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So I've been watching a lot of international news recently, and I hear loads about even minor European countries and tiny islands in the middle of nowhere... but nothing about Australia. Are we really that insignificant on an international scale?

Swearing Dave from Podhammer has put you on the map.

edit: I'd say that, in the US, Australia really doesn't receive a lot of coverage. This is probably a good thing, though, since most news coverage begins when things are really screwed up. "Hi, I keep a neat front lawn, put the kids through college, and drive a Honda" receives nothing while "Hi, I drill holes in my head to let the evil out" receives massive coverage. Hence, I've always assumed that Australia is doing quite well and a cool place to visit, as long as you could get rid of that ridiculous "comp" system for WHFB tournaments.

It's an unfortunate fact that less developed countries like Australia and France are seldom reported in the news due to a media bias against the third world.

Cheese Elemental wrote:So I've been watching a lot of international news recently, and I hear loads about even minor European countries and tiny islands in the middle of nowhere... but nothing about Australia. Are we really that insignificant on an international scale?

It's not that it is insignificant, it is just that you guys aren't all that screwed up, on an international level is all. We do hear about what is going on there every now and then.

Greebynog wrote:It's an unfortunate fact that less developed countries like Australia and France are seldom reported in the news due to a media bias against the third world.

I actually did laugh out loud at this.

Cheese Elemental wrote:So I've been watching a lot of international news recently, and I hear loads about even minor European countries and tiny islands in the middle of nowhere... but nothing about Australia. Are we really that insignificant on an international scale?

Given our population size, the amount of notice we get in the rest of the world is probably far more than we really should get.

A lot of news is generated by interactions between a country and its neighbours. European countries have more neighbours, and often more significant neighbours, than Australia.

What minor European countries do you hear about?

Australia gets coverage for two things in the international media by and large.

1: When someone goes bush-crazy and hacks up some backpackers
2: Sport (either because you've won, or because you're complaining you haven't won )

The US has so much going on the coverage is always centred on something happening in the US or something that the US is intimately involved with beyond its borders (Iraq and Afghanistan).

We spent a month there last year and the only international news I saw (we had hotel cable) was the chaser's APEC stunt.

Despite what Kevin Rudd would like you to think (to excuse his being out of the country every week) we are a relatively small player poulation wise, top 10% economy wise, to 5% resources wise and so far from everything that matters it isn't funny.

We are a very big fish in the south pacific but to everyone else we are just the country that is the fattest in the world and kicks ass at sport.

Waaagh_Gonads wrote: but to everyone else we are just the country that is the fattest in the world and kicks ass at sport.

That paradox alone demands a more in-depth investigation from the worlds media.

I actually considered moving to Austraila once, but I'm such a procrastinator that nothing ever came of it. And by the way, you're more likely to be hacked to pieces in the US than anywhere else. I've always heard that Austrailians are pretty laid-back, if a bit crazy but in a good way. Lots of good actors come from down under. (Especially Anna Torv, who's on Fringe. That show scares the crap out of me, and makes me laugh out loud at the same time.)

Today I drove my Holden Commodore over the Great Dividing Range to the Birthplace of Our Nation, a little town named Tenterfield.

No kidding. I fixed a computer for a cattle farmer, and set up his satellite phone. Australia's great where it's greeny/yellow. Another couple hundred clicks or so inland and it starts to get rough though. And red. That's the opposite of green.

Hey, look on the bright side, you've just got or are about to get some heavy duty internet control rules. That'll put you on the map Shame really as I've always admired the laid back outlook the Aussies have, seens a few of your politicians want to take things seriously. It was great to when some political event made it on to TV, as you felt that there was a chance that a member of one party would belt the other job done, point made!

I'm worried about the net control because...

A: It is to be mandatory (slapped by the government on everything)
B: Worse than China's but not quite as bad as North Korea... somewhere close to the level of Iran.
C: Aimed at being a porn filter the governement also said with a astraight face that it will screen 'anorexia' and other undesirable sites, who picks these keywords I don't know and how a breast cancer sufferer or a family who has a daughter with anorexia is meant to find info I don't know...
D: It is estimated that it will slow Australian web speed by 30% and if you want an international site by over 70%.

Of course before the election all we got was vague assurances they wanted to control net porn, probably by point of use software...

Of course we must regulate Internet porn. Small town porn shop owners everywhere
are counting on net regulation to save their businesses.

I don't think it will happen. It DOES have to be applied to the entire country at once, or it's unconstitutional. It would be a waste of money, slow down all related industries, and cause a whole lot of whinging.

Of course, the Australian government likes to let the public know about a week before new laws take effect - dampers a lot of that complaining problem. It's that damned laid-back attitude.

Australians are laid back?

Compared to Americans, yes. But hey, with the exception of the Japanese, EVERYONE'S more laid-back than us.

