What I like and what I dislike about
I returned to Sydney after living in London for 15 years. I have found the move quite difficult. This page is an attempt to find some positive aspects to living here. It is also an attempt to cut through the hype that seems to surround Australia.
It is difficult for me to be positive about my native land. I hope focusing on what I like about this country, may help to improve my outlook and help me feel a little less depressed about being here. After all, there are many people who love Australia and would fail to understand why someone like me so dislikes the place, but they ain't me.
I found the first section "What I like" very difficult to write. I found the second piece "What I dislike" just about wrote itself, although it was difficult trying not to use comparisons - they hate that here!. I must try and be more positive. So here it is..................
Reconciliation
Australian Aboriginal people have a lot to teach the gubbas (white people). It makes me happy that there is a reconciliation process, that the rights of Kooris to their land have been partially recognised (when it suits), and that the Koori voice is being heard. I'm glad that Nelson Mandela has singled out Australia as a country founded on racism during his state visit to Britain. I once met an englishman who had been to visit the "Red Centre" of Australia. I said I woud feel a bit frightened out there, in some of those towns. He said yeah... there are quite a few blacks out there, I replied that it is the whites who scare me in those places. Where do people get these ideas? We come into this land, treat the locals appallingly, commit genocide (worse than X-Yugoslavia or, for that matter, South Africa), steal their land and their children. And they are the dangerous ones? I don't think so.
Queer Rights The legal situation for queers has improved considerably. In many ways we have equal rights, although there are a few quite major exceptions, marriage for example. There are many people willing to continue the struggle for complete equality and I admire and support the efforts of these Australians and residents. Laws do not change attitude, and the attitude is not so good outside the ghettos, but I reluctantly admit it has improved even there, somewhat.
The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, held at the end of February each year, is the time of year that I am at my happiest and gayest. Sydney springs to life. Visitors come from overseas. There are new faces in the Bars, Saunas, and Sex Venues. The Parade is fun, fun, fun and the Party is wild, wild, wild. Human Rights remain the underlying theme of both events. A jolly good time to be in OZ.
Everything starts with an E
Most Australians (you will have to forgive the generalisations in this essay) are a hedonistic lot. It is compulsory to take the right consumables to the right parties. I also like the locally grown marijuana. Recreational drugs are expensive here and are distributed through a network of criminals and corrupt police, although decent frontline dealers can be found.
Sex
Although Australia is not the best place for me for sex (Viva Espana) there is certainly plenty of it about. Enough to keep a smile on my face, most of the time! Sydney and Melbourne have some good saunas, which are places I enjoy, as well as the Sex on Premises venues (safe and fun). I do not feel quite so at ease outside the metro area or in the countryside, it's all a bit risky.
Food
The food here is generally home grown, and fresh. I like steak, and can afford to buy it here, the same with prawns (my absolute favourite), big, fresh and affordable. Eating out in Sydney and Melbourne is fun, and varied. Some things are missing and sometimes the choice is limited, but overall I like Oz for its food. It is also quite interesting discovering the sweeties that I used to like, but about which I had forgotten (like Cherry Ripes and Cream Buns) The coffee is generally good and Italian, but you have to hunt for a decent cup of tea.
Multiculturalism
The theory is good, for the reality, see below. Australia has become much more interesting since the "White Australia" policy for immigration was disbanded. This means that people come to Oz from a diverse range of cultural and ethnic groups, with emphasis on skills and families rather than skin colour or ethnic background. Immigration has always strengthened Australia, its economy and its culture, at least from the invaders point of view.
Social Security and Health Care
Nations have a duty to assist people who, for whatever reason, are unable to fully support themselves in the long or short term. Health care should not be rationed according to wealth. Australia attempts to have a safety net for all, and the health system is reasonably accessible. Unfortunately it would seem as if neither adequately reach Aboriginal communities. HIV services are good, although slowness of new drug approvals does cause considerable concern, particularly at present when many more lives could be saved with the latest combination therapies. Beware the new government, there is a threat to both these essential indicators of a caring society.
The Weather I have to say that, I suppose. The winter is very mild in Sydney and further north. Much better than scraping the frost of the car windscreen with my visa card.
Class Equity
I quite like the superficial class equality that exists here. It's sorta laid back You speak to your boss the same as you speak to your collegues, outside work there is no question. He (mostly is he) probably drinks the same booze and watches the same TV programs as you . Unfortunately sometimes (see how I can always find the negative) it means lowest common denominator. Cultural (?) tastes are similar for a great percentage of the population, which I could sum up as beach, booze and TV (have I put this in what I like?)
98% of White Straight Men from English Speaking Backgrounds
These are the people who call themselves Australians (they mean real australians). Everybody else is identified by their ethnicity: eg Vietnamese Australian, Greek Australian, Asian Australian, Indigenous Australian, no matter how long they or their families have been around. They hark back to the good old days of 'Australian Culture'. You know, the days of the White Australia Policy, when every boy in a church school was at risk of being buggered by the School Master, the days of total police corruption, the days when faggots were beaten up because that was what they deserved (probably after fucking them first), the days of good old domestic violence, it's part of our culture (There is a song by a famous Australian Country singer called "They're queer darn cattle these women". The days when all food that wasn't meat and two veg was WOG food.
These are the people who protest about Political Correctness (surprise, surprise). They are the ones who are against gun control (it's their dicks). They complain about immigration (forgetting they themselves are immigrants) At least it must be nice to have someone to blame everything on. Unemployment - it's the immigrants, crime - it's the immigrants, environental destruction - it's the immigrants.
I don't like these people!
Pauline Hanson
I don't even know if that is the way she spells her name, and I don't care. She is an obnoxious person who was elected to the federal Parliament on an anti-Aboriginal platform. She got an increased majority, which says it all!
The New Government
They call themselves Liberals, but they are all really Tories.
Violence
Australia is a very violent society. Maybe it stems from our rough past. But whatever the reason, it really does cast a very dark shadow over the entire continent. Young boys/men come into inner Sydney from the Western suburbs and create trouble, harrass gay men, lesbians and straight women, in the very areas we call our own. It has always been traditional to solve problems with your fists. Many men do not consider that they have has a good night out unless it ends in a fight. I have never seen brawling at gay pubs between gay men, until I came back here. The violence mostly stems from a mixture of ignorance and alcohol both of which I find extremely unattractive.
The Insignificance and the Isolation
Australia is a small country, 18,000,000 spread over a very large area. It has only a very minor place in the world. Who cares what Australia thinks? Only Australians, I think. With such a small population there is not so much going on. If I want a change from Sydney, where can a gay boy go? Melbourne.....and then what? Thank god for the internet. The closest interesting place is a 7 hour plane ride away.
People who tell me What a Wonderful Place Australia is
Maybe for you honey, not for me.
TO BE CONTINUED.................................
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