After more than a century of independence, we still have to put up with being stigmatized by the English as filthy colonials. This dates back to the time when England faced its first loss in the game of cricket to the ex-convict upstarts. An obviously "honorable" English woman actually burned the bails from the stumps in heartbreak at the humiliation.
Aussies can always put on a posh accent at a barbecue for a laugh at the poms. You see, an Aussie who adopts this accent, and some do particularly on the ABC, loses a few mates and wonders why. As Ian Chappell the famous Aussie cricketer said to many English opposition players, "Have you had your monthly bath yet?" Though we sweat a lot because of the hot climate Australians do not smell. A shower every morning is part of the culture.
The highfalutin Royal Geographical Society is treating Australians like dirt because a deal they had went bad. It holds a set of paintings by Thomas Baines done on his visit to Australia in 1855-57. There are 21 watercolor paintings in all, plus drawings.
Kerry Stokes of Western Australia haggled over the asking price; then the Royal Geographical Society accepted the offer. With the export licence approved the Society has reneged on the deal. It has now decided to sell the collection to any British buyer at a price 35 per cent lower.
To say the price reduction is due to currency fluctuation is a "cop out". The institution is clearly miffed at losing the collection to the land under whose name shall not be spoken. The English clearly still have a superiority complex today. Obviously, modernity has not enlightened them.
✴ Culture by Ty Buchanan ✴
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