Backbencher

Lecture 6 was an overview of comparisions once more, on the societies and myhths of Australia and New Zealand, with an emphasis on the sports influence. Once again, we are reminded about the backgrounds of OZ and NZ, as OZ being the previous penal colony and NZ being the created perfect colony for an ideal society. As the USA and Canada have varying views on their beliefs of liberty and revolution, so has these two countries. as Louis Hartz proclaimed,"cultures are set early inlife"! The athletics are quite a competition for both of these countries, with the teams All-Blacks for NZ and the Wallabies for OZ. Each of these teams represent the ideal male, in a male-dominant society. We learned that NZ is only a varient of British culture and is constantly striving for that better ideal, as they have demonstrated with their government and their welfare state. We know that Australia has the rugged bushman image, the home on the range and the legends that accompany that lifestyle. This frontier is ever-evolving for the OZ people, as it once was working class society, absent of a wealthy/leisure class. The people are satisfied with remaining a capitalist economic state and to exist as "regular" folk". After WWII, the wave of European immigrants changed that diversity and these new cultures are trying to find their place in a land once only concerned with their native peoples, the Aborigines. In the 1980's, there were more waves of imigrants from the eastern European countries and this effect of another set of people/foreigners has changed the overall look of the land. New Zealand has maintained a persistent and rural ideal, as the number of farms increased into the 1970's and farms were consolidated with the reforms of the 1980's and the establishmentof the free market. Many cities experienced a boom of growth and a new awareness of keeping the country clean and green was revived. There are many popular sports played in OZ and NZ: field hockey, rugby, footie, cricket and netball. The intense fever of these as a participating and a spectator sport is apparant in the competitions played and viewed world wide! It is a major event not to be missed or diminished, as rigby rules the day! I have always thought that many international sports events/competitions were great entertainment and important for world understanding and bridging the gap for the newxt generation, as sports seem to be a common thread to weave this world togther, as the earth shrinks daily with the advancing technologies and communications!

Suzanne Ready