AustraliaBites

Volume 1, Issue 7 - August 2012 他山之石可以攻玉

Welcome to the seventh issue of ACYA’s monthly AustraliaBites, de- signed to give Chinese and Australian students a unique insight into Aus- tralian society and culture. If you missed them, please click here for pre- vious issues. If you have any questions, suggestions, or contributions to AustraliaBites, please send an email to [email protected]. Media Watch

POLITICS: Julia’s About-Turn - The Economist (18 August)

The stock electioneering debate of Australian politics over how to pro- cess asylum seekers has come to the fore again this month with the Gillard government about-turning and has implemented the recom- mendations of a parliamentary report to reinstate the Howard-era offshore processing facilities that it once opposed, in an ostensible attempt to “save lives”. This has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups and is apparently designed to appeal to swing voters.

ECONOMY: Hitched to the China Wagon - The Economist (25 August)

Australia is about to tick off nearly 21 years without recession with a continued growth fore- cast of 3.5 per cent this year. This has been due to a China-sparked resources boom, with mining investment driving half of Australia’s growth last year. This has driven up the value of the Australian dollar, with Australia’s previously erratic “commodity currency” becoming a safe-haven for foreign investors, who own nearly four-fifths of federal government bonds.

SOCIETY: Cigarette Plain Packaging Legal - BBC (15 August) “Australian ciga- The High Court has upheld the mandatory packaging of cigarettes rette plain pack- in olive green packets with graphic images warning of the dangers of smoking. The case, which has been closely watched across the aging law upheld globe with similar legislation planned in the USA, UK, NZ, and In- by High Court” dia, is seen as a great blow for the tobacco industry.

CULTURE: Debate Over Australian Welfare Card—BBC (20 August)

The Australian government has just rolled out a radical new means of welfare payment in the form of special “Basics” credit cards, which can only be used at approved shops to buy essen- tial items such as food, education, housing, clothing, and healthcare. The Basics Card is de- signed to reduce the amount of discretionary income able to spent on alcohol, drugs, and gambling, but some say that such income control is both too patronizing and too paternal.

SPORT: Outrage Over Pre-Games Treatment - ABC (12 August)

Swimming Australia is facing accusations of mismanagement and discrimination from the Australian Swimmers’ Association, the peak representative body of Australian swimmers both with and without disabilities, for their introduction of a performance-based pay scale just weeks before the 2012 Olympics and arranging for disabled swimmers to compete during advertisement breaks.

TRAVEL: QANTAS Reports A$244 million Loss and Cancels Plane Orders—BBC (23 August)

QANTAS, Australia’s flagship national airline, has reported its first annual loss since the com- pany was privatized in 1995, as well as cancelling orders for a new fleet of Boeing “Dreamliner” jets, due to lower-than-expected global growth performance, growing losses stemming from QANTAS’ international operations, rising fuel costs, and continuing pay dis- putes between labour and management. QANTAS is now expected to reorient towards Asia. Culture Watch

Artist of the Month—John Butler Trio

The John Butler Trio is an Australian roots/jam band led by gui- tarist and vocalist John Butler, who started his musical career as a busker on the streets of Fremantle, Western Australia. The band are famous for their catchy funk riffs, activism for environ- mental causes and the independent music scene, and electric live performances, with the band being regular fixtures at Aus- tralian festivals and their last three albums have all debuted at Number #1 on the Australian charts. Recommended songs in- clude “Zebra”, “Funky Tonight”, and “Better Than”.

Movie of the Month —The Dish

The Dish (2000) is an iconic Australian film that was directed by Rob Sitch that tells a somewhat fictionalized account of the Parkes Observatory’s role in relaying the live television broad- cast of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. It had been decided quite late in NASA’s planning of Apollo 11 to broadcast the moon landing on TV, and the plot revolves around three Australian scientists hav- ing to frantically deal with a host of problems that seem bent upon disrupting the broadcast. The Dish was the top grossing film in Australia in 2000 and depicts the juxtaposition of larriki- nism and competence in the Australian character.

History of the Month—The Tampa Affair

In late August 2001, a fishing vessel carrying asylum seekers bound for Australia became stranded in international waters and its passengers, were rescued by a Norwegian freighter called the MV Tampa, which then set sail for Christmas Island to secure medical treatment for the many asylum seekers suffering from illness and exposure. A massive political controversy erupted when the Howard government refused to allow the Tampa into Australian waters and then ordered the SAS to board the ship when it did, dividing Australian public opinion and leading to in- ternational condemnation. The incident also paved the way for tougher Australian migration laws and the “Pacific Solution”.

Quote of the Month—Australia Enters WWI

“Australia is now at war.”

Prime Minister Joseph Cook, Melbourne, 4 August 1914

“After the war is over…the authorities will award some with baubles and fill their ears with claptrap of the glories of the war, and the maimed workers will be left to wonder why they fought and what the war was for.”

International Socialist, Sydney, 8 August 1914

After Australia followed Great Britain into World War I following the German invasion of Bel- gium on 5 August 1914, Australia fired its first shots of the War across the bows of the Ger- man merchant ship Pflaz whilst it was trying to escape by slipping through Port Philip Heads. The outbreak of war was initially greeted with great enthusiasm by Australia, then a young nation eager to participate in global affairs and protect the British-led global order. The War turned out to be an extremely formative experience in Australian national history, as the large-scale loss of Australian life and the use of ANZAC troops by British generals as cannon fodder at Gallipoli lead to eventual disillusionment, as some had earlier predicted. Language

Australian Term of the Month — “Outback”

The word “Outback” has a particularly strong and evoca- tive place in the Australian lexicon. At a basic level, the Outback is the vast and arid central regions of Australia, populated by enormous deserts, home to sprawling cattle stations, and dotted with small mostly agricultural and mining settlements. Colloquially, both “the Outback” and “the bush” can be used to refer to anywhere outside of the main urban centres, but usually “the outback” refers to more re- mote areas with very low or no human population. As life in the Outback is closer to the that of early settlers, it still has a folkloric place in modern Australian culture as a kind of “true Australia”. The Outback can also have sinister overtones, as its unforgivingly harsh climate claimed the lives of many early explorers (e.g. Burke and Wills) and, legend has it, its deso- late remoteness makes it a sometimes dangerous and ominous place, perhaps capable of driving people insane (e.g. the Falconio murder).

Australian Slang of the Month

 “Barrack” (verb): to barrack for someone or for a sports team is to support them and cheer them on in some kind of competition situation, and is particularly used in the context of AFL, Super 14 and NRL. E.g. “Who do you barrack for?”

 “Up yourself” (adjective): This term and its variations mean that someone has a particularly high opinion of themselves, whether that opinion is justified or not. Can be either derog- atory or in good humour. Australians are fond of this phrase as taking oneself too seriously is as big a social faux pas as one can make in Australian society. E.g. “Even though I bar- rack for his team, I don’t like him, he’s just so up himself!”

 “Mates rates” (noun): Refers to a discount given to a friend as a favour, although this term is frequently used by shops to advertise normal discounts for all customers, regardless of whether or not they are “mates”! E.g. “Don’t get too up yourself, just because we barrack for the same team doesn’t mean that I can give you mates rates.

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