And you're not very bright, are you? Do you know  how many Toyotas and
Hondas are built in Britain? Do you know that Ford's Harewood plant is
its most efficient in the world? Have you any idea how large a net
exporter of cars the UK is still?

Like most petty-minded nationalists, you seem to be focussing on
ownership, which of course is an irrelevance in an international
market. We can all buy shares in these companies so their ownership is
international. What matters is where the investment goes and where the
wealth is generated.

And of course companies are trying to generate a profit. The
shareholders (ie us) need a return on their investment or they will
take it elsewhere. Not to mention the money which is needed for
reinvestment in the company, which is where most of the profit goes.
In fact, it is the cost of investment in new models which has driven
the restructuring of the industry.

You appear to have some sort of inferiority complex over not being
British. Get over it. (Still, at least you've stopped cross-posting.)

David Betts (davidb@motorsport.org.uk)
The Classic Car Gallery: http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=17830847103&n=398038677

Did not notice the cross post, you can thank Adrian
<toomany2cvs@gmail.com>
for that.

Sorry if I upset your colour, I know there are a lot of
Indian/Paki/negros over there..

G'Day Everybody

Good on yer Dave,  you stick to your guns if you believe it.  Mr rmcgripe
certainly seems to have formed some vitriolic views of the UK.  Mcgripe has
been in Oz for 35 years, was this on a ten pound immigration ticket?

I spent 2 1/2 years living and working in Ausie and I have to say that given
a chance I would indeed swap the UK for Aus as a place to live, the people
were great, politics on a par to the UK (who trusts a poli anyway?) and the
weather is really rather pleasant.

Also have to say that I did not come across many whinging Poms as the  Brits
I met actually want to be there.  The old expression of whinging poms seems
to hark back to the days of the 10 pound immi ticket from the 60's and 70's
when I can immagine things were very different to the way they are now.

Sometimes one has preconcieved immages of what to expect onother country to
be like, some formed through what you read and see (TV) and also from
talking to people (Aussies) before you leave.  You also learn much more once
you actually get there and see things first hand.

Certain things really stick out some good, some not so good.

Bondi beach I have always believed to be some magnificent 'inner city' beach
close to the centre of Sydney itself.  Actually it is a fair hike out of
town and at first sight looks in desperate need of regeneration.

The Syd Harbour Bridge is impressive particularly in respect of its location
to the CBD (Central Business District). Actually designed by a Brit and
steel shipped from the UK  am told.   The Opera House however disappoints,
cute architecture for sure but nowhere near as big as the impressions given
by commercial photos.

Flinders Street Station in Melbourne should actually have been in India.
The story goes that once upon a time there were two stations being
despatched from the UK in 'kit' form, one bound for India and one for
Melbourne.  The one bound for Melb was a pretty ordinary economy class state
of affairs.  The Indian bound station was a 1st class bollocks of the dog by
any standards.  Well somehow there was a mixup and the Rajh on the
sub-continent must have been a bit pissed off when he realised that he had
been delivered the Aussies pride and Joy whilst Melb got the full Monty.
Posession being 9/10 of the law and true to heritage the rest is history.

Public transport in Sydney, Bris, Perth and Melb is very good and
substantially subsidised.  For example, a weeks ticket from say Gosford, a
suberb of Sydney some 90 km (55 miles) north of Sydney, to the CBD is just
under AU$50 (about 21 squids) for a whole week including FREE carparkiing.
The trains are on a parr with our rolling stock - average to crap.   Compare
that to a daily grind in the UK - it costs me DAILY 9 quid return (about AU$
23)  to go from Crystal Palace to London Bridge (15 minutes) PLUS parking
PLUS a tube fare within the city and the Aussies whinge about how hard done
to they are.  The busses are also good, especially in Perth, and even
cheaper & quicker than by car for shorter journies.

The UK does however have just about the best underground system in the world
if you consider that EACH DAY it transports nearly double the whole
population of Sydney and its suburbs (or put another way more than double
the entire population od Western Australia) and despite its antiquity only
rarely breaks down.

