Ask An Aussie

90s Aussie born and bred ~ Zoo keeper ~ Wildlife rescuer ~ Ask me anything!    

[miss-bubles]

[ask-an-aussie]

[bellybuttonblue2]

[sapient-simian]

Radio Free Europe trying to let people in the United States know how oppressed we truly are.

[blackwoolncrown]

USAmericans living like serfs frfr.

[ask-an-aussie]

in Australia an ambulance can cost a bit if you aren't on a pension or low income health care card or have private medical insurance (which we do ourselves, it's not something that comes with jobs) I have insurance and that covers me for all ambulances, I called one a few years ago and I only live 15 minutes max from the hospital but the fee was over $500

[lesbiansandgayssupporttheminers]

[lesbiansandgayssupporttheminers]

Trying to keep these tags anon because part of me is very much “what rock have you been living under” BUT

the NHS is already being sold off piecemeal to private firms- one firm does this, one firm does that, a lot of services are being taken away from the public sector.

Secondly, waiting lists are so long for so called “elective” procedures (like hip replacements for people in so much pain they can’t walk) that people who can afford to do so, are increasingly going private to “jump the queue”- in many cases these people are selling homes or assets to pay.

No politician, even Johnson, will stand up and say “today we abolish the NHS”, it is a slow creep, they are not just talking of it, they are doing it, and one day we will wake up and there will be nothing left, if things continue as they are. And by then, it will be too late.

[smooth-goat]

[ID: graffiti that says, "If you're a Middle-Class homeowner thinking it's not a big deal the Tories are privitising the NHS, talk with Americans who were once Middle-Class but had to sell everything including their homes to pay for medical bills"

Image two: Tumblr tags reading, "#i'm sorry what the fuck #they're talking of privatising the NHS?????? #fucking hell" \end ID]

[uncommon-etc]

Current NHS wait-times if you need access to specialist services (in the experience of someone living in an area of England with good regional funding but high population density)

Autism screenings and other assessments for neurodivergent people: 3 years

Allergy services including immunotherapy: 2.5 years (I’ve just been given my first appointment)

OT: 1 year

Physio: 12-16 weeks (for serious injuries, if it isn’t so bad you can’t work it’ll almost definitely be longer)

Rhinoplasty: 1.5 years (a guy I know broke his nose nearly two years ago and is still waiting)

CAMHS: 6-12 months for referrals, even longer for treatment (some of the kids I work with literally become adults and are no longer eligible in the time it takes for them to be assessed) 

Dental: Don’t even bother, I’ve phoned round every dentist in my county trying to register various LACs and none of them are taking NHS patients because their waiting lists are just too long.

Even going to A + E or urgent treatment with a serious injury will see you waiting 3-4 hours on a busy day. I had to take one of the young people I look after a few weeks ago, and there was a little kid who’d sprained and possibly broken her wrist crying in reception, because she’d been there two hours and hadn’t been offered any pain relief.

And my experiences of the NHS are those of a middle-class person with good literary and communication skills, if I can write a strongly worded letter or apply a bit of extra pressure over the phone I will, so I can’t even imagine how it is if you’re bad at filling out forms, or you can remember large chunks of information about your own medical history, or English isn’t your first language.

The NHS is being deliberately dismantled to make way for a US-style health insurance system, and though it constantly ranks highest on a list of things British people value above all else, no one seems to be worried.  

[arctic-hands]

Hey if you need an example of a formerly middle class American whose family was thrust into poverty because of their health issues starting at the age of 8, ask me anything

[coffeebooksandmedicine]

I feel I should add as someone who is in A&E that the wait is no longer that short unless you’re urgent. And by urgent I mean actively dying. I’ve gone round talking to patients who have been in an observation chair for days waiting for a bed in our emergency department which now includes other waiting rooms converted into makeshift wards and corridors full of beds. I met a man who had been waiting in A&E after triage for 11 hours and his isn’t a rare story.

Of course our nurses are striking, they’re covering an average of 6-8 beds when they should be covering at most 2-4. And it gets worse when a patient needs 1-to-1. Patients don’t get fed or changed for hours because they can live without it but they can’t live without their medications. Priorities had to shift from patient care to just keeping them alive and if that doesn’t scare you I don’t know what to say.

GPS don’t have the funding and coverage they need either so if anything complex comes in they just refer to the emergency department. We see more and more GP referrals when they should be receiving care in the community as they would have before.

Ambulance staff turn up and they’re left waiting in the lobby bay for hours, unable to go out on other calls because we can’t admit their patients unless they are actively dying. We don’t have the staff, the coverage, the funds, the beds. All of that costs money and that is how the government is slowly starving our NHS. They don’t care that patients will die to do it. For them it’s all about money.

[lesbiansandgayssupporttheminers]

Honestly, everything about the state of the NHS right now sounds terrifying.

