Alice Coster: Sydney one of the last things it’s OK to hate on

Millennials, blondes, bogans, plus-sized people, old people, even those with flaming red hair — there’s not many groups you can poke fun at these days. Thank god it’s still permissible to hate on our sun-kissed, Harbour City sibling.

When it’s still gloomy, wet and windy in Melbourne on the cusp of summer, it’s easy to look scornfully at our northern neighbours.

The sunshine, the beaches, the flashiness, the rugby. It’s still okay to hate on Sydney.

We Melburnians are a parochial bunch. On the cusp of summer, it’s still gloomy, wet, wild and windy outside, which makes it especially easy to get frosty about our sun-kissed, Harbour City sibling.

Being a Sydney-ist lightens the load the rain brings to Melbourne. And it’s also a welcome relief given we can’t be “ists” about much anymore.

Gone are the days when we could have a causal dig at sober people, blondes, or anyone with weird food allergies.

Thin people, tall people, even God forbid, pale-stale-males, Yanks and Poms will cry wolf about discrimination today.

Next it will be the big bad wolf himself lamenting Red Riding Hood’s stereotypes: his teeth are too sharp, his eyes and ears too big.

Being a Sydney-ist lightens the load the rain brings to Melbourne.

What fun we used to have bemoaning cyclists, or denigrating millennials, bogans and those with flaming red hair.

The slightest whiff of calling someone a “ginge” will you see you cop a stern message (true story) from the RANGA society.

Yes it’s a thing, the Red And Nearly Ginger Association get very fired up (gah another internalised stereotype) at negative “firey” tropes and predictable discriminations.

You can’t be too careful in these cancel-culture charged times.

Screams of internalised fatphobia will accompany any opinions on the plus-sized.

Being age-ist is a real and present attack when talking to parents about technology.

So the only things left to be anti anymore are posh people and Sydneysiders.

People like crass Sydney shock jock Kyle Sandilands callously remarking “Who cares if Melbourne doesn’t like us? We still get paid” about his soon to be syndicated show doesn’t help.

NSW rugby league and racing boss Peter V’landys has also done much to stir the state-versus-state pot, belittling Melbourne to anyone who will listen, even to King Charles who he is wooing to his Sydney races.

It is said that Melbourne is the cultural capital of Australia, but Sydney has the climate.

Some Melburnians consider Sydney a touch brash and self made. On the flip side we can be seen as black-clad snobs.

The rivalry dates back to pre Federation times and we all know it will be going on for another 100 years, so what about those posh people?