Ten pound Pomx

I’ve watched the whole thing and really enjoyed it, believing it to be a drama and not a documentary.

That's interesting Aveline. I've still only watched one of them so we'll see how it goes.

I've watched three episodes now and don't plan to watch any more. There's something about the tone of the drama that I find unpleasant. I'm sorry about this. I've loved some of the newer Australian dramas such as Offspring and obviously, Colin from Accounts but Ten Pound Poms hits clunking notes. You can see what's going to happen all the time. The transposition of modern attitudes and values to people back then always irritated me.

volver3

Sorry nanna8, my husband and in laws lived there in the sixties, I lived there in the 2000s.

It wasn't all sweetness and light.

You are right Volver and the British men's attitude was often different from the Australians to the native people to start with.
My father was in the navy during the war and had been in Burma and India with Australians. He never thought of the native people as different to the Australians.
It was muttered but said by the native chap "I was treated as one of the lads during the war when I came back it all went back to normal."
Really just like the blacks in the US and England when they came over from the Caribean. We didn't mind them fighting for us but seemed to quickly forget the part they had played.
I hope my relations change of attitude was to help them settle in and not out of pure prejudice.
If you stick up for the minority you isolate yourself and the British were having a hard enough time themselves to get accepted. What the Australian Government wanted wasn't always what the people wanted.

I don’t think the newly arrived British lady would have challenged the ‘go to the back of the queue’ on her first day out at her new destination, no way.

Oh, I know some who certainly would!

Surely there are always some people who speak out?

I don’t think the newly arrived British lady would have challenged the ‘go to the back of the queue’ on her first day out at her new destination, no way.


But I think we tend to forget we are talking about nearly 70 years ago. Attitudes have changed so much in regards to racism, homophobia, single mothers.

Back in the 50’s, the vast majority would have had a more narrow minded take on these things, as opposed to now.

My ideas have changed and I imagine others have too.

It’s complicated though.

There was undoubtedly racism in the UK too, but the general push back against the Jim Crow laws applying to black GIs in Britain in WW2 shows that there were plenty of people who didn’t go along with it. So I don’t agree that any Pom would have accepted it. Would any Australian either? Surely there are always some people who speak out?

Callistemon21

Aveline

Its interesting and a nice change from crime dramas and police procedurals. I'm enjoying the setting and costumes. I wonder how exaggerated the attitudes are? Were they really so racist and sexist?

The interesting thing is that the working class British immigrants are being portrayed as horrified at how the Aborigines (the term used then) were treated, their lack of rights and were sympathetic towards them.
Yet those people had come from a Britain where many people held racist attitudes, particularly towards those from the West Indies who had come over to help rebuild post-war Britain.
It didn't ring true.

agree with this. It stuck me as imposing modern thoughts instead of historic ones, when she wanted to complain about the Aboriginal lady being pushed to the back of the queue.

In England at that time, it was normal to see signs saying 'No Blacks, No Dogs' Etc. Any Pom would have accepted that sort of treatment of someone else due to skin colour as absolutely normal.

The animosity was not only directed at the adults. I was too young to go to school in the 50’s but the son of my mother’s friend was bullied and frequently had his sandwiches stolen. This of course was not unique to Australia but it was yet another thing that apparently left the said friend in tears when we returned to the UK. She could not afford to return.

My grandad and his 2nd family went out in the 60s, I was talking to my auntie after the first episode and she confirmed it was very like her experience.

I feel as though my family dodged a bullet, parents asked me what I wanted and I said that as we were all doing so well at school, we should stay here in uk. Yes times were tough here in liverpool but by golly we were happy in our temperate climate with people helping and looking out for each other

I now have two sisters in australia, they went as young adults. I get their deep yearning for uk but they are trapped, often in searing hot summers. It was a cruel country and has made hard and brusque australians

Sorry nanna8, my husband and in laws lived there in the sixties, I lived there in the 2000s.

It wasn't all sweetness and light.

I knew about the children being sent via my husband's family. I didn't know until after about the abuse. Too heartbreaking that vulnerable children were treated so bad. Can't imagine living with yourself if it were my child. The racism towards the £10 poms really was disgusting, how can people do that to others, they were just stuck there.
Not been to Australia, would like to, it's come a long way with lots of struggles. The poor Aborginees treated like vermin, made outcasts from their own land.
We need to know about the past, that was then and move on.

