Australia, Community, Environment

Where are you going, Australia?

Forestwood

Australia Day 2020

Today is Australia Day, or if you are a First Nation person, you might call it Invasion Day. Back in 1788, the “First Fleet.” of British ships arrived on Australia’s eastern coast and began establishing a British colony.

The British considered the Australian continent unoccupied – as the indigenous peoples were not considered as a nation in themselves. However wrong this was at the time, it happened and today we still celebrate this day with a public holiday.

pool
We never wore sun protective sun shirts like these kids did!

January 26 in Australia, marks the end of the long summer holidays and that means lots of folks travelling on the roads and lots of pool parties and barbeques.

At a time when the dude from Top Gear is making egotistical comments about Australia, Boris Johnson comments on our ‘resilient spirit.’

Is our country still resilient? When many of us support dirty coal fired power generation? Or deny climate change?

Not all Aussies fully comprehend the gravity of the planet’s situation as they only hear what the media here tells them. The media often fails to give a balanced view!

  • country farm australia

So,
What can you do, when those who are ignorant or closed to new ideas vote in ignorant fools, because they read and listen to tabloid tripe? It’s a little depressing.

Whilst European economics has its problems, at least they are aiming for better air to breathe, and a better country for their children.

We seem to be taking a longer time to understand the problem.

Great Ocean Road
Port Fairy, South Eastern Victoria, Australia

This Australia Day – take up my challenge and show that Australians can:

  • Read more widely – especially those opinions that you don’t at first agree with – they may have a point of view that resonates somewhere. It can’t hurt you even if you don’t change your opinion – you will just be better informed.
  • Seek out facts to substantiate your opinion. The Radio and TV commentators might be and often are misinformed or wrong.
  • Discuss this with your friends and listen to feedback.
  • Challenge long held beliefs – the world is changing.
schnauzer dog reading
Even my Schnauzer was interested in books

Don’t get left behind, Australia.

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Published by Forestwood

A philosophic Aussie writes here at StPA, one who will readily admit to loving Scandinavia. I'm interested in global politics and what drives us to be who we are. Scratch the surface and you'll find a practical Environmentalist with an egalitarian bent, trying to unleash a little creativity via the written word. Scandinavian culture, literature and traditions are close to my heart, even though I'm Australian. Travel and courteous discussions greatly broaden the mind, so I travel if I can and am always up for a vigorous, respectful discussion. I'm an avid reader, a writer and I enjoy photography and crafts, particularly traditional art forms. I hope you'll find 'Something to Ponder About,' in my WordPress Community.

45 thoughts on “Where are you going, Australia?”

  1. Oh dear. So you suffer from a biased, complacent and self-serving press too? It’s depressing how influential it is. Australia Day must have been a bit hard to celebrate this year.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks for validating my thoughts, Margaret. On top of the fires, I didn’t feel proud of my country at all. Frustrated and wanting to throttle the closed minded politicians – yes. That is how I felt. I feel we must start letting politicians know how we feel more often.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Great post! It is heartening to see so many of us are now calling out misinformation and encouraging each other to be better informed. I am hoping that the conversations will continue and continue being civilized, it is definitely a conversation we need to be having.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Sharon. It seems that bloggers have seen the wider viewpoint, presumably because they read independent opinions from across the world, not vetted by media conglomerates or syndicated repetitions of one opinion. What news sources do you read?

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  3. Something important to ponder on Australia Day and I like your suggestions. I think reading more widely to get an idea of what others are thinking is imperative but it can be quite distressing too when there is so much misinformation going around. Conversations are also vital but it’s hard for many to stay calm and rational at times. Great to read your thoughts Amanda!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Deb. It is nice to think others are listening and giving thoughtful consideration and analysis to what they hear. I think we can learn a lot from those whose opinions differ from ours, as long as that is part of the wider information presented to us. One’s gut feeling is a good guide to what is right. Careful reference checks and secondary verifications are good practice. My favorite is to fact check something that says Studies have shown….what studies?

      Liked by 1 person

  4. I often wonder how, in God’s name, the British managed to find Australia. Perhaps driving on the left-hand side of the road creates a different sense of locomotion. I think when the global apocalypse hits, Australians will be among the survivors. Happy Australia Day!

