It's quite odd.
Sure, over here, we joke about Yanks, Germans etc... but there's not one I've met of either country that I wouldn't buy a beer for - I think that's true of most Brits, yet when in Australia - I've been back a few times since school days to visit family - they actually spit venom when certain (if not all) nations are mentioned.

I'm pretty sure it's jealousy. I've wracked my brain to think of what Australia has contributed to the world and can only come up with the rotary-clothes line. A space saving device for a land with more space than most others.
(dchurch bah, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 22:19, 1 reply)

Philo-Americans Too
I also met a girl eager to shed her Aussie identity so she could slip unnoticed into LA. That was strange too. But, 99% of the folks seemed happy the way they were.

There were a few water-saving innovations in AU I liked quite a bit:

The toilet option of a half-flush;
Tanks to collect rainwater from the roof; and,
Automatic carwash using almost no (recycled) water.

And the best advertising slogan in the world, for a discount brand of dog food. Chum (with chicken): 'So chumpy you can carve it!'
(Perv With A Dog had his eyes pecked out by scrub jays on, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 22:44, closed)

I'm
pretty sure the roof-rain-water tank originated in Berlin.
(dchurch bah, Thu 1 Apr 2010, 23:04, closed)

And that paragon of tolerance
HRH Prince Phillip invented the half flush so that wee got only a bit bit a huge brown log poking out the top of the water could get a bit more to get rid.
(Wagane, Sun 4 Apr 2010, 16:17, closed)