BOB GELDOF'S BOBSWORTH ON OZ

Well somebody had to say it and I was glad it was Sir Bob said it because almost anyone else would be told, “if you don’t like us don’t come here” - in short censored out and censored issues interest me. But in interview for The Australian last weekend he said, having remarked he would almost prefer to be able to live in Oz than anywhere, that however….

“You take the tall poppy thing which began in Ireland to stratospheric levels – which is silly ‘cause it stems from an inferiority complex. Ireland’s got over it. Australia needs to do the same”.

It does. It is little short of a sickness infecting everywhere from the kind of work kids put into school (they mustn’t seem too clever at anything) to the work of leading politicians don’t put in (lest they seem too statesmanlike and commanding). If there's some crisis in industry Oz usually needs to import someone from overseas, some Brit, some Yank to sort the problem out because they are more likely to cut through the mess and command the situation and be less resented for it, because how could an Australian tell an Australian what to do?

Is this inferiority complex or is it inverted pride? Whatever it is more broadly the attitude works against the arts, against culture, against the life of the intellect (the only really acceptable form of excellence is in sports) and even the spiritual life (one doesn’t have enough respect for transcendence, for God as being the Man Upstairs) and one is permitted to be rude about anything or to anyone.

If you never believed in elitism and privilege come to this country and you might just change your mind a little and give some thought to why a leading Socialist like G.B.Shaw believed even Socialism could and should use a degree of elitism. Privilege does somewhat exist here in the English style through a network of good schools and special clubs/societies but egalitarianism, praised as a national virtue, chokes efficiency and brings essential issues to a standstill as in a traffic jam, or a smog.

Apart from being like Geldof an Irish citizen (though I’m an Australian citizen too) I am also a published author, and academically a doctor which represents a lot of work and slog which ought to garner a little respect over time. Try contacting media, or ringing the press whether on behalf of yourself or others (recently I’ve tried it on behalf of the scandal of legal issues with all sorts of social implications that an Australian artist is involved in) and it’s nearly impossible to draw attention to yourself and any issue however important. You are dismissed or told to wait endlessly or write out information you are not thanked for or contacted about. Why?

Well, basically because Australia’s press, media or whatever is so busy up to the eyebrows being egalitarian they can’t deal with you (plus the niceties of explanation or apology can’t be wasted on individuals either). It means that if Mrs Bloggins has lost her canary and wants to take up radio time complaining about it even if it’s clearly her own fault she is as important and more important than you are and you can just wait or go away because we have to hear the whole line of all those other people like Mrs Bloggins because qualifications or no who do you think you are? Understand you’re a nobody, mate.

I fancy I shall live to tell the tell of the shocking treatment I have received here as a writer for major material regarding Christ that in America would likely have put me to the front of the queue for attention - if in this very special case it is myself that does matter. I regret to say that Australia would be prime contenders for giving Jesus “no room at the inn” treatment and because they no longer know how to appreciate the special, the serious, or the sacred. Let Bob Geldof actually live here and he will either find out some unpalatable truths about the place he most wants to be in, or he might just be the outspoken and Irish person needed to correct the aggressively uncorrectable Aussie manners.

For some other censored issues see my website at Rollan McCleary