The Forum Site - Join the conversation
Forums: Local:
Australia

The Little Aussie Soapbox

Reply to Topic
AuthorMessage
Pages: << · 1 2 3 ...31 32 33 34 35 ...40 41 42 · >>
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#481New Post! Feb 04, 2019 @ 08:12:46
My Country

The love of field and coppice
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies
I know, but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!

The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze ...

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand
though Earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

- Dorothea Mackeller
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#482New Post! Feb 04, 2019 @ 08:15:35
Andy's Gone With Cattle

Our Andy's gone to battle now
'Gainst Drought, the red marauder;
Our Andy's gone with cattle now
Across the Queensland border.

He's left us in dejection now;
Our hearts with him are roving.
It's dull on this selection now,
Since Andy went a-droving.

Who now shall wear the cheerful face
In times when things are slackest?
And who shall whistle round the place
When Fortune frowns her blackest?

Oh, who shall cheek the squatter now
When he comes round us snarling?
His tongue is growing hotter now
Since Andy cross'd the Darling.

The gates are out of order now,
In storms the `riders' rattle;
For far across the border now
Our Andy's gone with cattle.

Poor Aunty's looking thin and white;
And Uncle's cross with worry;
And poor old Blucher howls all night
Since Andy left Macquarie.

Oh, may the showers in torrents fall,
And all the tanks run over;
And may the grass grow green and tall
In pathways of the drover;

And may good angels send the rain
On desert stretches sandy;
And when the summer comes again
God grant 'twill bring us Andy.

- Henry Lawson
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#483New Post! Feb 04, 2019 @ 08:19:26
Clancy Of The Overflow

I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better
Knowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,
He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,
Just 'on spec', addressed as follows, 'Clancy, of The Overflow'.
And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected,
(And I think the same was written with a thumb-nail dipped in tar)
Twas his shearing mate who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it:
'Clancy's gone to Queensland droving, and we don't know where he are.'

In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy
Gone a-droving 'down the Cooper' where the Western drovers go;
As the stock are slowly stringing, Clancy rides behind them singing,
For the drover's life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.

And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him
In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended,
And at night the wond'rous glory of the everlasting stars.

I am sitting in my dingy little office, where a stingy
Ray of sunlight struggles feebly down between the houses tall,
And the foetid air and gritty of the dusty, dirty city
Through the open window floating, spreads its foulness over all

And in place of lowing cattle, I can hear the fiendish rattle
Of the tramways and the buses making hurry down the street,
And the language uninviting of the gutter children fighting,
Comes fitfully and faintly through the ceaseless tramp of feet.

And the hurrying people daunt me, and their pallid faces haunt me
As they shoulder one another in their rush and nervous haste,
With their eager eyes and greedy, and their stunted forms and weedy,
For townsfolk have no time to grow, they have no time to waste.

And I somehow rather fancy that I'd like to change with Clancy,
Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go,
While he faced the round eternal of the cash-book and the journal -
But I doubt he'd suit the office, Clancy, of 'The Overflow'.

- Banjo Paterson
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#484New Post! Feb 05, 2019 @ 14:40:48
Random thought...

I would like to see elections held once every four years. They would always be held on the first Saturday of March (or on another specified day that couldn't be subject to change). This would allow pollies to better plan policy and to be held more accountable to the public. In such an environment the government for example wouldn't be able to call an early election to take advantage of temporary circumstances etc. It would also give voters more certainty and have the by product of saving money over time. I would also make sure that any election campaigns were limited to 4 weeks with a cap on what any party could spend on political advertising.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#485New Post! Mar 02, 2019 @ 15:30:45
Quite staggering how the ARL can in effect ban a player who has been charged with sexual assault until all court proceedings have been concluded even though the player has pleaded not guily and hasn't even been to court. The court process itself could easily take 18 months. So this player is being banned for possibly two seasons simply because a woman claims he sexually assaulted her. Of course the ARL stated he will be banned/suspended without the presumption of guilt. WTF. The presumption of innocence means he should be treated as if he had not committed a crime until such time as it is proved beyond reasonable doubt (in a court of law) that he has. How can you keep a straight face whilst you ban a player simply because he has been charged with a crime whilst stating that in banning him you are still presuming he is innocent? This to me seems to be the result of the #metoo movement where the burden on proof has effectively switched from those making the allegations to the accused.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#486New Post! Mar 02, 2019 @ 15:33:43
Really sad to see how tough farmers are doing it in Oz at the moment. Dairy farms in particular are going to the wall at an alarming rate due to the ongoing drought, appalling gate price and even worse water management by government bodies. Many farmers are having to truck in water and hay with suppliers taking advantage of their plight through price gouging. As always nothing will be done until it's too late.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#487New Post! Mar 07, 2019 @ 13:42:22
Absolutely disgraceful decision by the Federal Government to ban Milo Yiannopoulos from coming to Australia. So much for free speech (though in truth free speech in Australia died decades ago). This is unfortunately where we are at as a country. Even so called conservative governments pander to the left who seek to silence anyone who doesnt enthusiastically agree with them. The failure to pay an outrageous bill sent to him by the left wing Andrew's Government is being used as one of the pathetic excuses for the Government ban. Keep in mind that the bill was for the deployment of police to try and maintain order as the left protesters attempted to stop people from hearing him speak. The FG also stated that they have a responsibility to ban anyone who might 'incite discord in the Australian community or in a segment of that community'. So in other words, if a group of left wing merchant bankers violently protest against someone who has the audacity to publicly air views that they don't agree with the FG will reward their illegal behaviour by banning the person they were illegally trying to silence in the first place. Seriously, WTF.
bob_the_fisherman On January 30, 2023
Anatidaephobic





