Hello again from Australia! I thought I would blog about the political system in Australia and what is currently happening.
Essentially, Australia is a monarchy with allegiance to the Queen of England, but in reality the Queen does not have any power. Technically, Australia is part of the commonwealth of England, but they were federated in 1901. They use a parliamentary political system that, according to Wikipedia, is a bicameral system (I’m flashing back to my college World Politics course). The Parliament is broken up into the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are 150 members of the House of Representatives that represent the 150 electorates (or seats). The electorates are just like our congressional districts. When you vote, you are only voting for your representative seat. Once the election is complete, the party with the most seats is in control and they name a Prime Minister, although before the election, everyone knows who will be the PM if their party wins. The senate has 76 seats: 12 for each state and 2 for the two territories. These are voted on at state level.
There are three major parties in Australia: Liberal Party (centrist republicans); Labor party (centrist Democrats); and National Party (rural conservative republicans). In general though, the center of Australian politics is a bit to the left of the center of US politics, especially regarding social issues. For example, you would be hard pressed to find any Liberals that would support the type of gun laws we have in the US. The Liberal and Labor party are the two that have a chance to win the majority, but the National party has a coalition with the Liberals so they often vote together. There is also the Green party which is very left of the center especially regarding the environment, but they are too small to come close to a majority, but they do have some representation in the senate. Some other interesting parties that are no longer registered as official: Communist party, Fishing Party, Nuclear Disarmament Party, Four Wheel Drive Party and the Outdoor recreation party.
The Liberal party has been in the majority since 1996 with John Howard as its leader and Prime Minister. There is an election coming up and the latest polls show the Labor Party with a significant lead in the polls 58% to 42%. The Liberals – and John Howard in particular – have lost a lot of popularity with their support of the war in Iraq, lack of action regarding the drought, and moving slowly with countering climate change. If the Labor party wins, Kevin Rudd would become the Prime Minister.
In Australia, everyone has to vote or you face a fine. I have to admit, even though I am disgusted with the voter turnout in the US, I don’t like the idea of compulsory voting. I’ve talked to a lot of people to see if compulsory voting encourages them to learn more about the issues, and it does not appear to. Australians that don’t care about politics tend to just vote the way their parents have always voted. You end up with generations of voters voting with no understanding of who they are voting for or what they stand for. There does not seem to be any “independent” voters in Australia.
I intend to learn much more about the political structure and as I do, I will share with you.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Friday, May 4, 2007
Pictures
I finally figured how to post pictures (and get pictures from my camera to my computer). I'll post more pics in the future.
This is our house. The tree on the left is the tree I was talking about in my first blog. I have found out that it is a Manna Gum.
This is the Manna Gum Tree in our back yard. It is very majestic!
Playing Cricket with Harry and Laura, my niece and nephew in our backyard. Yes, Harry (as any good nephew) is wearing a Red Sox shirt. The cricket set is plastic so it's kind of like wiffle cricket.
This is our house. The tree on the left is the tree I was talking about in my first blog. I have found out that it is a Manna Gum.
This is the Manna Gum Tree in our back yard. It is very majestic!
Playing Cricket with Harry and Laura, my niece and nephew in our backyard. Yes, Harry (as any good nephew) is wearing a Red Sox shirt. The cricket set is plastic so it's kind of like wiffle cricket.Cooling off down under!
My apologies for such a run of blogastination. No excuse
So, things are going well for Amanda and I. I am still looking for work which has been quite frustrating, but after talking with others that have moved here or know others that have moved here from overseas, what I am going through is normal. Things work a little differently here and every week I find out just how different. I realized a few weeks ago that resumes (called CV's here) are very different than the American style resume. In the US, you are meant to keep it to 1 page and 2 if you have to, but no more. Here, a resume is expected to be at least 3 pages and should not go over 6 pages. There is a much larger focus on achievements within each role you have had as opposed to the responsibilities for that role. So, a few weeks ago, I completely redid my resume. It feels way too long, but "when in Rome...". I've also decided to broaden my horizons and not wait for the perfect job. I'll keep you all posted about jobs.
