good onya mate

the lucky country.
i love australia
i am not an australian i am an englishman
but i love it here
i am aware of this countrys ugly beginnings
we all struggle to redress the imbalance
we struggle with our white collective guilty conscience
our english ancestors (and the spanish and french etc)
sailed round this world with their alcohol, christianity and their syphilis and their cannons and they took every place they came across
that was the way things were done
yet we were no less harsh to ourselves
look at the first fleet full of miserable convicts
it was the way things were done back then
we cannot alter it
the native australians needs and desires must be acknowledged
our australia day is their invasion day…it is so very true…
my dear friend kev carmody has told me of the horrors perpetrated on his family when his mother tried to hide him and his brother from the authorities who came to take them away at the end of the holidays each year. can you believe that they took kids away from their mums to reculturalise them? on the album we did together is a photo of kev bleeding and battered after 3 racists broke into his home…just to mistreat him…”they never even stole anything” said the bewildered man…and then later the warm mushy glow of seeing australias finest and most famous white singers interpreting this modest gentlemans songs….we need reconciliation…whatever that is..i dunno exactly…but i sure as hell want it….!
meanwhile the others are here to stay …the second lot of australians …and the third and fourth lot…..and most of us are kinda nice people….yeah laconic slightly lazy you might say in the rest of the world
we dont take things TOO seriously
we like to just relax
the weathers nice especially in sydney
melbourne is a groovy city
brisbane is all grown up and very savvy
perth and freo are gorgeous
the coastline is astounding
the interior is mysterious…its not for everyone
i need the sea so i have to stay here
i feel trapped away from the sea
i will pay the high rents to be beside it
without the sea i might as well die
our life in australia is mostly pleasant
our 2 political parties arent really that much different
everything here is less extreme
i pity the americans and their gun laws
whatever the constitution says
they didnt have fucking automatic machine guns back then
if people are dying its a bad and stupid thing
there arent so many guns here
things are more easy going
i have dealt with all kindsa policemen n customs men all round the world
i have found the australians to be more human as far as possible
more realistic more trying to sort it out
more tolerant
the schools are good too
at least my 3 kids here have been loving their school
everything feels relatively sane
i use the word relatively and i emphasise that
relatively sane
we are not quite so impressed with stuff just because someone in hollywood or paris or london says so
we make up our own minds
new zealanders are like that too only in spades…
i love australia but there is no dumb patriotism involved in my love
i have lived all over the place but i always will come back
bondi beach is bloody amazing
i am a lucky cat to live here
you can be whoever you like and nobody gives a damn
you can be hugh jackman or a nutty ninny
you can be keanu reeves or a geezer selling sunglasses
no one here gonna make a fuss
we got brazilians we got italians
we got russians n south africans
we got jewish we got moslem we got christian
we got sun worshippers and yoga freaks
we got families we got visitors
we gotta million swedes passing thru who will never stay
because sweden has its own sanity
but its not our easy going “she’ll be right, mate…”
i like australian culture
i like our actors our films our music our art
i like our lesser fixation on celebrity unlike some of our anglo brothers.
australia canada new zealand united states and the british isles are in perpetual brotherhood as springing from the same place and all retain a deep sense of kinship within these countries. the griefs of the other countries in this anglo kind of unspoken union weigh heavier upon us and so too do each others triumphs make us lighter
i could never foresee a time ultimately when these countries would ever forsake each other. i acknowledge the great things each country brings forth …and i shudder when they get it wrong…..
the beautiful countries of europe i love them too
especially italy which has delivered so much beauty and cruelty to this world too
and spain for its strengths and austerities
germany for its all its precision and its beautiful countryside
anyway even considering everything
australia is just a very easy place to live
we should be appreciative here
let us be involved in no more wars tho except of direst necessity
let us evolve in our attitudes towards all living creatures
let us lead the way in vegetarian and vegan eating
america will be conquered by fast food not an enemy
thats whats killing them over there
not lil kim jong or any persians its KFC and macdonalds
australia is facing the same fate
people eschew fast food!
people exercise people do yoga
people make music people make art
be nice to each other ….just how youd want it yerself
me…?
i am a grateful old pommy bastard
grateful my mum n dad migrated here
grateful for an easy going australian way of life
grateful for having had a good run here
grateful for the breaks i got etc etc ad tedium
therefore i wish you a happy australian day you gooseballs everywhere
we should be happy
we should be thankful
we should be nice to each other
there are much worse places to be my friends
sk bondi beach aust fucking day 2012