Arctik_Firangi wrote:Another couple hundred clicks or so inland and it starts to get rough though. And red. That's the opposite of green.

Yes, when are you going to finish the middle?

Whenever it rains again.

What we need is no Papua New Guinea which stops alot of the southern travelling monsoon winds and an ice age too to help increase rainfall.

An ice age will also mean we use less airconditioning and therefore less coal in our power stations, thus halting global warming... YAY!

The middle? It's red too. Sometimes it's yellow. Black isn't a colour.

Australians aren't laid back in the lazy sense, it's more of a relaxed social attitude. There's a lot of upper middle-class scum floating around protecting liberalism, and they pretend not to hear the folks in the yellow/red/black who actually have worldly problems. Sort of like 'too much couth' in the British sense, with better weather.

Arctik_Firangi wrote:I don't think it will happen. It DOES have to be applied to the entire country at once, or it's unconstitutional. It would be a waste of money, slow down all related industries, and cause a whole lot of whinging.

Of course, the Australian government likes to let the public know about a week before new laws take effect - dampers a lot of that complaining problem. It's that damned laid-back attitude.

I know, and if we get these internet "filters" or aka communist machines then im affraid that i'll be moving far away, after clobbering know ever had the idea in the first place. i know rudd loves communists by do we really have to be like them? cant he just admire from afar?

That's the reason economists shouldn't be politicians. Socialism is a different thing to China's example of communism. Communism doesn't bother me so much. Not like we ever get a reasonable choice of politician though; everyone just wanted off the Howard bandwagon, and we ignored the fact that K-rudd is an ECONOMIST.

The main reason this upsets me is because the average Australian weekly wage is just over $1100. As difficult as I find that to believe, it's scary to know that the Treasury thinks that. I work five days a week and make a third of that if I'm lucky. It all goes to petrol. The recent fuel drop was a miracle too amazing to believe. I can EAT again. The price of food went up at least 20% on average in the last twelve months, reportedly due to the cost of fuel.
But fuel prices went down a week ago, and food is still going up. Duuuhhh...
Enjoy living with your parents while you still can, Squig.

Most of America's news is domestic, and most of our foriegn offices are concerned with worldwide conflicts at the moment. War makes ratings.

Cheese Elemental: is that a pedo bear in your Che, or are you just happy to see some kids?

Arctik_Firangi wrote:That's the reason economists shouldn't be politicians. Socialism is a different thing to China's example of communism. Communism doesn't bother me so much. Not like we ever get a reasonable choice of politician though; everyone just wanted off the Howard bandwagon, and we ignored the fact that K-rudd is an ECONOMIST.

The main reason this upsets me is because the average Australian weekly wage is just over $1100. As difficult as I find that to believe, it's scary to know that the Treasury thinks that. I work five days a week and make a third of that if I'm lucky. It all goes to petrol. The recent fuel drop was a miracle too amazing to believe. I can EAT again. The price of food went up at least 20% on average in the last twelve months, reportedly due to the cost of fuel.
But fuel prices went down a week ago, and food is still going up. Duuuhhh...
Enjoy living with your parents while you still can, Squig.

I am, though when i leave and i cant make ends meet, off to the ozzie defence force, i get free food, and accomodation [i might even go navy, so i travel for free] and get paid to do it

In the context of THE WORLD... Australia is insignificant, however, there IS a point.

We ARE a third world country... but with money and a collective brain.

We are, in a sense, at the bottom of Division 1 on the verge of relegation to Division 2.

We do have natural resources, but we do not have the population and hence, the money to do anything with it. We have to rely on other countries to do it for us and then live off the kick backs.

As one famous Aussie politician once said "we ARE a banana republic" we need international involvement to survive.

We choose to belong to Division 1 (the Developed 1st world countries) so we must pledge money to the world bank, we must pledge loans and aid to our less developed neighbours, and we must pledge troops to aid anyone who needs help... we MUST do these things even if it hurts Aussies back home... or else it will be us as the 3rd world country requireing aid.

This all said, in THE WORLD context, Australia IS the place to live, THE place to be safe and raise a family, THE place to be rather than elsewhere in the world.

It pays to struggle sometimes... it brings out the best in us... and it pays to be out of the news.

And yes, I have studied Law, Government, and Politics at University... and in THIS Millennium.

Never discuss politics and extra terrestrials at dinner with friends... eh Mate

Mik

Aparently the reserve bank thinks we aren't going to go into recession.

Of course they were still raising interest rates in March and then waited until October to drop them 1% and another 0.75 in November.

A crystal ball these guys have not....

Maybe they are rolling scatter dice for effect...

Certainly would explain a lot

It still amazes me that politics and religion always muck it up a lot more than they fix anything

Mik