The weather is cooling off here. It has been perfect! The days are low 70's and it gets down to low/mid 50's at night. The rain is picking up, but we have not had any truly soaking periods of rain. It might rain for a few hours at the most, but any rain is good. Apparently, there is a 65% chance of above normal rain this winter. It would take 2-3 years of well above average rain to replenish the water supply in Australia. At this point, the water capacity it 30.2% for Melbourne, but it has plateued with the rain we have had for the last month. When we got here, it was at 36%. When it gets to 29.3%, we go to Phase 4 water restrictions. Looks like we may be able to avert Phase 4.
With autumn upon us, that means its football season. Aussie Rules Football that is. No one actually calls it Aussie Rules Football, just footy. I joined a fantasy footy league and surprisingly, I am ranked 6th out of 16 in our league. Being in a league has helped me to quickly learn the rules and who the major players are. It is a great sport. Essentially, you have 2 teams of 18 that play in a huge oval shaped field. The object is to move the ball to the opponent’s end of the field and quick the ball through the uprights for 6 points. You can move the ball by kicking it to one of your teammates and if it travels at least 15 meters and your teammate catches the ball cleanly, play stops and they get to kick from there (kind of like Ultimate frisbee). You can also run with the ball, but every 20 meters, the ball has to touch the ground. Lastly, you can handball to a teammate. You're not allowed to actually throw the ball, so you have to hit it out of your hand with a closed fist like an underhanded volleyball serve. When the ball hits the ground it is live and any one can get it. If the ball is on the ground covered by a heap of players, the play will stop and the umpire will bounce the ball on the ground and the "ruckmen" from each team jump to try to tap it to one of their teammates. Here is a link with much more info if you are interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aussie_Rules_Football
Footy is a national sport, but is most popular in Melbourne. Originally, it was only played in Melbourne and each major neighborhood had their own team. Today, half of the teams have moved to other cities in Australia. There are still 8 teams in Melbourne, so any given weekend, there are 3-4 games to go to. I haven't gone to a game yet, but next weekend should be my first: Sydney at St. Kilda. Sydney is one of those teams that started in Melbourne (it represented South Melbourne) but has moved once the sport became national. St. Kilda is the suburb (they call the neighborhoods suburbs here) right on the beach. I haven't picked my team yet, but I am taking my time. It is a very important decision and I have friends all pulling me to support there team, but it could take me all season to decide on a team.
Rugby and Cricket are the other popular sports here in Australia. With the exception of Melbourne, Rugby is the most popular sport in Australia. I've watched a couple games on TV and it looks interesting, but I have only figured out the basics. Cricket is popular throughout Australia, but mostly with the older generations. If you don't understand the game (like me) it can be very boring. They are struggling with getting younger people interested in the game and have made some modifications to the game to make it more exciting. In the original style of cricket, a match can last a few days. They introduced “Test Cricket” which only lasts 1 day. People that are into Cricket are very passionate about and have tried to tell me about all of little things happening that makes it interesting. I think it is a lot like baseball. These same people tell me that the few times they have watched baseball they find it boring. Of course, I try to tell them that there is so much going on with every pitch in terms of where the players are positioned, the pitch count etc. I guess it is just how much you know about the sport. Eventually, I want to learn everything I can about Cricket, so I can watch it with the same interest I watch a baseball game.
Oddly enough, because of the internet, I feel closer to what’s going on in US sports than when I was in Maine. I subscribed to MLB TV so I can watch any baseball game I want to and everyday I check the news and of course follow my fantasy baseball team. I can’t believe the Patriots traded for Randy Moss! What is that all about?
All of our stuff finally arrived in Melbourne yesterday, but it still need to go through customs. It’s amazing that going a few months without our “stuff” has made us realize how little we actually need. With that said, it will feel a lot more like home after unloading all of our boxes. I’ll be very happy to get my mountain bike. You can bike year round here and there are so many trails to explore.
That’s it for now and after such a long period without blogging, I hope there is still someone out there reading this. I will try to blog more often!
So, things are going well for Amanda and I. I am still looking for work which has been quite frustrating, but after talking with others that have moved here or know others that have moved here from overseas, what I am going through is normal. Things work a little differently here and every week I find out just how different. I realized a few weeks ago that resumes (called CV's here) are very different than the American style resume. In the US, you are meant to keep it to 1 page and 2 if you have to, but no more. Here, a resume is expected to be at least 3 pages and should not go over 6 pages. There is a much larger focus on achievements within each role you have had as opposed to the responsibilities for that role. So, a few weeks ago, I completely redid my resume. It feels way too long, but "when in Rome...". I've also decided to broaden my horizons and not wait for the perfect job. I'll keep you all posted about jobs.
