My view and thoughts on everything!

They say 12 months in politics is a lifetime, and the past year has proven to evidently justify that saying. 2015 started with Tony Abbott at the helm of the good ship Australia and finished with a mutiny that left Tony abandoned by his shipmates, and a new captain - one Malcom Turnbull taking control and steering our ship to hopefully calmer waters. When I thought about writing this blog, I thought that an apt title for it would be "From Captain Chaos to Captain Sensible".  Because it feels like this has genuinely been the case. It is as if the nation has collectively breathed a sigh of relief since the change of leader.  So what went wrong?  and how come the mood of the nation has changed so quickly since Abbott's demise?  Let's rewind to the beginning of the year when Tony Abbott made one of his 'Captain's Calls' without consulting his cabinet.  I am of course talking about honouring Prince Phillip with a knighthood.  If you search Prince Phillip ...

There has been a lot of debate recently over the Australian Government’s decision to look at amending section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.   The amendments proposed include removing the provisions making it unlawful to “offend, insult or humiliate” based on a person’s race.   This would be replaced with a new clause that bans racial vilification.   In brief, a large number of Australian’s feel that the proposed changes will, in effect, allow people to be more racist to others. Since the debate about section 18C has started there has been a couple of incidents, most particularly in multi-cultural Ryde, where a poster was displayed with the words “No more Asians.   It’s not the face of Australia.   We speak English.   Save our Aussie culture”. Under the proposed amendments a number of migrant groups fear that they will incur more racist incidences like this one. Before I move on, I would point out that every country has elements of racism. ...

I am a migrant.  I have been in Australia for many, many years and call Australia home.  Likewise, as I didn't come to Australia as a youngster I still have a soft spot for my country of origin - England.  Naturally, I am not a refugee, unless you can call the English weather grounds for applying for refugee status! For the benefit of all migrant phobic readers, yes I did steal one of your Aussie jobs.  I have been able to create a life here through sheer hard work, and the fact that Australia offers opportunities to those that grab them.  I went out and grabbed mine with both hands.  Although I haven't reached what I set out to do, I cannot complain as to where I am today.   As a migrant I feel a kinship towards all other migrants whether they are from Zimbabwe,  Bosnia, Iran or Venezuela.  To settle into a new country, even if you can speak the language fluently - which naturally I can, takes a lot of getting used to.  This ca...

Australia is a country, similar to the US, that has been built on migrants. Since the 'White Man' arrived in 1788, and the numerous convict ships that followed, Australia has been home to many migrants from different regions, religions, cultures and traditions.   In the early days Australia definitely had an Anglo Saxon feel as virtually all migrants were from the British Isles. Most were petty thieves who were put on boats heading to Sydney, for stealing things like a loaf of bread.  This migrant flow changed in the nineteenth century when gold was discovered 'in them thar hills' and before long a large number of Chinese prospectors arrived with dreams of 'making it rich' through what to some is the most precious of metals. Fast forward to the twentieth century and Australia said g'day to a number of Greeks, Italians and other Europeans as the country expanded, and the domestic workforce was unable to cope accordingly.  The 1970's onward...

Following Ebbsfleet United, or indeed any English football team, in Australia is quite an experience.   For starters, there is the obvious time zone issue.   What this means is that living in Sydney (as I do) the time zone difference can vary from 9 – 11 hours depending on the time of the year.   For those of you who are wondering, Sydney is currently 11 hours ahead of the UK. Then there is the lack of football coverage here that you take for granted back in Blighty.   The top English and European teams get a lot of coverage in Australia, but outside of that you will not find out much about say, a Crewe Alexandra or even our beloved Ebbsfleet.   Nowadays, this is less of an issue due to a wonderful thing called the “internet”.   If you haven’t heard about it then please check it out!   This has been a major boost for all ex-pats living not just in Australia but around this amazing world of ours. However, if you go back not too many years the ea...

"Australia. Where the men are real men and the women are women - except perhaps during Mardi Gras" Aah yes. Australia. Where the men are real men and the women are women – except perhaps during Mardi Gras. It’s a tough bloke’s type of country, you know. We are tough. We work long hours, endure the hot baking sun and love that cold nectar running down our throat, and our beer guts, especially after a hard day’s yakka. Meanwhile our Sheila’s are all at home making dinner and looking after the brats, whilst watching a re-run of Neighbours on the television. This is very much a stereotypical view to some people of what Australia is really like. Just to clarify before I go on, we do not have Kangaroo’s hopping about in our backyard, and yes – we do have ‘shopping malls’. We do, however, like to throw a ‘shrimp on the barbie’. Well I have some news for you, dear reader. Australia is not a man’s country but is, deep breath, a woman’s country. What am I on about? Have I lost my marbl...

"Two loaves? What are we doing? feeding the population of Australia or 30 kindergarten children??...It looked like a case of organised chaos (which it was)" A couple of weeks ago No Worries and I decided to have a party for our eldest daughter who was turning 6. We decided to have the party (aka afternoon tea) after school. The idea was to invite her friends over for an afternoon tea. To ensure a successful afternoon was had by all No Worries and I, in true military fashion, got out the white board, donned our flak jackets and worked out a plan of attack for the party. Initially discussions were around what food should be on offer for our hungry guests. We decided on cooking most of the food ourselves. I got the gourmet pizza cooking rights as well as the honour of making chocolate crackles (being a chocoholic I readily volunteered for this). No worries would take care of the fairy bread, pancakes, salad and all the other yummies. As the party was on a Monday we decided to do...

