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G4EBT > RUGGER 28.11.03 21:18l 135 Lines 5235 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 471936G4EBT
Read: GUEST
Subj: Re: "Oz Tabloid Press" VK4WH
Path: DB0FHN<DB0THA<DB0ERF<DB0FBB<DB0GOS<DB0EEO<DB0RES<ON0AR<PI8WFL<GB7FCR
Sent: 031128/1828Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:27416 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:471936G4
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : RUGGER@WW
Warren, VK4WH, (the sensible antipodean one - not the Stateside imposter!)
wrote:-
> Bet you that one in twenty Aussies DON'T want to return to such a COLD,
> DRAB, GREY and RAINING little island.
Tut, tut, come now children!
It's not drab or grey - the World Cup is radiating a warm glow that's
permeating the whole island, and we're basking in it, big style :-)
As to "small" - does size matter?
Hard frost this morning though, but still enjoying the remains of the
sunshine we've enjoyed all summer. Gets dark here on the North-East
coast at 3.45pm till 8am, but it's not that bad - on a clear day you
can see the furniture:-) (Winter sun hols in the Canaries already
booked for Feb '04).
As to rain, there's been so little this year that the reservoirs are very
low indeed, and unlikely to recover over the winter, so a hose-pipe ban
next year is in prospect.
> You mob, gave your "substandard stock" PARADISE.
I know it was only a wind-up, but seriously chaps, credit where it's due -
look how well that "sub-standard stock" have done in shaping Australia
into what it is today. It's a myth too that the only people exported to Oz
were convicts, albiet many of the words assimilated into "Oz English" are
those in common use by the English criminal underworld in Dicken's time.
Hundreds of thousands of Australians are descended from orphans sent
there from Britain right up to the late 1960's. Then of course there
are the "ten pound poms", of the 1950's, not all of whom made a sucess
of it. Lots of others in more recent times who've gone there, liked it,
and stayed.
There's a huge interest in genealogy by Austrians and Brits with ties
there, and lots of websites and help on hand for those wanting to find
out more about their history.
At the "Galleries of Justice" Museum in Nottingham, (the courts from the
1700's to 1900's), there's graffiti scratched on the sandstone cell walls
by those who about to be transported to Oz. Some descendants have made the
journey from down under to see it.
Australia receives a disproportionately large amount of media coverage in
the UK - usually for all the right reasons; not always to do with sport.
The Sunday Times recently stated that Australia's economy is
extraordinary, with average annual growth of 3.3% since 1990, and 2004
forecast looking even better, at 3.8%. Annual growth in productivity
exceeded 2% throughout the 90's, inflation isn't an issue, and employment
is almost full.
Average annual growth 1990's:
Australia 3.30%
US 2.80
N.Z. 2.75
Holland 2.65
Canada 2.60
UK 2.30
EU ave 2.10
Germany 2.00
France 1.70
Japan 1.60
Italy 1.60
The Aussie dollar has appreciated more than 25% against the US dollar
since Jan 2003, (though largely due to the weakness of the US dollar).
Last month Australia signed its biggest ever trade deal to supply China
with liquified natural gas for 25 years. Union problems are now much lower
down the "whinge list" of business leaders. Australia's workforce is more
flexible, cheaper, and even more multi-lingual than the workforces of most
European countries.
William Lewis, Business Editor of The Sunday Times suggests that shake-up
of Australia's competition policy is vital for continued growth. He
describes Australia as "the land of the duopoly" or at best oligopoly.
Supermarkets, consumer goods, you name it - there's a market domination
issue.
The smallness of the domestic market means that foreign companies need a
greater level of assurance bt the Australian Competition Authorities that
they want industry-changing companies such as Wal-Mart to invest there,
even if such competition may hurt national champions.
Lewis goes on to say: "Immigration remains a vital issue for business.
More people are needed, and Australia needs to drop its distinction
between "good" and "bad" immigrants, and to realise that the Bosnian
shoe-shiner and Korean store owner open 24 hours a day, are much more
likely to be wealth creators than professionally qualified middle classes.
A new breed of rags-to-riches tales is what Australia needs now. It has
enough lawyers".
> Cheers "Sire", better trim that waxed grub on your top lip de Warren.
Maybe Andy can't sit still long enough to do it, from laughing at the
corks bobbing about round your hat brim Warren:-)
Australian trivia from today's Hull Daily Mail:
Quote:
Learn to didgeridoo it in style"
"A group has been launched for those wishing to learn how to play the
didgeridoo. The Hull and District Didgeridoo Club has been formed by a
city man, Steve Wright, who's studied the aboriginal instrument for 12
years. Entry is free - all are welcome".
End quote.
(I don't need a didgeridoo - I've learnt how to blow raspberries on my
keyboard, and I've elevated it to an art form. I hold the record for
the biggest, and most spectacularly successful one:-)
Chortled G4EBT, telnet typist, wryly.
73 - David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
Eddystone User Group Member
G-QRP Club Member No: 1339
QTH: Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
david@crofters89.freeserve.co.uk
Message timed: 15:24 on 2003-Nov-28
Message sent using WinPack-Telnet V6.70
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