Nicki

What do Aussies think of Brits? How are Brits treated down under?

pommiesheila

It is difficult to tell really. Not sure that Aussies think about anything much!

No, seriously, we have encountered quite a bit of what my husband calls "good natured banter" - "bloody poms" etc. But most don't seem to say it with malice.

BUT, the biggest problem is with the work situation. If you are a pom (or any other nationality other than Australian come to that) you will be in for an uphill ride over here - particularly if you are starting up in business like we are. I can see their point really - would rather give the work to a "mate of a mate" rather than a "foreigner" I suppose. If you're lucky enough to get some business, they usually try and chip the price down a lot, assuming you're pretty green...

jockney

Each time we`ve visited we found them all very freindly and interested where we live back home.The older aussies are all related somewhere down the line to someone in theuk.Ieven went to a place in adelaide called peertech training to enquire about a course only to get into a conversation with a czeck auzzie.Iknow prague well and last time he saw prague he was fleeing as the russians moved in,although he is now proud to be an aussie.There are shitty faced people the world over but I think the aussies are better than most.

pread

Pommie Sheila,

I definately had trouble finding a job here, even though I would say my skills were/are in demand. There's definately a network going, 'mate-of-a-mate' as you say, but I didn't feel it had anything to do with nationality, just who you knew.

As for in general, people have been very friendly so far, we've had nothing but good experiences there. So far, anyway...

Cheers,
Paul.

pommiesheila

I think you're right about the Aussies being interested in the UK - lots of them ask whereabouts we lived in the UK, and then say "Oh, is that near such and such - my aunt lives there" etc.

Also, forgot to mention in my post that we were invited round to some Aussies for Christmas Day afternoon because they knew we were new over here, and we've also been invited out New Years Eve by some other people who we only know because the hubbie printed our business cards and lives down the road!

I think the main difference between Aussies and the English is that the Aussies are more open with their friendliness straight off - English people tend to be far more reserved, but once you've got a good friend in England, the friendship seems to be deeper.

Ceri

It's a generalist question... it's the same as asking what do Cornish think of Londoners? Or what Do Swansea people think of Cardiff people?

I actually hate the word Brit if you know what I mean, I class myself Welsh first, Irish second, British as generalist... how do you class a Brit? I'm sorry I'm not the same as a London person, or a Cardiff person... if you try and class people in little tidy boxes as all being the same ... ahh problem! And no Australians don't treat Brit's any different.. at least I've never found this. And as like all life in general it's what you personally know , skills related, and how you treat others, nothing to do with being being a pom or or not

pommiesheila

Agree - that's why I always say "English" - I am English, not Scottish, Welsh or Irish etc. There's a lot of difference between us!!! (I'm not saying for better or worse, by the way, just different)

jerome.pearce

I my experience they seem to be very friendly to us. Aussies are more up front, and that can be taken as offensiveness by delicate Poms, but it's just honesty.

I find that if I'm friendly to Aussies, thy're freindly to me. That suits me!

Jerome

Herman

I find young Australians to be genuinely interested in me and my experiences. They ask a lot of questions about the UK and after a few questions of your own you will usually discover that anyone under the age of 30 who has not yet been to the UK wants to go there for a year or two.
The over 40 year olds at work are not as easy to get to know and tend to have more a negative attitude towards 'bloody poms', seizing on any opportunity for a bit of pom bashing.
My wife is Czech and experienced some pretty blunt nationalism when she was job hunting, with two of her rejections actually stating that it was because they wanted to give the job to an Australian and not a foreigner. Cant knock their honesty, even if its not exactly subtle or what you expect to hear.

pommie bastard

Pom bashing is a national sport , give your Aussie a shandy or two and his anglophobia rises up.

Anglophobia costs Australia millions of dollars a year, according to a recent survey. Highly skilled British migrants are returning home in droves.





These are the four judges of the High Court of Australia who ruled, on the 23rd of June 1999, that Britain is a "foreign power". (The remaining three judges dissented, arguing that the High Court had no right to address the issue in question.)

For those who may have missed it, the issue was the election of a Queensland senator, Ms Heather Hill, a British migrant. She had taken up Australian citizenship, but had failed to "renounce" her British citizenship.

A Chinese migrant, Chuck Hong, had complained that by not renouncing her original citizenship, the senator-elect failed to comply with section 44 of the Australian Constitution.

Section 44 excludes certain people from representing us in parliament. They cannot be undischarged bankrupts or insolvent. They cannot have been attainted of treason, or convicted and subject to sentence for an offence carrying a jail sentence of at least one year. They cannot be under allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power.

The High Court effectively ruled that Heather Hill could not assume her elected responsibilities because (a) she had not "renounced" her British citizenship, even though she was a naturalised Australian, and (b) Britain had been a "foreign power" since at least 1986, when the Australia Acts were passed.

At a single stroke the High Court ruling officially made second-class citizens of over a million British-born residents of Australia.

Ceri

I remember that case here. Interesting to know if Britain does the same though (?) Can you hold dual nationality in Britain if you want to be an MP etc?

cheers

colind

Not sure...although the recently defeated President of Lithuania is a US Citizen (do they have oil in Lithuania?

UDS

Yes, to be a member of the UK parliament you have to be a British Citizen, but you can hold as many other citizenships as you like. Furthermore, you can even be an elected or appointed government official in another Commonwealth country, and still be a member of the UK parliament.

I can't agree that the court ruling mentioned above makes second-class citizens of dual UK/Australian nationals. It puts them on the same footing as any other Australian who holds dual nationality. The Australian constitution makes second-class citizens of all dual nationals and that seems clearly wrong to me, but I can see no argument for saying that those with British nationality should be treated differently from those with the nationality of any third country.

Whingin Pom

More than likely, you can seem to do what ever you want in Britain if you are from a war torn state and fleeing pericution.

I am a H.G.V mechanic and worked out on site servicing trucks. One day I was at a local site and about to work on a vehicle that travels to the continent each week, when a knife was pushed through the curtain of the trailer and two men jumped out, saw me, beat me to the ground and ran off. When the police picked them up they shouted assylem and got the red carpet treatment and I got nothing, not even an appology from anyone. I now work in a factory where the only risk to my life is the canteen food.

I don't mind people coming to Britain, but why can't they earn the right to live here, pay thier own way and embrace the way of life in Britain. They don't, they get given everthing, form thier own comunities and some will even refuse to speak English.

pommie bastard

You think its any different in Australia , the in word here is Muti-culturalism even the Abbos get more in benefits than a white Australian.