User:GregzDaFrigy/sandbox

Australian Spirit

The phrase 'Australian Spirit' is somewhat vague these days but the earliest example captured by an artist cab found in Waltsing Matilda, when the swagman chose to jump into the Billabong rather than be arrested by the stockman. The essence of the Australian Spirit is that we'd rather die than be oppressed by an unreasonable authority. If this doesn't make sense to you by listening to the song it's probably because you don't understand the lingo. For starters a Billabong is any pool of fresh water that a salt water crocodile resides in. In the song a Jumbuck or sheep approaches the Billabong to have a drink, obviously the sheep would have been eaten by the crocodile, so the swagman grabs the sheep and intended to have him for dinner. Along came the stockman and seeing that the swagman has the sheep unreasonably intends to have him arrested for stealing despite the fact the sheep would have been eaten by the crocodile. Rather than being subjected to the harsh and unreasonable punishment the stockman chooses to jump into the Billabong with the crocodile. Basically the swagman chose to spite the stockman and leave him with a dead sheep and not having the satisfaction of imposing his authority. Their is the essence of the Australian Spirit, Outright rebellion against any unreasonable authority.