One of my friends, her husband and two children went to Australia under the scheme and were desperately unhappy. She was an only child and her parents were devastated when they decided to go but it was my friend’s husband’s dream. They couldn’t settle there, came back after the two years was up and had to live with my friend’s parents as they had sold everything they owned prior to leaving for Australia. They managed to save enough to buy a house and start again. My husband’s two aunts both emigrated to Canada with their families under the £10 scheme. They worked hard and eventually had wonderful lives on Vancouver Island where we visited hem many times. They didn’t experience any prejudice from Canadians.

I hope we get to see it here. Like Greenfinch, I remember families split, men off to male cabins, Mums and children together in another. I remember my Mum saying all laundry was washed in salt water, my poor little 11th month old brother had the most awful nappy rash.

It isn’t true, playing into stereotypes that people like to think are true. I have met many ten pound poms and not one of them had that sort of experience. People like to think that is what it was like , so fair enough. A bit of virtue signalling about how good we are now and how awful it was then. A close friend lived in one of those camps for some time and whilst he was there as a young child he learnt Russian and Italian from his mates in there plus better English ( he is from Poland ). He said it was ok but very isolated and the food wasn’t the best, just plain Aussie stuff but they all got together and asked for some different meals and got them ( some Italian chefs were there, that would have helped). There were no Aborigines, they didn’t live anywhere near there or any of the other camps in the south.

Aveline

Its interesting and a nice change from crime dramas and police procedurals. I'm enjoying the setting and costumes. I wonder how exaggerated the attitudes are? Were they really so racist and sexist?

The interesting thing is that the working class British immigrants are being portrayed as horrified at how the Aborigines (the term used then) were treated, their lack of rights and were sympathetic towards them.
Yet those people had come from a Britain where many people held racist attitudes, particularly towards those from the West Indies who had come over to help rebuild post-war Britain.
It didn't ring true.

I think there was another thread about this too.

Yes, we watched it and I did say I thought they threw everything at the first episode.

It would have been interesting to see a little more about the boat journey over but if they are going to introduce so many themes into six episodes then I suppose there wasn't time.

I believe Indigenous Australians is the accepted term now.

ohhh....

Aboriginals weren’t fully granted the franchise until 1984.
The White Australia immigration policy ran until the mid sixties.
The UK Government sent unaccompanied children to Australia up until the 1970s, without always telling their parents
In the 2000s a colleague of my DH said he would resign from a conference committee if aboriginal entertainers were booked, because they would only turn up drunk. If they turned up at all.

So which bit is the exaggeration?

It is rubbish though, not reality. A good soap opera.

Its interesting and a nice change from crime dramas and police procedurals. I'm enjoying the setting and costumes. I wonder how exaggerated the attitudes are? Were they really so racist and sexist?

I am enjoying it as I went out on the scheme aged 3 and it helps to explain why my mother found life there so difficult and could not get back to England quick enough. I myself remember very little. We were lucky enough to stay with my aunt until my family were able to purchase their own house. I too would have liked to have seen something of the long boat journey out. All I know is that the men and women slept in different cabins and children ate separately from the adults which I apparently found very difficult.

We watched the first episode and were pleasantly (?) surprised. No cuddles with friendly koalas or similar. I think they tried to pack a lot into the first episode but when the dad and the other chap went out in the car at night we knew what was going to happen.

Was a bit puzzled by what the nurse was up to but we got it by the end.

I didn't think it was soapy at all, quite the opposite, and it couldn't be anywhere but 1950s/60s Australia. I wonder if people are surprised by some of the attitudes that were on show in Australia then?

Anyway I'll give it a fair go for the next wee while!

I was a bit disappointed too. I’d have liked to have seen something about the 6 week journey for starters.

It was interesting to see the accommodation though. We were all set to go out as ten pound Poms when I was a baby until my mother dug her heels in at the last minute and refused to go. My dad brought it up frequently over the years (jokingly!) and talked of the well-paid job he’d been promised in the mines there and the beautiful house that we’d have been living in, overlooking the sea. My mother would have enjoyed watching this!