in Rugby League. Not even in secret.
I played backyard cricket in Kandanga in Queensland, went camping at Rainbow Beach and fell in love with the music of Kevin Bloody Wilson. I learned to swear and say “ cheers “ when someone said something nice to me.
I found myself having a smoko, having a yarn with my mates, being upfront and telling it straight instead of backing off and keeping my thoughts under wraps.
I found I had mates, not friends and I found I would say “ no worries, no probs”.
But what has happened?
" We have been sold out like sponge cakes to the highest bidder." That line got me in the gut.
We no longer stand by our mates when they are in a bind – we, instead, mug them for rolls of toilet paper.
What happened to our “ she’ll be right mate “ comradery, our friendly Aussie character?
Is it because we are no longer Australian, but merely a piece of land that is occupied by people who enjoy our generous spirit and social welfare? Have we become a continent of migrants with no attachment to the history, the land, the culture and the joy of being STRAYAN?
Have we become a place of cities with no Australian heartbeat? No soul of being Fair Dinkum?
The Drought has been put on the back burner by the media. The poor bastards who are homeless from the bushfires are still waiting for help.
Those in the bush are still suffering and striving to keep the Aussie Spirit alive, but those in the cities have moved passed that and wandered on to the familiar territory of racism, what to call a virus and should they still get their cleaner in to do their dirty work? And is it not dreadful that there is no toilet paper? Forget the poor bastards languishing on the land and living in uncertainty because it would seem that the bushfires, drought and child neglect in Australia are yesterday's news.
Shame Australia. Shame.
When I first moved here, over 40 years ago, I worked as a cleaner in an upmarket resort in Noosa. The filth I encountered was beyond belief. Wealth, even back then, apparently afforded some people the right to be rude, disrespectful and downright repulsive in their behaviour.
Today, the young rich or children of the rich, continue to exhibit selfish and unpleasant behaviour and a distinctly Me Me Me again mentality where everything is about themselves.
Can we not get back to a time when immigrants came to make better lives for themselves and for their new Nation? Can we not get back to learning how to speak Strayan and learn to play cricket, have a barbie, drink a beer with mates and STAND BY OUR MATES WHEN THEY ARE IN A JAM?
Not mug each other over toilet paper, blame our Government for a virus that came from China.. well, I will give you that one… we should have closed the damned borders to Chinese students, not paid them to holiday elsewhere……. And then come in with their disease which must not be named.
Can we please start becoming the people we once were?
True Blue.
Me and You.
Australians. Not a Nation of fly in money grabbers but a Nation of contributers and workers. People who want to play cricket, cheer at the pub and laugh, cheer and say, we are Australia.
BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS
