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Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by touchingcloth
Mate..you have to compare like for like. If you wish to compare the cultural diversity of Sydney or Melbourne...then you need to compare it to London....and you'd find that London is THE MOST culturally diverse city in the world.
If I were to compare Canberra to ALL British cities of the same size , then using your methodology I could deduce that "Australia is not as culturally diverse as the UK" Nevertheless, it may surprise you to learn that despite having a total size only 324,004 people, 21.6% of its population was born overseas (source)! How many British cities of comparable size have a population of which 21.6% was born overseas? :) With all due respect, I think you should explore the UK a little more. Scratch beneath the surface and you'll find out that Britain is not 90% english origin, 5% west indian, and 5% indian/pakistani. In fact, since I have the figures to hand, let's compare the list of largest ethnic minorities in Australia, with the list of largest ethnic minorities in the UK: Total population: 21 million Australian: 6.7m (38.7%) English: 6.4m (36.5%) Irish: 1.9m (11%) Italian: 800,000 (4.6%) German: 742,000 (4.3%) Chinese: 557,000 (3.2%) Scottish: 540,000 (3.1%) Greek: 376,000 (2.2%) Dutch: 269,000 (1.5%) Lebanese: 162,000 (0.9%) Indian: 157,000 (0.9%) Vietnamese: 157,000 (0.9%) Polish: 151,000 (0.9%) Now the UK: White: 92.1% (54.85 million people: English 81.5%, Scottish 9.6%, Irish 2.4%, Welsh 1.9%, Ulster 1.8%) Asian or Asian British: 4% (2.38 million people) Black or Black British: 2% (1.19 million people) Mixed: 1.2% (0.71 million people) Chinese: 0.4% (0.24 million people) Other: 0.3% (0.18 million people) Already the difference is obvious. Now for a little more detail: Just over one-fifth of Australia's population (22%) was born overseas. English was the only language spoken at home by 79.1% of the population, a decrease from 81.4% in 1996. Italian, with 353,605 speakers, is the most popular language other than English spoken at home, followed by Greek, 263, 717, Cantonese, 225,307, Arabic, 209,372, and Vietnamese with 174,236 speakers. [...] In Sydney, the dominance of English looks less complete, with 66 per cent of people speaking only English at home. Western Australia has the highest proportion of total population born overseas (27%). New South Wales and Victoria have equal proportions of overseas born people (about 23%), followed by the ACT and South Australia (21% each), Queensland (17%), NT (14%) and Tasmania (10%). [...] Sydney is the migrant and ethnic centre of Australia, with 31 per cent of its population born overseas. Six of the 10 areas in the country with the lowest proportion of Australia-born residents are in Sydney. Having established that 22% of Australia's population were born overseas, let's compare this with the UK: In 2001, 8.3 per cent (4.9 million) of the total population of the UK were born overseas. This is almost double the proportion in 1951 (4.2 per cent). As far as I can see, Australia has a larger percentage of people born overseas, a larger number of ethnic groups altogether, and a larger percentage of ethnic groups in its major cities. This all adds up to a healthy whack of cultural diversity. :) |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by jad n rich
And may I be the first to wish you and the bride a lovely holiday, and may the bride enjoy australia as much as you enjoy the UK :D :D
She has visited Australia once before, and has an uncle in Victoria. :cool: |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by phoenixinoz
Great post Vash.
