Photographer : Jonathan Nalder |
What it’s gotPeople do actually live in the country and it’s not because a proper ‘mo-tor veyicule’ hasn’t been invented to haul them into the ‘Big Smoke’. Some of them (gasp!) actually enjoy the country lifestyle.
When you’re out shopping in regional areas, you usually run into at least two or three people you know. You’ll have a conversation about their dog and their hot cousin who’s visiting for a week. There is a strong sense of community and there’s no hurry to get ‘things get done’. The lifestyle is very different, some might even say more relaxed, than the one in the city. Country people do the same things as city people, just in more limited spaces.
Omgwtf?Culture shock is a term used to describe the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, confusion etc.) felt by an individual caused by coming into contact with an entirely different social environment, such as a foreign country (Wikipedia.com).
This might occur when a country person comes to the city and discovers skyscrapers, ads on buses, well… actual buses (there’s a near non-existent public transport system in many regional and rural areas), extended opening hours of shops and pubs, and the fact that anybody dresses, well, however they like.
Culture shock might also happen when a person arrives in a small country town and discovers that there isn’t a club in town, the pub doesn’t open on a Sunday, late night shopping is when a store closes at 8pm and facial piercings just don’t really exist.
Quick FactsIn 1901, 64% of Australians lived in the country.
In 2005, 64% of Australians live in the city.
The new endangered speciesIt’s becoming harder for people living in regional and rural Australian to sustain their lifestyle. Resources and services are being cut or are under-funded and people are finding they have to move to the city in order to gain access to the services they need to exist, like a job or education.
What’s up, peanut?Here's a start...
- Some of the education facilities in rural and regional areas suck. Can anyone say ‘under-funded’? For example, The Age reported in October 2005 that the students and staff at Middle Indigo Primary in Victoria are forced to use a toilet block with no electricity and no locks on the doors. Apparently, there is orange paint on walls signifying asbestos exposure and the boys’ toilets urinal runs straight into soil.
- Longer roads, yet many are still without bitumen or are drastically unsafe. The state of the Pacific Highway provoked a national outcry in 1989, following two bus crashes which claimed a total of 55 lives. And, it still hasn’t been fixed!
- Country people have more accidents involving pineapples than city people. Okay, I lie, I can’t back that up but they do need hospitals, which are closing down at an alarming rate.
- GPs cannot survive! Country doctors are having to move to larger regional areas in order to gain a living.
- We can’t work when there’s a blackout, can we? What about a three-year blackout? No electricity, no income. Right? It works the same with rain: when there’s endless drought, farmers have no income and can’t survive. Who cares about them? Hold on, doesn’t their produce end up in our supermarkets?
- Phone and internet lines outside any densely populated area are pretty dodgy. With the sale of Telstra, there is no guarantee that these services will even exist.
Why is this happening?It's pretty simple—Australian governments aren’t giving enough support to rural and regional services and projects. Extra funding could result in GPs staying in rural areas and improved standards in public schools and hospitals.
How do I know this?Australian Bureau of Statistics,
http://www.abs.gov.au/Bracks Watch,
Victorian school students in stinking third world conditions,
http://brackswatch.blogspot.com/2005_10_01_bracksw... Eastley, T 2005, 'Toll suggested for Pacific Highway upgrade',
AM, 21 March,
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1327826.htmMilburn, C & Green S 2005, 'A state of decay'
The Age, 10 October,
http://www.theage.com.au/news/education-news/a-sta...Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/