Ah yes, the supermarkets lag well behind the likes of Sainsburys, Tesco and
M&S and I would comment that ASDA and Quicksave are, in general terms, as
good as Aussies best.  The concept of stock control it seems has not yet
reached Aussies shores - its on the shelf one week but nowhere to be seen
the next.

Cafes and cofee shops abound and are a delight. The quality of coffee is on
a different planet to London and the UK and there is so much we could learn.

ADSL rollout on the other hand is way way behind the UK with the standard
offering in Sydney of 64kbits upstream and 256kbits download (UK standard is
now 256k upload and 1Mbit download with many now having a 2Mbit downlaod
capability at home).  Whilst ADSL take up in homes in Aus is catching up the
vast majority of home users are still on dial up.

Mr rmcgripe knocked Brit cars.  Should really look in his own back yard
first.  Gen Motors build in Aussie under the Holden Badge.  All the same
platforms as rest of GM stuff around the world incl Vauxhall and great value
for money until that is you come to sell one - try flogging a 2 year Holden
Commadore Estate, the depreciation is even worse than a pre VW owned Skoda.
As for Mitsubishi in Southern Aus the 'slopes' (an Australian notation I am
ashamed to have picked up whilst living there) back in Japan wanted to close
the plant down due to lack of investment returns.  Best loved exec cars are
European.

The Aussies do take their sports seriously right across the board AND are
sportsmen despite the BS touted in the gutter press recently here.  I saw
the RU world cup final and the feeling in the whole crowd was truly
wonderful.  The bods most pissed off were the Kiwi's who felt they were
really hard done to in their semi final.  There was a genuine consensus at
the time that the English were (marginally) better on the night mainly due
to golden balls (sh.t, a little Fraudian there - boots) Jonny W but really
the teams were and are not comparible.

Cricket on the other hand, what can one say, The Ashes are set to stay in
Blighty for the forseeable future.   The reporting of the series does though
seem to have been a bit different to that in the UK press (I subscribe to
the Syd Morning Herald Online so I was able to catch both versions), could
this be something to do with the fact that an Aussie (now also a US citizen)
controlls SKY - wash my mouth out with S &W.

Air tickets cost more buying from Oz than the UK by 10% to 15%.  Seems a bit
unfair especially as average salarys are much less in Ozzie.  It has taken
Richard Branson (an Englishman) to break the oligopolistic airline ticketing
market operating within the Australian airline industry so that, at long
last, one can travel around the country at a realistic price.

Environmental isues and memories will probably stay with me the longest.  I
was very surprised to learn that according to UN figures the Aussies are the
largest producers of greenhouse gasses PER CAPITA than any other nation on
the planet.  Attempting to reduce emissions does not seem to figure to high
up on their Agenda with LJH refusing to sign up to the worldwide ozone
initiatives alongside his good 'friend' Mr Bush the Jnr.

Aussie cars still guzzle gas and big engines generally still appear to be
preferred but then Aussie juice is half the price of the UK.

Levels of insulation in homes and the quality of construction generally lags
a full generation behind the UK and Europe.  The use of greenhouse emission
producing air conditioning in homes is extravagent, insulation brings a
double edged benefit but not something the average Oz does not appear to
have cottoned onto yet.

What else can I say.  If the Yanks had not tipped tea overboard in Boston
all those years ago the English probably would not have bothered looking for
another island to pass off the less desireable members of its burgeoning
population.  As it was, the English beat the French by only a whisker (days
and hours) in striking a flag on the southern shore of Botany Bay.  Hardly
bears thinking about really, twenty(ish) million Aussies speaking French.

To me the worst bit about Aus is the historic treatment of the indigenous
race which continues to this day though thankfully to a lesser extent but
then 'he who casts the first stone' etc.

The best bits are the people (well most of them anyway and no judgement on
this occasion), the sunshine and clear skies AND the Aussie National
nthem  -  a really GOOD tune.   The UK should follow the Australian lead and
replace our anthem which is severly (a personal view this) past its sell buy
date.

Brucie

The message <1127999090.203599.313160@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
from "Blake Dodson" <dieinterim@comcast.net> contains these words:

Odd that it claims to be a .jpg when it's actually a .gif.