Dear Jerry,
It was not wishful thinking on my part. I was simply unaware of an
organisation that was able to elicit two whole letters in the year and
a half before it disappeared.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Geelong, Australia
On 2009/04/25, at 1:28 PM, Jeremiah MacGregor wrote:
Pat,
There was a response to your belief that the Australain Anti-Metric
Association was an April fools joke.
http://forum.gometric.us/jforum/posts/list/181.page
Jerry
eric
hecto
Joined: "2007-04-18 01:50:38 +0000"
Messages: 301
Offline
Wishful thinking seems to cloud Pat Naughtin’s judgement when he
states that Robert Parry’s letter to the Age Newspaper was an April
hoax.
Here is a page from the University of Melbourne Archives Database.
Search. University of Melbourne Archives Database Search
No. of hits: 1
Name: AUSTRALIAN ANTI-METRIC ASSOCIATION
Activity: Lobbyists
Date Range: 20 February 1975 - 11 June 1976
Quantity: 0.01 metres
Description: Two letters from federal parliamentarians; extracts
from replies to an A.A.-M.A. questionnaire.
Listed: Yes listed
Accession Number: 76/53
UM Number:
Details
University of Melbourne Archives Database Search
No. of hits: 1
Accession Number: 76/53
Name: AUSTRALIAN ANTI-METRIC ASSOCIATION
Sex: Group: Community and Political, organisations
Activity: Lobbyists
Location: Melbourne
Historical Note:
Group which lobbied against the introduction of the metric system.
Earliest Date: 1975 Latest Date: 1976
Access: Open
Quantity: 0.01 metres
Description:
Two letters from federal parliamentarians; extracts from replies to
an A.A.-M..A. questionnaire.
Persons: Lynch, Phillip
Poase, Bob
Organisations:
Places:
Subjects: Metric system
Listed: Yes listed
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
eric
Admittedly it was a rather short lived affair, 20 February 1975 - 11
June 1976, but nevertheless it existed.
One other observation while I am at it. Australian metrication made
some backwards steps since we signed the Australian Free Trade
Agreement with Uncle Sam.Television is almost drowning in American
crap since then and newsreaders on both government channels, ABC
less so than SBS revert ever so often to imperial with whole news
segments bought cheaply (SBS) bombarding Australians with USC. Ten
foot waves, six feet of water, so many inches of rain/snow falling
on horsepowered cars depict a dismal measurement landscape. How far
that regression goes on commercial channels I do and don't want to
know. US made children, teenage and adult shows have to be shown
under the agreement with whatever measurements they use. It is with
children shows that most of the damage is done. So much for progress!
"2009-04-21 04:51:57 +0000"
Subject: Re:A blast from the past.
eric
hecto
Joined: "2007-04-18 01:50:38 +0000"
Messages: 301
Offline
Here is another confirmation of that sad state of affairs. PM Hawke
had of course nothing to do with that ugly change. This "honour" is
reserved for J.W. Howard an arch conservative prime minister, who
would have rather bitten his tongue off than uttering a metric
measurement. His government introduced and signed the AFTA with the
US that allowed USC on imported goods. The irony is that Australia
pays dearly for that privilege with annual trade in favour of America.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: Re: SubWay on 01/10/2009 18:33:18 MST
"She looked blank and then asked "will a foot long sub be OK"??"
And NZ is officially metric!
That is one of the problems in Australia too - Subway is an US brand
so everything is in Imperial measurements and they don't adapt their
marketing for metric countries. One of the stupidest, most craven
things the Hawke government did was allow American companies to use
imperial in print advertisements in Australia - so now when I pick
up Wild I see MSR etc ads claiming their tents "weigh just 4 lbs!!"
Prior to that you weren't allowed to use imperial measurements in
ads in Australia.
(For the record, the other stupid thing Hawke et al did was bowing
to pressure from the US and allowing foreign sunscreen brands to
advertise their sunscreen as "30+". Previously the max SPF you were
allowed to claim was 15+. This was because SPF is a reverse
logarithmic system, so SPF30 is not twice as effective as SPF15,
which is what you'd naturally presume, it's actually about 1%. But
claiming SPF30 - or SPF50 as I saw recently on some clothing -
really is a great marketing tool ...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
eric
Now, why would Yanks use such a misleading way to market their
product? Pity Australia does not have the EU to protect it from such
underhand practices.
[USMA:44713] Re: A blast from the past - Australian anti-metric
Association
Pat Naughtin
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:45:20 -0700
Dear Jerry,
Note the release date — April 1st — and then know that this
organisation only ever existed for that one day. Here is the headline:
"Australian consumers are yards behind in the move afoot to think
metric". - The Age, (Melbourne) April 1st.
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
Geelong, Australia
P.S. I was once involved in a 'debate' where some people suggested
that the '90 mile beach' should be renamed. This was another story
that was released on April 1st.
