The company I work for has a major presence in Australia, and I deal with colleagues there almost every week. One of the top management fellows told me a few years ago that their approach to government is much more passive-aggressive (his words). For example, our offices there are hyper-egalitarian, even top managers sit in cubes the same as the newest hire. He told me things like that were their way of rejecting the British class system. They didn't openly revolt, they just quietly became contrarian. And according to rumor, buried a whole lot of guns under the floorboards.
Take it with a grain of salt, because this came from a well-educated engineer. In remote parts of Western Australia I saw guys driving like they thought they were Mad Max, and I'm pretty sure they aren't quite so philosophical. One guy flipped the bird at a LE with a speed gun, and got away with it.
I'm probably headed there in a couple months, will ask a few more people what they think.