Aus is in your blood ....and I can see why;) |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by Hutch
I had the misfortune of spending a bit of time in the West Midlands, Vash. Wolverhampton to be precise. I lasted 9 months before I managed to get an inter-college transfer to Middlesex Uni. Ponders End (a complete shit-hole in north London) seemed positively civilised after that. :eek:
The trick is to venture outside the major population centres. I live in a small town near Walsall, and although our immediate area is tooth-grindingly urban, there's a huge swathe of countryside within easy walking distance; just 10 minutes down the road, in fact. Within a very short space of time, you can escape the tired, shabby terraces and semis of working class Britain, and relax in wide open fields where horses quietly munch the grass and ducks splash about in the local canal. Walk a bit further, and you have a lovely forest to explore; all soft, green leaves and shady boughs. I love it. :cool: |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
Ah, the Midlands aren't so bad. Too cramped, grubby and run-down for my liking, but if you look past these failings, you can be well rewarded. :)
The trick is to venture outside the major population centres. I live in a small town near Walsall, and although our immediate area is tooth-grindingly urban, there's a huge swathe of countryside within easy walking distance; just 10 minutes down the road, in fact. Within a very short space of time, you can escape the tired, shabby terraces and semis of working class Britain, and relax in wide open fields where horses quietly munch the grass and ducks splash about in the local canal. Walk a bit further, and you have a lovely forest to explore; all soft, green leaves and shady boughs. I love it. :cool: |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by Hutch
Yea, I used to go to Cannock Chase to stay sane. However that didn't detract from the fact that a good friend of mine got his face slashed by a 14 year old with a Stanley Knife whilst waiting for a bus or that there were two rapes in the halls of residence I stayed in or that you couldn't walk anywhere without some battered Ford Cortina cruising up alongside you and offering you 'H' or indeed that on a Saturday, if Wolves were at home, you steered very clear of the Molyneux and the town centre in case you wanted your head kicked-in because you didn't sound like you were local. Icing on the cake for me was when the landlord of the shitty little terrace we were renting later on tried to rape one of my house-mates. Unfortunately for him, her dad was very high up in the Liverpool Constabulary and he certainly came to regret that day. :eek:
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Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
I generally get to bed between 10:30 and 11. I usually wake up every morning between 4 and 5, with chronic back pain from my arthritis. The usual routine is to attach my TENS machine for an hour or so, and crawl back to bed in an attempt to catch a little more sleep before work.
Australia, without a doubt - though I must say that in the two and a half years since I came to the UK, I have really come to appreciate this country. I'd be happy to remain here for the forseeable future, but I would have to go home at some stage. I am half English, but the UK will never feel like home to me. :) As to the reason why I would prefer to live Down Under... well, the easy answer is the obvious one: because it's home. I do miss my friends and family from time to time (haven't been back since I came to the UK) but I could still live happily in the UK with a visit Down Under every two years or so to catch up with everyone. I'm not the sort of person who can't live without his friends and relations; we're very independent in my family, though our emotional ties are strong. My little sister is currently in Japan, my twin brother is in Taiwan, my younger brother lives in Victoria and my mother lives in South Australia - yet we keep in contact via email and the occasional phone call, so the distances don't really matter to us. :) The things that matter most to me are the things which tend make Australia attractive to so many ex-pats: wide open spaces; a slower pace of living, a massive country to explore; a small population with plenty of room to grow; a culturally diverse population (25% of Australians are immigrants or the children of immigrants); a diverse environment (offering arid, temperate; arctic and tropical regions); affordable property; an egalitarian society with a "have a go" attitude, a fascinating array of unique flora and fauna; a "firm but fair" immigration policy, a strong economy, and all the usual benefits of a 1st World nation. I like the fact that Australia is a young country, still in the process of making its own history. There aren't too many places left in the world where you can watch a nation growing up and finding its place on the global stage, but Australia is one of them. There are probably other things, but these are the ones which spring immediately to mind. Now, I can't deny that the UK has many advantages over Australia, and there are things that I will miss once I'm gone (see here) but at the end of the day, it can never replace Australia in my heart. :cool: THANKS......just wondered :) |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by MikeStanton
This from a native of Oz - a country where even a certificate is required to break wind.
If UK is a nanny state, Oz is run like a kindergarten. |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
I am prepared to accept your claim if you can provide some statistical evidence for it...
