It’s bad enough people swallowing some of the dishonest swill the right wing, metropolitan commentators spew forth, while at the same time totally ignoring the issues of regional Australia.

But the media’s gushing over the birth of a royal kid in Britain the other day has been particularly mind-numbing.

The child’s parents seem decent enough and for most of the British people the birth is, no doubt, a wonderful thing.

But let’s look at some of the history of the media’s ad nauseum coverage of the British royal family and the family itself.

Queen Elizabeth is a charming monarch who has done much to bolster popularity in the institution.

But some of her children have hardly covered themselves in glory; in fact, quite the opposite.

And the sheer hypocrisy of the British media is breathtaking.

They crucified Princess Diana during her lifetime, digging up any scandal they thought would sell newspapers, but when she died they cashed in by creating a massive wave of sympathy for the “tragedy” she suffered during her life.

At Kate and William’s wedding the media seemed as focused on the shape of Kate’s sister Pippa’s bum as anything else.

Then pictures of Kate sunbaking topless created a huge stir among the world’s media as they rushed to get a copy of the pics.

When she was in Australia the young lady’s dress blew up and the media pack went into another feeding frenzy, this time creating debate as to whether or not she was wearing knickers or a skin-coloured G-string.

The anatomy that Kate displayed on both occasions was no different to what confronts you on most beaches in Sydney.

I am not having a crack at the English, because I can understand how much their history is affected by its royalty.

But I cannot see what relevance the British royal family has to us antipodeans, as the Brits like to call us.

However that seems to have been our lot from the time of that self-centred, pompous prig R.G. Menzies through to the sacking of the Whitlam government by the governor-general — a largely ceremonial figure who rubber stamps the decisions of the executive — and continuing today.

The Logies is another example of the banality of our media and its focus on froth.

What the hell is all this fuss about a red carpet, walked on by “celebrities” with interviewers telling them “You look absolutely fabulous daarhling”?

Or the focus on women’s chests or the sniggering about who did what to who at the after-Logies parties?

Our economy is lurching towards disaster and we don’t seem to know how we are going to deal with an ageing population.

But the media, instead of promoting serious discussion on these matters, is more concerned with the comings and goings of a family on the other side of the world, albeit a royal one, and media award shows.

Or bagging the down and out, single parents, the unemployed and others as lazy and solely responsible for their status.

Or course, the media has complicit partners in governments of all persuasions, who seek to gain popularity by stirring up hysterical myths about those who some sections of the community believe don’t pull their weight.

Or Tony Abbott seeking to implement a generous paid parental leave scheme that would be to the advantage of the already wealthy sections of the Australian community rather than those who most need the money.

We have this belief in Australia that we live in an egalitarian, pluralist paradise.

But the reality is Australia is a class-conscious and shallow society more concerned with froth and bubble rather than a fair go for all.