Comment by mvdtnz
1 month ago
I lived in Australia for five years and this is exactly the reason I left. Everyone is a stickler, NIMBYs own the cities and the police are always out to get you. Australians have an undeserved reputation for being "laid back" but they are absolutely the opposite. Any chance for a new rule or regulation is embraced by the population.
A laidback reputation can be a sign of an entrenched elite with a lot of leisure time.
This is the case in a lot of the US South.
"This is the case in a lot of the US South."
I understand your reasoning re US South but 'laid-back' in the Australian context refers more to a 'laxadaisical' or 'couldn't-care-less' attitude—or that's what it used to mean. Class doesn't much enter the picture. :-(
Every race and class in Australia expresses this attitude equally?
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Funny enough I'm experiencing the opposite: I moved to Western Australia and find the police presence much lighter than Canada or America.
Traffic stops by police are virtually nonexistent because speed cameras already do the work of traffic enforcement for the police. Unlike North America, it is very rare to drive and actually see somebody pulled over by the police.
The cameras are strict through. Demerits double on holidays and no amount of fine payment can get out of a license suspension.