Aussie battler

The term Aussie Battler is an Australian colloquialism referring to "ordinary" or working class individuals who persevere through their commitments despite adversity. Typically, this adversity comprises the challenges of low pay, family commitments, environmental hardships and lack of personal recognition. It is a term of respect and endearment intended to empower and recognize those who feel as though they exist at the bottom of society.

The term has seen recent use in mainstream politics to describe a demographic section of the Australian people.

Definition

The term "Aussie Battler" generally refers to working class Australians, specifically, those who feel they must work hard at a low paying job to earn enough money, is actually well respected by Australian society at large as they stoically face financial hardships. The concept of an "Aussie battler" is an example of self-aggrandizing language, designed to counter feelings of stigma or inadequacy, and to bolster confidence in being a member of the Australian underclass. It refers to an Australian who continues to struggle in the face of hardship. It is a term of respect and endearment, not simply used to assess someone's financial situation; the ordinary working-man earning a living against the odds. The common variation little Aussie battler further adds to the notion that the battler is at the bottom of society, working under bigger things above. A Key requirement of referring to somebody as a "Aussie Battler" is the ownership of a Holden Commodore. A battler without a Commodore is essentially shunned from inner battler communities.

In Australian English, the concept of a "battler" is a power word similar to the concept of the "hardworking family". It is used by various political personages and entities for their own purposes. Where in one context a person may use the term to refer to people of low socioeconomic status to call for greater welfare, others may use it to refer to a family saving for a private education to call for government payments to private schools.

The Aussie battler is at the core of the Australian national myth and is an indelible part of the national psyche. The battler is more than merely a hard-working bloke who never earns his due, the battler is the salt of the earth, the foundation of a frontier society. The battler is not resigned to the hard grind of life but unaware of it, considering it his due without a trace of bitterness. Trundling forward with unstoppable force and strength coupled with humility and a blood, sweat, and beer approach to life. The battler is the quintessential "little guy" with an indomitable spirit and a bottomless well of "fight".

Recently, the term "battler" has also gained popularity among young people as a mild or endearing insult to imply a person's lack of skill or knowledge at certain tasks. For example: "Jono is a battler with the women" would indicate that despite his best efforts, Jono does not often attract the attention of females.

How to Classify a Battler

There are a variety of ways in which an Aussie Battler may be classified. Some criteria in which to use to classify Aussie battlers are:

• anybody who believes that "The Castle" is a good movie
• anybody who owns a Holden Commodore or Statesman
• anybody who has appeared on "ACA" or "Today Tonight"
• anybody who has a career in mining, general labor, a trade or an unskilled labor position
• anybody on "the dole" or unemployed
• anybody who believes in the abolition of taxes, generally expressed in conjunction with the statement "F@#$ the government"
• anybody who frequents Rugby League or Aussie Rules matches
• anybody in Western Sydney

Language

Aussie battlers also possess their own language, enlisting a variety of key elements not found in standard Australian English. Heavily accented O, Y, A and Z sounds at the end of words, especially when referring to names and cars e.g. "Thats Dazza's commo" (that is Darrens Holden Commodore) are frequently used, as well as the heavy usage of words such as casual nicknames such as "mate", "tiger" and "champ". Common use of rhetoric devices, primarily used in an aggrivating or frustrating situation, is characteristic of the battler language. When speaking about family members, a battler is not allowed to refer to them by their real name or title, but must say missus (wife), hubby (husband), brats (kids in general) and old folks (parents). Long drawn out words, primarily the words "yea", "nah" and "awe" when responding to something in an unsure, worried or puzzled manner are used as a form of heavy emphasis on key ideas in the sentence or conversation.

Middle-class battlers

Some individuals are self-defined "battlers" without fitting the above definition because of their own interpretations of "earning enough money." Social scientist and author Michael Pusey has described this as "Middle Class Battler syndrome" because these "battlers" earn more than the average wage but see expensive homes and consumer goods as necessities. As a result, they have very little disposable income after servicing debts for these items. Despite the self-inflicted hardship, the myth of the "battler" remains.

Use in political rhetoric

Following the election of the conservative coalition government under the leadership of John Howard in 1996, the phrase was adapted and widely adopted within Australian public discourse. Howard scored a sweeping victory at the 1996 elections, an achievement some commentators explained by reference to his winning over many traditional Labor Party voters, whom they now termed "Howard's battlers".

The term was allegedly popularised by Andrew Robb, the 1996 Liberal Party campaign director, who used it to describe those blue-collar voters who felt ignored by Labor and who were successfully targeted by the Liberals during the election campaign.

In a radio interview in 2004, Howard was asked what he thought a 'battler' was and replied that:

“

... it's not an exclusive definition, the battler is somebody who finds in life that they have to work hard for everything they get... normally you then look at it in terms of somebody who's not earning a huge income but somebody who is trying to better themselves, and I've always been attracted to people who try to better themselves.

”

During the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney in September 2007, US President George W. Bush referred to Howard himself as being a 'battler'.

Alternative Definition

The term has gained an alternative definition in recent years that transcends the anachronistically restrictive references to class. A "Battler" is anyone who decides personal goals and who then sets out to achieve them, facing considerable struggle to be successful. This definition implies nobility in the decision to set personal goals, the struggle to achieve them, and the recognition of their eventual success. It is particularly applicable to people from countries of non-Anglophone language and culture who demonstrate such attributes of personal courage as to succeed in confronting the considerable challenges of moving to Australia to create new lives for themselves.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Sydney Morning Herald article on Affluenza and "battlers"
• The Age article on Affluenza