Thread: What ever happened to the lucky country?

The best thing that ever happened to myself and my family was has having Queen Victoria expel several of my ancestors who clearly were not good at their chosen profession as they were caught! They were, fortunately for me, sent to this great continent as a "punishment" which every day I thank the nineteenth century British judicial system for. I am certainly lucky to be here in Oz, it's the only place I want to be, it has faults as does any country but it has a lot less than most and I love the place.

OY! ya big Tezza!
LuckyCountry?

read this
Engine Shot...

I remember doing Australian history at uni and reading letters from convicts in Australia to their relatives back in England saying what a great place Oz was and how they should get their backsides out here as fast as possible.


Mind you, Oz isn't perfect - there are 100,000 homeless people every night in this country. Some of them are sleeping in the cars Joe Hockey says the poor can't afford.


No way would I swap Oz. for the USA though. Rellies just back from the USA were shocked at the number of poor and homeless people and how so many working people are actually really poor and struggling just to get housing and food. The Republicans 'trickle down' theory seems to have become blocked in transit and never made it down to the poor.

My understanding is we were called the Lucky country because those who immigrated here were welcomed and given a fair go.
If you worked hard you had the opportunity to buy a house , start a business, raise a family and enjoy life in a safe country that isn't run by dictators or communist parties that ruled with an iron fist.


To those peoples credit they came here and enjoyed life and never bought their radical beliefs with them and tried to change the people here.


I wouldn't live anywhere else , there are still endless opportunities in this country , so yep we are still the lucky country.


I will leave the political statements to others.


Cheers Ean

Tasmania it is not a bad overseas location

Originally Posted by bob10

Good points, I guess. My parents grew up during the depression [ no, not in a shoe box in middle of road] they were children, but for their fathers, [ remember, woman did not work them, as a rule,] No work, no welfare, when getting the sack meant you were actually given a sack full of tea & sugar & stuff to at least feed you & your family for a while. Damper & dripping was a good meal, Mum & her 5 sisters & one brother went to Sacred Heart School at Sandgate, the Nuns fed the children breakfast because families couldn't afford anything more nourishing than bread & dripping. The public who could, read the better off, supplied the food for the kids. Without complaint.


Ducks were scarce at the Sandgate lagoons, pigeon pie was king, a good fisherman could trade up for milk & meat, [ offal] long drop toilets, or the bush, coppers in the back yard to do the washing. Men went on the wallaby, for months at a time, to try to find work. An interesting offshoot of that is the number of Rosella trees in random parts of the bush. The swaggies would trudge all over the country, with the makings for damper, some treacle, & rosella seeds. If they found a place to work for a while, they would plant the rosella seeds, & damper, treacle & rosella jam, was a luxury. Any one tells me they have it tough now, I quietly think to myself " tough? you've never had it tough, boy" Neither have I , but I never begrudge what I have. And I never forget. Bob

Yup I don't begrudge what I have, but what has been taken from my children by my parents generation.
Bob try and do any of those things your parents/my grandparents did now.
Shoot ducks anywhere near a burb, off to jail. go bush and shoot em, you need a shooters license and be a club member=$$
Fishing, either need a license=$$ and certain areas are not allowed to fish.
Open fire in your yard, the local environmental rules will kill you. Ditto for a long drop toilet in suburbia.
After WW2 my mums parents only means of transport until they had their 4th daughter was a Harley with a sidecar, while he built up his business. Nowdays they would be locked up, Nan and mums 2 younger sisters in the sidecar with her holding onto Pa on the bike.
My wifes Granduncle/aunt used to change the cars oil on their double block of land and tip it into a hole in the back corner for 60+ years. The family sold it after they passed away and the new owner is screaming after finding all the oil soaked dirt needs to be removed.
These people installed a welfare system that meant when you got the "sack", it would provide more than a few loaves of bread. Their kids/grandkids removed that.
How many of us are going to provide food and shelter to those who don't get the dole for 6months as their under 30?
What would you say if they started shooting the ducks at the local pond for a feed?

Originally Posted by frantic

1. How many of us are going to provide food and shelter to those who don't get the dole for 6months as their under 30?



What would you say if they started shooting the ducks at the local pond for a feed?

1. If I know them, and trust them, Me. Cheap labour for the vegie garden, & chook pen, they can work for food. I have a good tinnie, I would drive them to the ramp, they would be tasked with catching dinner. I would show them how & where to gather bait, for free.


2. People around here are not that dumb. The duck population of the 2nd lagoon is proportional to the number of hungry people passing through. Bread & a net, don't need a gun. Bob

I'd consider moving to Tassie as I wouldn't have a mortgage then, but its a long way from the rellies.