Thread: What is Australias Official language? Not what you think

Was out and about today and noticed more and more signage with English and Chinese on the signs.
Eg To let,( on a block of flats in English and Chinese below.) I started to get a little annoyed that people here need to inform others in different languages than to learn the language of the country.

But then I find that in the Australain constition, Australia does not have an official language. English is an adopted language but it is not written into the constitution as the official language.
NZ has English, Maori and Maori Sign as their offical language.
So here in Australia there is no law of the land that signs must be in english.
So we better start learning Chinese, it's already posted in Melbourne Airport , No other languages seemed to be displayed for other countries? and it's very predominant in places like Boxhill and the surrounds
So why are schools teaching French, Japanese and German when signage is in chinese? May be Kevin 747 Rudd was onto something?

Originally Posted by stig0000

that realy ****es me off that dose,, we speak English here, so learn it or get out and they come to our country and have a cry that we don't cater enough for them!!!!, WTF why dont we just become one big china town

Are you sure we speak English here?

Have you listened lately, we certainly don't write English.

Recently in Iraq the Islamic radicals in Mosul have been massacring Chaldo-Assyrian Christians , a sect that speaks Aramaic the language of Jesus, because they are infidels in Muslim lands. In fact the Chaldo-Assyrian Christians have been in the region from the earliest times of Christianity, before Mohammad was even born. In Saudi-Arabia it is illegal to build a church.

So if those are the laws elsewhere, then we should pass laws making English or at least Macquarie English, the official language and along with that signs similar to those in France and Canada, requiring that all signs have English either first or larger than any other language on the sign.