"What is wrong with saying "back in 4.5 minutes" or "back in 7 mins and 35 secs"? ....I am beseeching all shop owners, and everyone else, to put up signs that say back in 4 mins and 59 seconds" I was recently walking from the Mothership to my other place of work when I walked past this clothing alterations shop which had a sign "back in 5 minutes". I said to my co-worker (hi Nic!) "why do all signs like these say 5 minutes?". This got both of us thinking as to why 5 minutes is taken as an acceptable period of absence? For some reason 5 minutes has gained huge notoriety as being an acceptable piece of time to be away. My question is why? What is wrong with saying "back in 4.5 minutes" or "back in 7 mins and 35 secs"? We all know that, in reality, people will be away for longer than 5 minutes. If someone has gone to the bank they will definitely not be back in 5 minutes! Having worked for a bank many moons ago (a...

"The subject of my laughter was because the bookmark was advertising, wait for it, the 'National Public Toilet Map'!!...After all, I was in Canberra, a city that has 'circuits' instead of roundabouts and a Parliament that has a lawn on its roof" A couple of days ago, my wife and I thought we would drive down to Canberra and attend an event held by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Our main reason for going was that a good friend of ours, Jia, was one of the keynote speakers at this event. We had a great time and got to talk to a number of ICRC members about their work across the globe. As we bade our farewell (we were driving back to Sydney the same day - 600 kms round trip), I noticed a stand that contained some informational leaflets. I decided to check them out while waiting for my wife. There was one in particular that drew my attention. It was shaped like a bookmark and had the Australian Government emblem on it. I decided to pick it up...

"there are more choices of lotteries than there are of breakfast cereal....I can imagine a collective sigh from the anorak brigade" Every time I come back to the UK I always notice a few a few changes to the culture of the country. On the plus side, for example, it's easier to get a nice cup of coffee in virtually any town or village. A few years ago to get a cappuccino (aka frothy coffee) meant putting a plastic disposable cup under a machine and pushing the correct coffee button. What you would end up with, however, was a watered down coffee with hardly any froth on it. In fact, it probably tasted like washing up water after all the cutlery and crockery from a Sunday roast had been cleaned! One of the last bastions that the UK had resisted for ages (apart from sushi) was that of holding a national lottery. From memory, I cannot remember when it was initiated but having done a quick search on the Internet my friend Mr Google advises me that it was 1994. In contrast, Aust...

"I have often thought about offering my services as a 'drought breaker'.....they always have facial expressions akin to a child opening presents on Christmas Day!" For the first time in the past fortnight the weather here in England has actually been superb for more than one consecutive day. Now I know to a lot of people around the world, especially in Australia, that might be surprising. Indeed it is to me as well. Normally when I am back here in the Old Dart it rains on virtually every day of my stay. For example, a couple of years ago it rained on 28 of the 36 days I was here. Even last year during the English summer it rained on more than 20 days of my five week visit. At the beginning of my holiday the country was in drought, by the end of it the dams and reservoirs were virtually full! I have often thought about offering my services as a 'drought breaker' as it always seems to rain when I am away from Australia! I imagine that I could charge large...

When I was thinking about a topic for my first ‘proper’ blog post I had a number of subjects that I wanted to write about. However, I was inspired by a comment from a work colleague, Jia, to write about the following subject. In some respects it makes obvious sense to do it as it follows on quite nicely from my first post. So here it is – the subject matter in question relates to my initial impressions of Australia. Or to be more accurate my observations of what I first saw in Sydney. I arrived in Australia in the late 80’s. Just to recap, for anyone who doesn’t remember this period, this was a very interesting decade. Economically, the 80’s were a boom time for the western world. Australia was no different and the Hawke/Keating combo (do you want fries with this!) were putting their ‘visionary’ policies into action. Permed hair for both sexes was quite common. Especially the rock stars as ‘poodle rock’ took off – think David Coverdale, Jon Bon Jovi. Power walking while listening to a ...

"I do cook a mean pizza on the bbq!...I have never worked in a cafe" As this is the first posting for my blog I thought it was a good idea to give you, the inquisitive reader, some details about myself. I suppose I have wanted to do a blog for a while now but have never gotten around to it. However, I have been inspired by a co-worker (the inimitable David Castor) who has a fantastic blog. Check it out at: http://ministryofincompetence.blogspot.com/ . So I have decided that the time is now ripe for my almighty or not so almighty blog! As promised earlier here are some facts about me that only family and some friends would know: I was born in England in a lovely (?) town called Chatham in the county of Kent. Apparently the year I was born was also the coldest winter on record. I am left handed but use my right hand when using a computer mouse, scissors, golf clubs, cricket bats etc. So I suppose I am slightly ambidextrous. I have one sister who is 3 years older than me. I came...