Backbencher

Lecture 6 dealt with Australian and New Zealand societies how they came to be and why they are the way they are.
Australian society was founded by convict colonies they wanted to overthrow the reign of the bourgeoisie and keep themselves as different from England as possible. Children were to be respectful in class but if they misbehaved they were chastised but admired secretly, which goes back to rebelling against England. They had classes in their society and are aware of it even today, like when Professor Isern talked about the married couple on the sheep station, and the woman left the kneeling cushion for the boss's wife to put the picture on it, even though she also wanted to do the same picture.
New Zealand society was founded by a planned settlement and they wanted to retain ties to the British Empire and order, but that didn't mean they wanted to be exactly like their British counterparts. An example of this is that their society is classless; everyone was made to feel equal part in the society as a whole. They wanted to be as different from Australia as possible.
We also learned that Australia became more modern ahead of New Zealand where as New Zealand clung on to its pastoral past, and even though Australia became more urban they persisted in bush ideals.
We learned about sports in New Zealand and Australia, rugby, cricket, netball and field hockey. We followed the progression of rugby from union to league and then to Australian rules, all of it was very interesting especially that New Zealand has been one of the world's best teams for a long time.
I really liked learning about the culture of both countries, and how they came to be the way they are today.