Originally Posted by willamos

Landing in Australia again recently, it amazed me once again how paranoid/authoritarian/fascist they are about stuff being ''brought into Australia''. Food, alcohol, gifts...everything and anything, really.

Filling in landing cards that want to know everything about you, your family and your trip. Not only on your return, but boarding cards BEFORE you even get on the plane to go!! Never had that in any other country.

It amazes me that my wife, born and raised in Australia, has to fill in the card asking for information about where she's been on the trip and what she might be bringing back with her. Love the threats on the cards about being prosecuted for false declarations too.

The cabin crew are legally obliged to announce all the restrictions over the aircraft's PA system plus you have to watch a santimonious video as well. How many times does the same message need repeating exactly?

I'm surprised that the landing card doesn't ask you whether you've been in the company of any homosexuals or keen Muslims whilst you've been away. It seems to want to know everything else. Having your bags opened up to check for anything that might be a ''threat to Australia''. Seriously, what is a banana likely to actually do in reality? What is one scrap of mud from your parent's garden in Sussex actually going to do to the flora and fauna in inner Melbourne precisely? I'd really like to know because I suspect a lot of all that crap is revenue generating and nothing more - it's about finding reasons to fine people. Getting money off you for buying more duty free than they want you to and so on.

Do the Aussies not realise how up their own arses they appear with all this crap when you arrive there?

If other countries don't require all this s***, why does Australia? Is it the single most fragile country in the world, or just the most rule-obsessed?

And people talk about the UK being a nanny state/police state. My word.

Originally Posted by Amazulu

Partly agree with your post - Australia is the land of rules and regulations, a huge nanny state. But many countries have landing cards - including the UK for non-EU. The landing card for the US is worse than the Aussie one. It even asks if you were a member of the nazi party of Germany! Recently flew to Thailand via Malaysia - had to fill in landing and departure cards for all 3 countries, a real pain in the ass.

Originally Posted by kporte

Interestingly as a UK blood donor, I was always asked if I had had sex with men or prostitutes. There is a very good reason for this, as there is with AQIS regulations. You are now picking anything to pull apart imho.

Originally Posted by willamos

I think we all know the risks of infections transmitted by the exchange of blood, kporte.

Since when does a banana or a tiny flake of dried mud carry the AIDS virus, exactly?

Originally Posted by ABCDiamond

But they may have Guignardia, or Foot and Mouth, or similar ?

Originally Posted by willamos

I think we all know the risks of infections transmitted by the exchange of blood, kporte. I think anyone would want to know that, should they have to accept a blood transfusion, it is not carrying a deadly virus. Very logical and no more than you would expect, surely?

Since when does one pathetic banana or a tiny flake of dried mud carry the AIDS virus, exactly? I think comparing the transfer of human blood from person to person to being told to surrender your satsumas or face prosecution is a totally bizarre analogy. Odd that you see them as comparable, frankly.

Originally Posted by willamos

Scientifically speaking, I wonder exactly how likely that actually is though and is it going to result in anyone's death?

Originally Posted by willamos

He is a genius who knows everything there is to know about, well, everything.

Originally Posted by willamos

He gets all haughty if he thinks you are denying him his right to an opinion but openly mocks everyone elses. He doesn't understand that not everyone has the same set of likes/dislikes as him and that nor should they have to. He thinks that if you fail to prefer basically every aspect of Australia to the UK you are insane and will call you and your views ''hilarious''.

Originally Posted by willamos

He fails to appreciate that no country offers all that is good in life - not even his beloved Australia. If, for example, he believes that there isn't more to enjoy in terms of the arts in the UK and Europe then he is clearly not as culturally aware as he would like us to think.

Originally Posted by willamos

There are plenty of reasons for preferring the UK. Just as many as there are for preferring Australia. Hutch finds you blinkered if you think the former but will not appreciate anyone denying him the right to the latter.

Originally Posted by willamos

He's Australia's self-appointed doorman and knows it all. Never forget that.

Originally Posted by Amazulu

Partly agree with your post - Australia is the land of rules and regulations, a huge nanny state. But many countries have landing cards - including the UK for non-EU. The landing card for the US is worse than the Aussie one. It even asks if you were a member of the nazi party of Germany! Recently flew to Thailand via Malaysia - had to fill in landing and departure cards for all 3 countries, a real pain in the ass.

Originally Posted by Devlin

You are correct, however, how many countries other than Australia requires it's citizens to fill in a landing card? I can't think of one, although I'm sure there must be!

I accept landing cards, but frankly it galls me to have to fill one in when returning to the country where I have spent most of my life. Maybe some people think I'm just over-reacting, but it really gets my goat.

Originally Posted by kporte

Indeed, 30 seconds of your time to keep the nation safe is unreasonable....

Originally Posted by Hutch

Now now, that's the sort of thing that ends up under my avatar, you flatterer, you.

Thank-you so much for telling me what I think. There again, that is another fine British tradition you're upholding - ramming your own views and modes of operation down someone else's throat whether they like it or not.

If I could stop your little rant for a second 'willamos', could you please cut and paste those posts I've made where I say that Australia is a utopian society? Hmmm? I'll save you the trouble old chap - you won't find it. I have an entirely pragmatic view of this country. You, however, seem to loathe it with every atom of your being and you take fantastic umbrage with anyone who dares suggest that it's not actually the Benghazi shit-hole you make it out to be. And that's it. No more, no less.

We don't all think Australia is crap any more than none of us think it's utopia. But that doesn't fit in with your little shit-stirring thread and the views of the caravan of haters that trundle in from the doom-and-gloom room as soon as one of you pedants decide to play a little game of knock-down ginger on the main Australia forum's front door.

Again with the telling me what I think. You should run for parliament, you'd go down a storm.

lol - I love how the uninformed pick up on the tag below my avatar. Use the search function and you'll discover that, as with just about everything else you've said, you're wide of the mark.

Originally Posted by willamos

You really believe that the card makes a big difference to things? People who want to do nasty things to a country and commit vicious crimes will not be stopped from doing so by filling in an A2 piece of card or whatever. Those cards are coming after you mainly for money. They want to charge you if you've gone and bought goods overseas that they could have charged you tax on if you had bought them in Australia. Opening up your suitcase and checking for muddy trainers is a good pretense on which to open up your suitcase and check for too many duty free fags etc.

Originally Posted by Deutschmaster

Why would the authorities need the pretence of checking one's suitcase for fags when they can just check if someone has brought in too many?

Originally Posted by willamos

I've yet to see you accept a single criticism of Australia...ever. Never.

Originally Posted by willamos

You always seek to rebuke, critique and parody any remark that seems to be less than complimentary about Australia. Equally, you rarely, if ever at all, support anyone saying anything good about the UK.