As far as I can see, Australia has a larger percentage of people born overseas, a larger number of ethnic groups altogether, and a larger percentage of ethnic groups in its major cities. This all adds up to a healthy whack of cultural diversity. :) Instead, all you've shown is that a greater %age of people living in Oz, compared with UK, were born overseas. No shit, Sherlock! However, all that demonstrates is the country of origin of those currently alive. It provides no insight into immigrants that are (say) 3rd, 4th generation immigrants to UK. If you bother to analyse references from your own UK link, you'll see that ethnicity is made up of many factors - not just the place of birth. For example, a 3rd generation UK Italian may regard him/herself as English, and they (and we) celebrate their culture of their forebears - starting with their food. Immigrants from many nations have been arriving in UK for more than a thousand years before Captain Cook was even conceived. For London alone, try this Source. So, to suggest that Oz has a more culturally diverse population than UK is total bollox. Next time, please spend less time on meaningless Google links and more time on sound analysis. In Oz, outside of any of the major cities, you would be hard-pushed to find any "cultural diversity" - unless you count different types of rednecks. |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by MikeStanton
Except you have provided no evidence, statisical or otherwise, that Oz has a more culturally diverse population.
Instead, all you've shown is that a greater %age of people living in Oz, compared with UK, were born overseas. No shit, Sherlock! However, all that demonstrates is the country of origin of those currently alive. It provides no insight into immigrants that are (say) 3rd, 4th generation immigrants to UK. If you bother to analyse references from your own UK link, you'll see that ethnicity is made up of many factors - not just the place of birth. For example, a 3rd generation UK Italian may regard him/herself as English, and they (and we) celebrate their culture of their forebears - starting with their food. Immigrants from many nations have been arriving in UK for more than a thousand years before Captain Cook was even conceived. For London alone, try this Source. So, to suggest that Oz has a more culturally diverse population than UK is total bollox. Next time, please spend less time on meaningless Google links and more time on sound analysis. In Oz, outside of any of the major cities, you would be hard-pushed to find any "cultural diversity" - unless you count different types of rednecks. |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by Vash the Stampede
For anyone who's interested, some interesting demographics data from the 2001 Census:
[indent] Total population: 21 million Australian: 6.7m (38.7%) English: 6.4m (36.5%) Supports the notion that, whilst Brits will move heaven and earth for a new life in a 'better' place, most have no desire to surrender their sovereign identity. For one, I don't. |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Vash, in your original post, I'm rather surprised that New Zealanders don't feature as it seems that most of New Zealand now lives in Australia.
What do you think? Deliberate omission? Cheers Buzzy |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by Lewis Lapthorn
I know the Federal Govt. is desperately trying to get permanent residents to become Aussie citizens - but didn't realise things were this close.
Supports the notion that, whilst Brits will move heaven and earth for a new life in a 'better' place, most have no desire to surrender their sovereign identity. For one, I don't. Those figures show Australians by ancestry. It's got nothing to do with numbers of permanent residents vs citizens. Someone whose great-great grandfather was British would have British ancestry - but that same person could also be a fifth-generation Australian. People with British ancestry could have had ancestors that arrived with the first fleet - or they could have flown in last week. Considering that 25% of the population are supposedly immigrants or children of immigrants (and currently British migrants only make up around 10% of the whole) it shows that an awful lot the 36.5% of the population claiming British ancestry are looking back much further than two generations. |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by Buzzy--Bee
Vash, in your original post, I'm rather surprised that New Zealanders don't feature as it seems that most of New Zealand now lives in Australia.
What do you think? Deliberate omission? Cheers Buzzy Stats for Kiwis in Australia are as follows: At the time of Australia's population census in October 2001, 356,000 people born in New Zealand were resident in Australia — the equivalent of 1.9 percent of the total population in Australia. People born in Australia totaled 56,300 in New Zealand's census of March 2001 — the equivalent of 1.5 percent of the total population of New Zealand. The comparative parity in shares of population born in the neighboring country across the Tasman Sea is rather misleading, however. Many of the recent Australia-born immigrants to New Zealand are the children of New Zealanders who had been living in Australia for many years and who returned to New Zealand during the 1980s and 1990s. :) |
Re: Australians by ancesty
Originally Posted by MikeStanton
Except you have provided no evidence, statisical or otherwise, that Oz has a more culturally diverse population.
Originally Posted by MikeStanton
You'll see that ethnicity is made up of many factors - not just the place of birth. For example, a 3rd generation UK Italian may regard him/herself as English
Originally Posted by MikeStanton
In Oz, outside of any of the major cities, you would be hard-pushed to find any "cultural diversity" - unless you count different types of rednecks.
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