Albion Park has been nominated as one of Australia's top 10 bogan suburbs in an online search for the country's most maligned postcodes.The suburb that gave us former Miss World Australia Katie Richardson and Hockeyroo Casey Eastham has been described as "bogan heaven on a stick" in recognition of its "hard pub" and brutal crime record.
LATEST NEWS: Bogan sign erected on Albion Park's main streetIs Albion Park a bogan suburb? Join the debate belowThe dubious honour was bestowed on the 2527 postcode by writers at The Punch, an Australian news commentary website which aims to be "provocative, energetic, thoughtful and, on the right occasions, fun".Sharing bogan honours with the 'Park on the shortlist are Dandenong and Moe in Victoria, Kambah in the ACT, Redcliffe and Ipswich in Queensland, Wyoming in NSW, Salisbury in South Australia, Chigwell in Tasmania, Rockingham in Western Australia.Punch writer Brett Martin nominated Albion Park for the honour, describing it as "a dormitory suburb with big blocks"."Pleasant backdrop of the Great Dividing Range. Good schools. A nice hard pub and top-notch takeaway. Brutal killings. A bikie gang. The rugby league team is called the Outlaws and the dress code is based on stinking hot summers and bitterly cold winds blowing straight off the Snowies in winter. The van Krevel atrocities. Pins in the eyes of paedophile former mayor Frank Arkell. Shopkeeper David O'Hearn decapitated and his blood used to write Satanic messages on the walls. The Fourth Reich bikie gang HQ just up the road. An EPA station constantly monitoring for toxic fallout from the Port Kembla steelworks. Albion Park is bogan heaven on a stick."For those who hail outside of Albion Park, a bogan is someone who is, or is perceived to be, of a lower class background, according to Wikipedia.According to the stereotype, the speech and mannerisms of bogans indicate poor education, cheap clothing and uncultured upbringing.Typical bogan clothing includes flannelette shirts, singlets, Stubbies shorts, tracky dacks and ugg boots, while musical taste revolves around hard rock and heavy metal acts such as AC/DC, Jimmy Barnes and Metallica.Albion Park's bogan nomination has set tongues wagging on social networking sites, with some eager to embrace their inner bogan-ness and others suggesting other Illawarra suburbs perhaps more deserving of the nomination, including Dapto and Cringila.
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