On the topic of all things Australia, our fair nation now has its first woman Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. We also have a woman for Governor-General, and, of course, our ultimate ruler is the Queen. Nice.
And no, there was no election. The Labor party (and don’t ask me why they don’t spell their name ‘Labour’), which is the party in power, simply decided to dump Prime Minister Kevin Rudd from the role – who, I think, seemed like a pretty nice guy. While it’s exciting to have a woman in charge, I don’t think it’s likely to make me vote Labor. Not when they don’t even spell their name in Australian English spelling.
I liked my husband’s (sarcastic) comment that the woman Prime Minister should “be accountable to a man”. As members of an egalitarian church (gender and ethnicity have no bearing on an individual’s God-given capacity for leadership), it seemed a fitting joke, in light of recent resumed arguments (surprisingly, debated by women) that our church is “wrong” to allow women pastoral and teaching roles. All theological nit-picking aside, I personally think it’s great to witness an historical moment for Australian women.
And, as a few people I know have pointed out, it’s about time a “bogan ranga” gets the job as head of our nation.
To translate for my international readers, both bogan and ranga are somewhat derogatory terms. As to how to explain them, umm… let me consult wikipedia…
Ranga – http://blogs.abc.net.au/nsw/2009/07/whats-a-ranga.html?program=702_weekends I have to admit, I don’t make a habit of calling people this term. As the token brunette in a family of red-haired people, it would be ridiculous of me to have a go at people with red hair. I know some red-heads who’ve embraced the term, but others see it as a form of racism. I tend to avoid it out of recognition that those of us with Celtic heritage tend to get harassed a fair bit for our skin and hair colouring. As in, other white people tell me I’m too white. Pffft. Everyone is what they are, there’s nothing innately wrong with one skin tone compared to another.
Bogan – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogan – I don’t know how to explain this one. If you’re Aussie, you just kind of know what it means and you know how to apply the term for offense, endearment, and humour! It’s often associated with mullet hair cuts. I personally think it’s a bit like what you get if Australian culture just stopped somewhere in the 1980s.
More information:
http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/sys_gov.html
Australian Government fact sheet – a simple introduction to the structure of the Australian Government
The Governor-General – http://www.gg.gov.au/governorgeneral/category.php?id=2
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