The idea of a single Australasian country

I am against it, but not from anti-Australian, patriotic or proud feelings.

My main reason is a fear that Australia would place even less value on our national treasures (Maori culture and language, wilderness areas, wildlife, Treaty of Waitangi, sustainable policies, etc). I also like the strength we had under Clark to stand alone against other countries, according to conscience. I think in general, Australians have a much poorer attitude and much greater prejudice towards indigenous peoples, even though we have plenty of room for improvement too.

I concede there would be some pros: I wouldn't miss the arguments about pavlova and Phar-Lap ownership. I don't care about such things. And greater international recognition could be good, if ever the previously stated concerns could be overcome. There may also be advantages in efficiency and economy.

Your thoughts?

I am definitely in favour of a currency union. That the NZ$ is the 5th most traded currency on earth is a insanity.

I doubt the benefits of full political union however. Apart from the fact we'd finally have a descent cricket team.

Lynz wrote:I am definitely in favour of a currency union. That the NZ$ is the 5th most traded currency on earth is a insanity.

I doubt the benefits of full political union however. Apart from the fact we'd finally have a descent cricket team.

We already do have a decent cricket team. It would suck to not be able to see the great "NZL vs AUS" matches anymore though.

Lynz wrote:I am definitely in favour of a currency union.

Sure. No problem with that.

I would welcome a currency union and open borders, but each country needs to be seperate where it matters.

Both changes would promote tourism.


Somewhat off topic, but still on; Australians have treated their Aboriginals awfully, but I have found (since living here) that Maori fight a lot harder for what they believe is right. They have adapted and learnt how to deal with the 'white mans' government.

I can count the amount of Aboriginals I have seen since being in Australia on my hands. My FIL works amongst an Aboriginal community though, so we hear a lot about their plight (I've also seen no snakes).

No Aboriginal name places are pronounced correctly. Aboriginal language is a small unit in primary and was only recently introduced. Australias history has only just started to be taught in schools (I'm told). I have met no Australians who can greet me in Aboriginal.

You can all say Kia Ora and understand it's sentiments.

It's really sad, because white Australian culture consists of beer, slutty women and beer.

Waireka wrote: I have met no Australians who can greet me in Aboriginal.

While I've had greater exposure to the one Maori language (with dialects), I believe even without this I'd find Maori easier to hear and spell and pronounce than any of the hundreds of Aboriginal languages. Insufficient effort and will would be major barriers to a widely-used indigenous Australian greeting, but the number of languages could also be a factor, to be fair.

relict wrote:

Waireka wrote: I have met no Australians who can greet me in Aboriginal.

While I've had greater exposure to the one Maori language (with dialects), I believe even without this I'd find Maori easier to hear and spell and pronounce than any of the hundreds of Aboriginal languages. Insufficient effort and will would be major barriers to a widely-used indigenous Australian greeting, but the number of languages could also be a factor, to be fair.

I assume a general greeting would be the same (or similar) in all the dialects.

Plenty of other countries in the world were spread out, so dialects varied in extremes, but they managed to come up with a general greeting.

bullseye wrote:For anything like this to happen in Australia with the Aboriginal languages they would need a very strong and united voice in parliament.

It's sad, but that's just never going to happen.

There is not much sign of it happening. But many unlikely things have happened in the world.

Baby steps!

NZ is NZ, Australia is Australia.

no5isalive wrote:NZ is NZ, Australia is Australia.

I don't believe anyone was disputing these two facts.

____ wrote:

no5isalive wrote:NZ is NZ, Australia is Australia.

I don't believe anyone was disputing these two facts.

True. But it's still profound.

no5isalive wrote:NZ is NZ, Australia is Australia.

Ah, another deep thinker. And here I was, missing Bardan. Suppose D_B will be along next.