Good on Ya, Cobber
Australian colloquialisms are an interesting sociological study. Generally, the forms of address are used as levellers, bringing everyone’s station into line with everyone else’s, dissolving class distinctions, undoubtedly originally as a reaction to the class-based oppressions of the early penal colony and settlement origins. “Mate,” the universal salutation and categorization, has long been used with both broad application and great subtlety. More or less. I recall hearing soon after my arrival here that “Mate” was what you called someone when you disliked him or her, while you called your friends “Bastard.” Although I haven’t experienced the latter to prove its truth, I’ve heard and experienced the former in application, and it’s true enough. I recall one instance when M. put such venom into calling someone “Mate” that the situation she was addressing was nearly instantly rectified, the person on the receiving end recognizing the error of their ways. So I can understand why they’d ask guards at Parliament to stop addressing visitors that way, even though the instruction banning “Mate” only lasted until it became public knowledge. I’m with Roger Price, the minority whip: “let’s not get above our station,” he said; good advice for politicians everywhere.