, Angola
#488New Post! Mar 08, 2019 @ 08:39:55
@shadowen Said

Absolutely disgraceful decision by the Federal Government to ban Milo Yiannopoulos from coming to Australia. So much for free speech (though in truth free speech in Australia died decades ago). This is unfortunately where we are at as a country. Even so called conservative governments pander to the left who seek to silence anyone who doesnt enthusiastically agree with them. The failure to pay an outrageous bill sent to him by the left wing Andrew's Government is being used as one of the pathetic excuses for the Government ban. Keep in mind that the bill was for the deployment of police to try and maintain order as the left protesters attempted to stop people from hearing him speak. The FG also stated that they have a responsibility to ban anyone who might 'incite discord in the Australian community or in a segment of that community'. So in other words, if a group of left wing merchant bankers violently protest against someone who has the audacity to publicly air views that they don't agree with the FG will reward their illegal behaviour by banning the person they were illegally trying to silence in the first place. Seriously, WTF.


damn... I hadn't heard. This is absolute BS - and from the so called "right" too. We are heading for seriously dark times. I'm not sure if you know of Tommy Robinson (although I assume you do). That is a taste of our future. If you speak outside of the lines you will be silenced by the state.

An Iron Curtain is descending over the west.
bob_the_fisherman On January 30, 2023
Anatidaephobic





, Angola
#489New Post! Mar 08, 2019 @ 08:43:54
@shadowen Said

Random thought...

I would like to see elections held once every four years. They would always be held on the first Saturday of March (or on another specified day that couldn't be subject to change). This would allow pollies to better plan policy and to be held more accountable to the public. In such an environment the government for example wouldn't be able to call an early election to take advantage of temporary circumstances etc. It would also give voters more certainty and have the by product of saving money over time. I would also make sure that any election campaigns were limited to 4 weeks with a cap on what any party could spend on political advertising.


I'd be happy with that. Although I'd also like a ban on corporate donations to politicians and political parties, and a ban on any member of government working in a field related to their port folio for a period of not less than ten years, and a ban on them acting as lobbyists for a period of not less than 15 years, and a complete ban on them taking a pension while working for the government like that POS, Joe "No double dipping" Hockey.
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#490New Post! Mar 10, 2019 @ 14:24:47
@bob_the_fisherman Said

I'd also like a ban on corporate donations to politicians and political parties

Yes

@bob_the_fisherman Said

a ban on any member of government working in a field related to their port folio for a period of not less than ten years

Yes

@bob_the_fisherman Said

a ban on them acting as lobbyists for a period of not less than 15 years, and a complete ban on them taking a pension while working for the government

and yes
bob_the_fisherman On January 30, 2023
Anatidaephobic





, Angola
#491New Post! Mar 11, 2019 @ 01:52:26
@shadowen Said

Yes


Yes


and yes



Well... you're no fun to argue with



Are we great minds or something else?
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#492New Post! Mar 11, 2019 @ 14:42:55
@bob_the_fisherman Said

Well... you're no fun to argue with


I disagree!!!
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#493New Post! Mar 15, 2019 @ 13:56:51
Simply shocking what has happened across the ditch...
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#494New Post! Mar 15, 2019 @ 14:26:45
49 lives lost
shadowen On March 22, 2024




Bunyip Bend, Australia
#495New Post! Mar 15, 2019 @ 14:41:11
The demolition of the SFS right before an election is not really ideal imo.
Reply to Topic<< Previous Topic | Next Topic >>
Pages: << · 1 2 3 ...31 32 33 34 35 ...40 41 42 · >>

1 browsing (0 members - 1 guest)

Quick Reply
Be Respectful of Others

      
Subscribe to topic prefs

Similar Topics
    Forum Topic Last Post Replies Views
New posts   News & Current Events
Wed Dec 18, 2013 @ 02:58
13 1134
New posts   United Kingdom
Wed Nov 15, 2006 @ 13:29
140 5423
New posts   Jokes & Humor
Thu Jun 25, 2015 @ 20:34
1 334
New posts   Random
Tue Oct 23, 2007 @ 17:01
16 856
New posts   Pics & Videos
Tue Dec 23, 2008 @ 23:04
4 805