The weather is cooling off here. It has been perfect! The days are low 70's and it gets down to low/mid 50's at night. The rain is picking up, but we have not had any truly soaking periods of rain. It might rain for a few hours at the most, but any rain is good. Apparently, there is a 65% chance of above normal rain this winter. It would take 2-3 years of well above average rain to replenish the water supply in Australia. At this point, the water capacity it 30.2% for Melbourne, but it has plateued with the rain we have had for the last month. When we got here, it was at 36%. When it gets to 29.3%, we go to Phase 4 water restrictions. Looks like we may be able to avert Phase 4.
With autumn upon us, that means its football season. Aussie Rules Football that is. No one actually calls it Aussie Rules Football, just footy. I joined a fantasy footy league and surprisingly, I am ranked 6th out of 16 in our league. Being in a league has helped me to quickly learn the rules and who the major players are. It is a great sport. Essentially, you have 2 teams of 18 that play in a huge oval shaped field. The object is to move the ball to the opponent’s end of the field and quick the ball through the uprights for 6 points. You can move the ball by kicking it to one of your teammates and if it travels at least 15 meters and your teammate catches the ball cleanly, play stops and they get to kick from there (kind of like Ultimate frisbee). You can also run with the ball, but every 20 meters, the ball has to touch the ground. Lastly, you can handball to a teammate. You're not allowed to actually throw the ball, so you have to hit it out of your hand with a closed fist like an underhanded volleyball serve. When the ball hits the ground it is live and any one can get it. If the ball is on the ground covered by a heap of players, the play will stop and the umpire will bounce the ball on the ground and the "ruckmen" from each team jump to try to tap it to one of their teammates. Here is a link with much more info if you are interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aussie_Rules_Football
Footy is a national sport, but is most popular in Melbourne. Originally, it was only played in Melbourne and each major neighborhood had their own team. Today, half of the teams have moved to other cities in Australia. There are still 8 teams in Melbourne, so any given weekend, there are 3-4 games to go to. I haven't gone to a game yet, but next weekend should be my first: Sydney at St. Kilda. Sydney is one of those teams that started in Melbourne (it represented South Melbourne) but has moved once the sport became national. St. Kilda is the suburb (they call the neighborhoods suburbs here) right on the beach. I haven't picked my team yet, but I am taking my time. It is a very important decision and I have friends all pulling me to support there team, but it could take me all season to decide on a team.
Rugby and Cricket are the other popular sports here in Australia. With the exception of Melbourne, Rugby is the most popular sport in Australia. I've watched a couple games on TV and it looks interesting, but I have only figured out the basics. Cricket is popular throughout Australia, but mostly with the older generations. If you don't understand the game (like me) it can be very boring. They are struggling with getting younger people interested in the game and have made some modifications to the game to make it more exciting. In the original style of cricket, a match can last a few days. They introduced “Test Cricket” which only lasts 1 day. People that are into Cricket are very passionate about and have tried to tell me about all of little things happening that makes it interesting. I think it is a lot like baseball. These same people tell me that the few times they have watched baseball they find it boring. Of course, I try to tell them that there is so much going on with every pitch in terms of where the players are positioned, the pitch count etc. I guess it is just how much you know about the sport. Eventually, I want to learn everything I can about Cricket, so I can watch it with the same interest I watch a baseball game.
Oddly enough, because of the internet, I feel closer to what’s going on in US sports than when I was in Maine. I subscribed to MLB TV so I can watch any baseball game I want to and everyday I check the news and of course follow my fantasy baseball team. I can’t believe the Patriots traded for Randy Moss! What is that all about?
All of our stuff finally arrived in Melbourne yesterday, but it still need to go through customs. It’s amazing that going a few months without our “stuff” has made us realize how little we actually need. With that said, it will feel a lot more like home after unloading all of our boxes. I’ll be very happy to get my mountain bike. You can bike year round here and there are so many trails to explore.
That’s it for now and after such a long period without blogging, I hope there is still someone out there reading this. I will try to blog more often!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)