Reality Check

So tonight I was going to send you a nice blog with nice photos.  It has to wait.

This blog's been brewing, like Aussie beer, since Keith and I were travelling.   It’s about something not so great here.  

When you live abroad the differences in culture and politics are apparent. But Australia and New Zealand are both Commonwealth countries with colonial roots to Britain like Canada, and therefore in many ways uncannily similar.  So the differences stand out like a sore thumb. 

We put our clocks back yesterday, it’s fall here.  So tonight it became dark at 6:30. Really dark. And there are not many street lights in Adelaide.  I don’t feel safe going for a walk even though it’s a pleasant 25 C.

If I did go for a walk I might roll my ankle. Sidewalks are not well maintained.

The buses don’t connect around the city and the fares are exorbitant.  Most students and the poor cannot afford them.

The cost of living  is much higher. The average cup of coffee, even at McDonalds, is $4.

National and State Parks have poor signage, are inconsistent in terms of amenities, and have private food and souvenir vendors at some of the most picturesque spots.

When I go for a swim there are no flutter boards or equipment on deck to borrow (people buy their own) and I pay extra to go in the sauna on the pool deck.

Private health insurance is a reality for most people as their employer offers nothing, and I mean private insurance for hospital services as well.

Anyone will tell you that private health clinics don’t offer quality services (isn’t that the opposite of what we’ve been told?).

Most schools are private. The public ones have lower quality and standards so what good parent would send their child to one, even though they’re paying $6,000 per semester.

The Howard government in Australia and the National government in New Zealand began the path of privatization in the 1990s (Ralph Klein modeled Alberta on NZ until it started to crash big time).   

Living in Britain 30 years ago I was horrified by the ghettoization of immigrants. I foresaw Canada following suit. Fortunately, Canada did learn something from the UK example.   But privatization is like a snowball rolling down a huge hill, it’s getting bigger and bigger. 

Come on Canadians pay attention and get political.  There’s no going back once you go down the slippery slope of privatizing utilities and essential services. Just ask any Aussie or Kiwi.