Australians Are A Different Pedigree
Australians are a different pedigree…Mate!!!
“Anywhere else it would be a cause of embarassment, if not a modicum of shame,” writes The Times. “But to a country where a convict ancestry gives you aristocratic status, the revelation that the Australian Prime Minister is descended from not just one felon but six is a source of delight.
“Kevin Rudd has already boasted of having convicts on both sides of his family – ‘an absolute pedigree’ as he has called it. But there’s no higher pedigree than counting in your ancestry a thief, a forger and a highway robber – aged 11.
“About 160,000 convicts were deported from Britain to Australia between 1788 and 1868, often for relatively minor offences, and their role in the development of the country is now embraced with a rebellious pride. It is estimated that more than two million Australians are able to boast of at least one convict ancestor – and it is such a badge of honour that not having a convict in the family is now a source of embarassment.”
(Photo above shows Kevin Rudd with the book that details his criminal lineage.)
