This is one of the things that has surprised and shocked me most about this country. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has similar information about the cycles and even states "Price cycles are the result of deliberate pricing policies of petrol retailers, and are not directly related to changes in wholesale costs". It also states "Where we see issues of concern we will investigate. And, where we find sufficient evidence we will take action to protect consumers against misleading and anti-competitive conduct by fuel retailers". I would have have thought that 10 seconds of looking at the graphs would be more than enough evidence. Wouldn't be tolerated in the UK and amazes me that it is here.

AH the eternal Stat Dec......feeling your pain

Seems like a great business to run over in OZ. I used to think that poker machines here were like a license to print money, but it seems petrol stations would give pokies places a run for their money...

I looked at this and thought 'why wouldn't she be ok???' and then I remembered..... She's fine.

I think I should start using my 25L petrol can again and fill it up when petrol is cheapish to get me through the high cycle.

Combine the two. Pay $25, pull the handle, spin the wheel, and see how much petrol you can win.

That's another thing the new Australian resident should know - Australians have a gambling problem. Oh, and bogans differ from chavs in that chavs aspire to higher social class (Burberry) whereas bogans are very happy being being low lives, and think everyone should be like them.

I didn't know that! "Bogan" is a word that didn't exist when I lived in Australia (1939-1963), and I've never quite twigged to what it does mean. Just - you know - a sort of general low-class person but without specifics. Until very recent years, I'd never heard it spoken. Any clarification or confirmation would be welcome. There's a "social classes" thread in the "Take it Outside" section of BE, so I may post your opinion there, Garry, if you don't mind.

Also, "chav" seems (to me) to be a post-1963 word, too. Is that the case? What's the technical difference between a chav and a yob?

Bogan was in common usage in Sydney during our first stint in Oz in the late 1980's, which coincided with Kylie Mole and the Comedy Company, who popularised it according to Wikipedia.

Chav is much more recent, when I asked hubby he estimated the last ten years. Wikipedia agrees and it seems again a TV character, Vicky Pollard, was instrumental in making it popular.

I'd say a yob was more intent on doing wrong than a chav.

The distinction between chav and bogan is something that didn't hit me till a native pointed it out. Chavs were and are about the designer clothes as well as the 'loutish behaviour', but the australian bogan revels in not aspiring to 'classy'. In fact they had to invent the CUB (cash up bogan) to explain the bogan who had got a well paid job and started buying more expensive goods (though still with no taste) whilst still wearing the australian flag singlet.

It's the aspire bit that's different. If anything the bogan will look down on the intellectual, whereas the chav will just complain they are snooty and don't want him around.

Isn't bogan specific to Australia in that even a not-so-bright labourer can still make solid bucks here and live the life so to speak?

On a side note, there is an interesting disambiguation between the UK term chav and the US phrase "white trash." In the UK it's all about the person and not the circumstances (so hard to get out of) whereas in the US it's to do with the person and lack of money - all it takes is to win the lottery and suddenly the tag no longer applies.

Bogan explained by a bogan.

Thanks for that, Kim - I think. What can I say but "Cripes!" I can remember the bodgies and widgies from my relatively sheltered youth - and the girls in your video remind me of the widgies, a bit. But neither group was ever as mainstream as the bogans seem to be. I think we probably called the bogans of the day (as shown in the video) "larrikins" or "larries".

Thanks too to the others who took the trouble to educate me.

Just be aware that the metal buckle of a seat belt will become a branding iron if your car has been parked in the sun during summer!

Likewise a black or red car isn't the best of choices over here. Then again leave the car out there long enough and it probably makes no difference!

Don't forget driving with only 2 fingers on the steering wheel because it's so flippin' hot. And that you will most certainly hear the skin on the backs of your legs sizzle on the car's seat when you get in.