I don’t understand why, 2 years ago, we had lockdowns to prevent this from happening, and the army were drafted in to help, and now it’s like “shrug our shoulders, oh well”.

(Well I do, it’s because Sunak is ideologically against lockdowns and the NHS). 

The Tories literally do not care if people die- including, presumably, the very rich, as there’s no private alternative to A and E in England. And I actually can’t work out what their end game, if any, is here....

But as long as we “stop small boats”, right?

[ask-an-aussie]

Similar thing happening in Australia with some pollies trying to slowly get rid of medicare. Like they haven't upped the payment they give drs for bulk billing so most doctors can't afford to just bulk bill anymore so it costs people more money to see a GP and those that need to see GPs tend to need to see them often due to chronic issues.

[ask-an-aussie]

For those who didn't know, Archie Roach died this year. I haven't been on this blog much, and I apologise - I burnt myself out this year and am finally starting to recover.

But first I have to post about Archie Roach. I'm not big into music or anything but this guy was, and still is, a big deal.

If you know any of his songs it will be that one.

Archibalie was an Australian singer, songwriter and Aboriginal activist. Also known as "Uncle Archie", Roach was a Gunditjmara and Bundjalung elder who campaigned for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The song "took the children away" is about the stolen generation- when white people decided it would be best if aboriginal children where taken from their families to be raised the white way.

His songs are amazing and always give me goosebumps. All Aussies should know of him, and at least this one song of his, if not others. Archie himself was a stolen child and you can hear his real life experience in the song.

Paul Kelly, musician: "I first heard about Archie through my guitar player, Steve Connolly, who’d seen him on a TV show called Blackout and said, “You gotta hear this guy.” We wanted to do something special for our Hamer Hall show in 1990 so we tracked down Archie [to support]. He finished [his set] with Took the Children Away. There was this stunned silence; he thought he’d bombed. Then this wave of applause grew and grew; I’d never heard anything like it."

Adam Briggs, musician: "It wasn’t until I was older that I grasped the importance and weight of his songs. Took the Children Away is a pivotal song for Australia. That line – “This story’s right, this story’s true, I would not tell lies to you” – sums up his whole career and why he resonates with everybody. I reckon if you don’t like Archie Roach, there’s something wrong with you."

[ask-an-aussie]

[ask-an-aussie]

The kinds of things I do in my free time (I'm a wildlife rescuer and carer)

We've had hectic rain here and all sorts of interesting rescues because of it (wildlife are taking shelter around people as everywhere else is flooded)

This Swamp Wallaby got stuck in a swimming pool that hasn't fully been built yet.

Rescues have to adapt to the situation, we did have a plan with both nets but when we realised how deep the water was and that he was so exhausted his head kept dipping under the water we just went for it.

[ask-an-aussie]

You know you're Australian when a spider casually runns across your windscreen while you are driving and you're like "awww it's a baby huntsman!"

***not really a baby but they are usually much larger so yeau

[ask-an-aussie]

Kookaburra sits on the old street light

Jesus Christ why is it so bright

Laugh kookaburra

Laugh kookaburra

Climate change is here

[ask-an-aussie]

It's fall in America and people posting videos on tiktok and insta - with either them or their dogs jumping into piles of leaves.

JEALOUS

In Australia we don't really have deciduous trees, tress that just dump their leaves in one go.

Also, an Aussie sees a pile of leaves and thinks, there gonna be lots of creepy crawlies in there - venomous ants, various spiders, possibly a snake, could even be a bandicoot or a brush turkey in that pile. That pile is a no-go

[ask-an-aussie]

[ask-an-aussie]

Just found out only Australians do the nut bush dance?!

The rest of the world doesn't? What do you learn in school? What do you do at parties?

Like anywhere in Australia you start playing the nut bush and people will start dancing. It's popular AF and so much fun!

Most recently I did it at a staff members farewell party.

Aussie followers feel free to share your nutbush experiences

[ask-an-aussie]

Bunnings had to up the price of their sausage sizzle and it made all the news!

*** I'm not late to the party, just forgot to post it on the day as I was busy***

So Bunnings is a major hardware store - you can find all your DIY needs, gardening, kitchen, plumbing, lighting, pet stuff - like everything. But also on weekends you can buy a sausage sizzle and each day it will be run by a different community group to help them raise funds - can be a sporting group, an animal rescue group, a girl guides, any charity.

So it's a real aussie thing to go to Bunnings on a saturday or sunday to get your sausage sizzle (as well as whatever you need at bunnings, or even stuff you didn't need but you went for the snag and then found a bargain)

Most Aussies are pretty chill over the price increase as most other places sausage sizzles haven't been $2.50 for at least 7 years (some places now it's $4+) And we realise that these community groups are doing it to raise funds not (just) feed us

Side note - if you ever need to trap an Aussie we do find it hard to walk past a sausage sizzle, if we can smell one we will find it

TL:DR: Sausage sizzle price is up at Bunnings to help community groups raise much needed $$$ and people aren't as outraged about it as all the news places make it seem

[ithelpstodream]

[jonpertwee]

I feel like this would be a slippery slope towards making it illegal for people to choose to not vote.

