Aussie - Kiwi insults - bad or just good comradery?

 Reported in The Age:

Underarm bowling and Phar Lap's origins may have led to Kiwis taunting Australians over the years, but enough is enough, say New Zealand tourism authorities. A new marketing campaign is aimed at getting New Zealanders to be more friendly to Australian tourists and to tone down their insults. Tourism New Zealand chief George Hickton said the taunts had not shown up in surveys as a major issue, but he thought they could go too far. "We rib each other, there is no doubt about it. We know no-one wants to get ribbing the whole time," Hickton said. "I have heard it (taunts) said and thought people should back off," he said. The New Zealand Herald newspaper has dubbed the campaign "Be-Nice-to-Australians month".

What do you think? I am a Kiwi living in Aussie, and I get hammered at work with NZ jokes and insults. Sheep is the first joke you here, and then bragging about how Australia is better than NZ at everything, how New Zealand is one of the most inferior countries in the world, how Kiwis are lucky to be here,  that there is no greater country in the world than Australia etc etc.

Of course, to keep the peace, one normally just shuts one gob! I am sure the same thing happens to Aussies in NZ, and probably more vehemently because most Kiwi's think about NZ like Aussies think about Australia - probably even more so, and most New Zealanders have at least visited Australia, which only confirms their beliefs! :)

I think it is good to have a rivalry, and have jokes about each other, but they CAN go to far. Now for a Kiwi joke:

In the NZ Herald article Through gritted Teeth - It's Be-Nice-to-Australians Month, Aussie journalist and former Wallaby Peter FitzSimons says the Trans-Tasman ribbing is usually good-natured. "These days in Australia, you barely ever hear anyone even mention the fact that the price of lamb in New Zealand has gone up to $2.95 an hour."

Source: Aussie insults no laughing matter says Tourism NZ - Travel - theage.com.au

 

Technorati tags: Australia, New Zealand, Kiwi Jokes, Aussie Jokes