Skippy Australian

Skippy Australian is a tongue-in-cheek term for a Northern European (ie Anglo-Celtic, Dutch, German or Scandanavian) Australian. The term is derived from the title character of a late-1960s Australian television show Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. As a term for Australians of the majority culture, it was popularised by the Australian television show, Acropolis Now, whose mainly Greek-Australian cast affectionately referred to Anglo-Celtic Australians as "Skippies".

Related Topics:
Anglo-Celtic - Dutch - German - Scandanavian - Skippy the Bush Kangaroo - Acropolis Now - Greek-Australian

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Until the early 1970s, Australian immigration was regulated by the White Australia Policy, which only permitted immigrants to Australia from a few select backgrounds (eg. British, Scandinavian) in an effort to keep Australia 'racially pure'. When the Whitlam Labor Government finally abolished the last vestiges of racial selectivity in Australian immigration policy in 1973, a large influx began of immigrantion from a variety of countries (notably Italy, Greece, China and Vietnam). For these immigrants, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo (which was repeated ad-nauseum throughout the 1970s on Australian television) would have typified Australia's monoculture prior to the 1970s.

Related Topics:
Australian immigration - White Australia Policy - Whitlam - Labor - Skippy the Bush Kangaroo - Monoculture

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The use of "skippy" as a racial/cultural term might be considered an example of reverse discrimination, a satirical reaction to the racial epithet, "wog", that was aimed at immigrants from Southern Europe by those from the dominant Anglo-Celtic Australian culture.

Related Topics:
Reverse discrimination - Wog

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