[hamfistedbunvendor]

that’s already how it is in australia

[jonpertwee]

That’s just so fucked up. :( Do certain medical conditions exempt you?

[sapphicdalliances]

?????? why is it be fucked up to have compulsory voting? that’s the way it is in most democratic countries? it’s a part of being a citizen, like paying taxes and obeying speed limits? the fine for not voting is only like $50 and because of the compulsory voting law, our country bends over backwards to make it accessible: it’s always on a weekend, lasts most of the day, and is set up at schools and community centers so there’s one within easy reach of almost everybody. you can also mail your ballot or vote early if you’ll be out of the country on the day. like, IT’S EASY TO VOTE, and the penalty isn’t even that ridiculous. i don’t understand why the usa doesn’t have this, except obviously it would make it harder to literally stop minorities from voting.

[salparadisewasright-deactivated]

I think we Americans tend to forget that a lot of other countries don’t actively work to make it harder to vote.

[thisdiscontentedwinter]

Adding to this here, in Australia you don’t have to vote. Or, more precisely, there’s no way they can tell if you ruined your ballot. You have to turn up, get your name marked off, but you can put a line through the ballot if you don’t think any of the candidates are worth voting for. Or do this: 

Or this: 

Or this: 

You have get your name crossed off (if you don’t want to wear the fine), but you don’t have to make your vote counted if you’re opposed to it. 

And it is so, so easy to vote. Stuck at work or on holidays? That’s fine. Do a postal vote.  Stuck in hospital? That’s fine. They’ll go to you. Stuck in an old people’s home and can’t get around? Again, they’ll go to you. It’s amazing to me that it’s so hard for so many Americans to actually vote. If you make it compulsory, than at least the government is obligated to provide you with the means to vote. 

And look, I get it. Sometimes I don’t want to vote either. But I suck it up, I walk three minutes down the street, and I hope that this year they’re selling lamingtons again. Oh, and I buy a democracy sausage, which, even if all the candidates suck, makes the effort of turning up pretty worthwhile. 

[julad]

ALSO, you can see even on the fucked up ballots that you NUMBER CANDIDATES IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE. There’s no need to calculate whether I would be throwing away my vote on the candidate that I most agree with if they’re not from a major party. I can say, I want that independent person to get in, but if not them, give me Big Party A, and if not them, that minor party person is still better that Big Party B, and I’m not giving any preference to the Lunatic Fringe Party.

Our system certainly has some issues still, but I can show up to somewhere nearby, line up for a few minutes (if at all), vote exactly in line with my values (on paper, leaving a paper trail that can be recounted), and then buy a sausage and some home made cupcakes on my way out.

A country’s voting system matters a hell of a lot and every citizen deserves one that makes it easy to vote and results in a government that is representational and accountable.

And by the way, one time I had a bad asthma flare-up on Election Day and didn’t make it to my polling station. I got my fine in the mail, I filled out the form explaining why I couldn’t vote, no more fine. I would rather have, you know, expressed my preference for who should run my country, but they were cool with the fact that I couldn’t do it that day.

[batmanisagatewaydrug-deactivate]

“oh no, what if people actually have to participate in picking the government officials who will impact their lives” jesus christ

[christophoronomicon]

For the last time, for everyone who still doesn’t understand: not voting is not a tool of resistance, it’s a tool of surrender.

[mortimermcmirestinks]

not voting is not a tool of resistance, it’s a tool of surrender.

[ask-an-aussie]

Also, putting this out there for my fellow aussies, the more people you number the more your vote counts. Different voting slips have different rules but usually there is a choice in how many you can number - for example on one slip you can put in number order the groups above the line or put in numbers for EVERYONE below the line. The more you put in your preferences the more your vote will count. For example:

If you only put 1 vote down for 1 person out of 6, then everyone is equal second. If you number all 6 in your preference order then your vote will count the most.

Sometimes I don't even know who I really like the most, but I definitely know who I want in power the least so I start from there and count backwards. (it's not always about who you want in power, it's about who you don't want!)

[ask-an-aussie]

A 15min talk about Flyign Foxes aka Fruit Bats.

Short, sharp, informative and actually very funny too!

[cundtcake]

kookaburra refusing to budge

[splend-42]

Kookaburra sits IN THE GODDAMN WAY

[ruffboi-mags]

on the moving window he will play

[randomslasher]

Leave, Kookaburra leave, Kookaburra causing a delay

[ask-an-aussie]

The flooding in Australia right now