Today is 14 January. It is exactly 22 years to the day that I returned from Australia. I spent a year at Boonah State High School in south east Queensland, and I loved it. The subsequent quarter century has left me with a love-hate relationship with Australia though. Aussies, let me tell you why:
- You have the worst sports commentators in the world. They are way more professional than the South African ones, but are more cycloptic & biased than even the Poms. Unashamed self-promotion at the expense of fairness.
- You invented psychological warfare in sports. Any touring sportsman will tell you Aus is one of the hardest places in the world to tour because of all the subtle little bits of opposition hitting you constantly.
- You have too much social control. Your laws aimed at protecting people from themselves make even England look like the unregulated wild west. You need to be careful not to block the natural process of Darwinian evolution, or you will dilute the gene pool.
- Your new PM is not to be trusted. There’s something in those eyes that’s not right.
- You don’t know when to lose. You have a tiny base of rugby union players compared to all the major teams, and yet you’ve won two world cups. And your (until recently) cricket prowess is legendary. You don’t deserve to be as good as you are on the sports field, and that pisses me off when I’m on the receiving end.
The floods in Queensland this week gave me cause to check on my mates there, both school mates and others. I have followed the whole disaster intimately, watching via the web & Facebook, subscribing to Twitter feeds from the QLD police, the Courier Mail, Brisbane City Council, ABC News, 612Brisbane and others. And I have listened to the personal stories from mates.
Queensland, I need to tell you this: I stand in awe. Your reaction to these floods has been magnificent. I’ve watched every little thing done to help, from mates volunteering at refugee centres to people making all sorts of things available for free, including personal transport, public transport, food, gumboots, stables, storage, and even good old fashioned sweat. I’ve seen friends opening their homes to strangers. I’ve seen the volunteer centres inundated with offers, to the extent of having to turn some away. I’ve seen a mask and snorkel on a statue of Wally Lewis. And I’ve seen the report of stranger randomly dishing out beers to volunteers helping with the cleanup of the CBD.
Adversity doesn’t create character, it reveals it. And you, Australia, have revealed something exceptional.
Good on ya.