On 2009/04/18, at 9:29 AM, Jeremiah MacGregor wrote:
Pat,
Can you tell us what ever happened to this organization and also can
you tell us what happened to the diehards? Did they eventually give
up or are they still fighting against the metric system?
Are they like Stephen Humphreies who look for remnant imperial uses
and have developed a fantasy world where everything is still imperial?
Jerry
Here is a blast from the past that should sound very familiar to
Yanks today. Published April 1976 in a right wing paper it echoes
not only American right wing sentiments, but British ones as well.
One has to take his anti metric diatribe as a revolt against the
left wing government that introduced it.
The irony is had Britain metricated like Australia, everybody,
except a few diehard and misguided super patriots would happily talk
in metric terms now and glad to do so.
"METRIC MUDDLES
"Australian consumers are yards behind in the move afoot to think
metric". - The Age, (Melbourne) April 1st. Mr. Robert Parry,
President of the Australian anti-Metric Association says that people
are not thinking Metric, and that advertisers are now swinging back
to the "old" imperial measures. Fruiterers are selling fruit and
vegetables in pounds and ounces. Home and property buyers are
hopelessly confused by metres and centimeters, and hectares etc.
Mr., Parry is not against progress; he is a smart, modern man; a
highly successful public accountant.. Mr. Parry states that the
adoption of the metric system is definitely not progress - just an
expensive change. Expensive for the consumer; he can give many
examples of increased costs to the individual consumer from
metrication.
We have always "felt in our bones" that there was something phony
about metrication. No one was asked about it. There was no
referendum. It wasn't even discussed in Parliament. It just appeared
from nowhere, and grew - like Topsy. The same with decimalisation.
Who was asked about decimal currency? Were you? Was your Member of
Parliament? Who was then?! It just "appeared". Some one wants
decimal currency and metric weights and measures for us, and not
only us. Even the U.S.A. is being pushed metric now. We say,
"pushed" advisedly, for that's the real state of affairs.
Decimalisation and metrication are being pushed onto Western
countries where they have not been accepted before. What do we
think? It's pretty obvious; the One World advocates in the Halls of
Power at the United Nations, and elsewhere, have done deals all over
the world to have standardisation of currency, weights and measures
enforced as a necessary step along the road to World Government. But
there is more to it than that. Mr. Parry puts his finger on the
pulse; he says that the old systems grew up because the measures
were convenient for those that used them. They naturally were, at
least in part, a reflection of the character of the people from
which they sprang, and which they served. Our currency, weights and
measures are part of the tradition of our race, and what ordinary
decent people feel when these "new fangled" changes are rudely
introduced is the confusion induced by an attack upon our
traditions. The same confusion is generated when the political
subversives attack our Anthem and our Flag. Mr. Parry believes that
the metric system will prove to be outdated - there are better
systems. He says that advanced computers use a 16 base system; the
computers that control guided missiles cannot do decimal
calculations; decimal calculations are too slow! Mr. Robert Parry is
doing a first class job. He should be given support.
Mr. Bob Parry, President of the Australian Anti-Metric Association,
is an inspiring example of what a dedicated individual can achieve..
Mr. Parry has gathered others around him in his campaign to halt the
metric madness. A petition asking the Federal Government to repeal
the Metric Conversion Act has been signed by thousands.. Mr. Parry's
commonsense approach must appeal to all those who have had enough of
the metric madness. Let's go back to pre-1970 when any section of
the community who wanted to go metric could do so. Those wishing to
help the Anti-Metric Association can write to 50 Cardigan Street,
Carlton, Victoria."
An explanation of Australia's pre decimal currency and why only
ardent royalists wanted to hang on to it. That simple lot came in
three penny bits, florins, and half crowns which were 2 shillings &
sixpence. A crown was 5 bob & the smallest paper note was 10 bob,
two of which made a pound. There was only one peculiar exception,
that of a guinea, this was 21 shillings allowing the auctioneer to
make his 5 % commission by paying the customer in pounds.
1 penny = two ½ pennies of which 480 made one pound’
6 pennies = 12 half pennies =sixpence
12 pennies = 1 shilling
20 shilling one pound
21 shilling 1 guinea
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that
they now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or
selling for their businesses. Pat provides services and resources
for many different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial,
industrial and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and
in the USA. Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google,
NASA, NIST, and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the
USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com for more metrication
information, contact Pat at [email protected] or
to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter
to subscribe
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305 Belmont 3216,
Geelong, Australia
Phone: 61 3 5241 2008
Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has
helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the
modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they
now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for
their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many
different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial
and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA.
Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST,
and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See http://www.metricationmatters.com
for more metrication information, contact Pat at [email protected]
or to get the free 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter
to subscribe.