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    1. Haha. You make me laugh, Alejandro. It is incredible in the gob – smacking sense that the British ever controlled so much of the world. To think that the small regiment in India, during the realm of the malevolent British East India company, was only a couple of hundred men and controlled the not insignificant entire Indian population, is jaw-dropping.
      I do hope Australia will be able to surivive, although this summer it doesn’t indicate it. It is also a bit silly that we drive on different sides of the road in different parts of the world. How did they come to be? And that blueprint of countries that drive on the left side is an indication of just where the British has left their mark.
      And anyways, the Dutch discovered Australia first. And the Portuguese. If the British were a few week late than they were – the French would have laid claim to Australia’s East coast. There was some suggestion that the British used a map from the Portuguese or Dutch explorers when they first sailed here. That would have been suppressed as it would mean a challenge to the British sovereignty of Australia. How on earth could the Dutch not sail down the East coast given that the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) was colonised for many years prior to the arrival of the British in Australia? And it is so very close to Australia’s north in sailing terms.

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  5. It was an unauthorised landing of a boat and Dutton should consider banishing James Cook to Nauru or Manus, posthumously of course.
    A good thing has to be that many receivers of the AD honours have been artists this year. A change from some of those that turned out to be duds, even rorting charities.
    I console myself by looking at the Finnish Prime minister.

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    1. Finland is a role model for others in many respects! Snow from the blog SnowmeltsSomewhere laments the dark, the cold and the rain. But there are so many other benefits to life in that country. Female politicians too!
      I like your suggestion for Peter Dutton.

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  6. I agree with you Amanda. I was only reading about our media dilemma yesterday. We are only told what they want us to know. Being in Europe for the last month made me realise how far behind we really are!

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    1. You were open to other opinions when you travelled elsewhere, Lorelle. Good on you for observing. There is far too much power in the media and many lies are bandied about if it serves a political purpose to the liar. Scrutinise everything

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      5. Yes. I had booked day pass tickets before we left in December. So we went last week. It’s a great day out. We got to see 3 awesome Aussie matches with Barty, Bolt and Kyrgios.
        Love the Aussie Open.
        Did you see any matches in Brisbane?

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  7. The points you raise apply to many of us, Amanda. We all need to keep our eyes open and read others points of view. I’m sitting here watching tennis from mighty Melbourne, where they’re doing their best to raise some much needed funds for the fire victims.

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      2. Indeed. Some charities are more accountable than others. I think the bigger the organization the more overheads they have. Some years ago, I supported a local charity run by two men. One here and another in Nepal. Almost every dollar went to the recipients. But this could not have been achieved on a large scale. It is important that the public know how much reaches the people it is intended for.

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  8. The tennis has been amazing. Ash Barty is playing as I type. The Red Cross is copping more flack than it should. I don’t love the Red Cross, but it takes time to administer funds and the need is going to be long-term—not just this week.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. True enough, Peggy. The Red Cross will certainly be around in the longer term, so hopefully not too much will be chewed up in admin fees and those that need help will get it. Of course, I realize that no amount of money replaces all one’s possessions.
      And good on Ash Barty – playing on Australia Day to a home crowd might be excilarating.

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  10. “What can you do, when those who are ignorant or closed to new ideas vote in ignorant fools, because they read and listen to tabloid tripe? It’s a little depressing.”

    It seems to be a worldwide phenomenon, ignorant fools with the power to vote but without knowledge.

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    1. You are preaching to the choir, Ladybug. Here it is compulsory to vote, at least those who are apathetic with no real knowledge of what they are doing don’t have to present to the ballot box in other countries. I never thought I would say that as I really believe in universal suffrage as a right and a responsibility, but now I have reformed my opinion. Education and awareness is our Plan B. Keep on writing! Is there a high voter turnout in your area?

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  12. We’ve just returned from our regular Sunday running/socialising group where we had an Australia Day run. We normally pay 5 € for drinks and food and today all that money (plus donations) were collected and will go to Australian charities. Our group has affiliations all over the world and I think close to 100 groups have pledged to hold a run with proceeds going to Australia. We’ve picked 2 charities and hope that these are ones with little overheads, one is wires (which is involved in rescuing animals injured or orphaned after the fire), the other one is a particular fire station which lost a lot of their equipment. They’ve also lost men, unfortunately, and one of them was a regular at our runs (I didn’t know him personally but the news of his death was instrumental to get this fundraiser going). We can only hope that what happened in Australia was an eye opener for the whole world and that we can work together to stop what is happening to our home.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Excellent choice! Wires is one of the charities that people have been extremely positive about! And I think the more localized the donation, the more likely it is to get to the people that need it. It is so heartening to think of folk on the other side of the world caring so much for strangers in the far south! Thank you. It gives hope.

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