Aussie values are crikey clear

WATCHING through teary eyes the extraordinary tribute to Steve Irwin was one of those rare occasions, like the opening and closing ceremonies of the Sydney Olympics, when what it is that makes Australians unique becomes so clear. By now the knockers, the whingers, the Lefties and the chardonnay socialists, with intellectual tickets on themselves, will have sneered and derided the event and the man.

Leaving aside attempts by the politically correct and minority groups to hijack and mould Australian values to their causes, what do Australians themselves believe in?

According to AustraliaSCAN, which monitors cultural change, the values that more than 80 per cent of us support are clear. They may, or may not be unique to Australia, but the way we express them is uniquely Australian.

Decency: the belief that respect and politeness towards other people is essential to making our society.

This is not the prissy British "tea and doilies" politeness. Nor is it the contrived "have a nice day" American one. It is our own "fair go", "good onya mate", "we've all got to rub along together" kind of decency.

These words actually mean something. They mean helping out when it's needed. Think of the CFA and the SES.

It's looking out for those "in strife". That's one part of what we call "mateship". The highest praise we can give anyone is that they're "a good bloke" or even "a great sheila". We don't need to cringe from these words.

"Fair go"& "Good onya"

If my Aussie friends don't mind.. I'm going to start using those 2 in the states.. they have a certain way about them.. making it feel more warm as a gesture.

"Have a nice day" is like. "hey, how are you?.." as you walk past them not caring about a reply.. non sincere feeling.

any objections?

Wonderful! It says many of the things it took FReepers 88 threads (and counting) to say: that Steve Irwin was a good man.

I'll put up an FR Links Roundup thread a little later today, when more are browsing.

It seems a lot of FReepers hadn't really followed the whole story, judging by some of the responses and questions posted on the Memorial live thread, so I hope more can cruise the links to our many threads about Steve Irwin to get a better handle on how much he was loved the world over.

Most of you know that there will be a TV special in the U.S. on Wednesday night featuring Terri & Bindi Irwin and John Stainton in interviews with Barbara Walters.

While the promos have been all over ABC-TV, I can't find anything definitive online to tell us the exact program times in all our time zones, other than Central and Eastern. I don't know Mountain and Pacific.

Special Edition of 20/20 With Barbara Walters
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
9:00 PM, Central
10:00 PM, Eastern
Check local listings for Mtn,Pac times

1 hour
Barbara Walters interviews Terri Irwin, widow of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, at her home in Brisbane, Australia. Also interviewed: John Stainton, Irwin's business partner, who was with Irwin when he died, Sept. 4, 2006.

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