Australia and New Zealand

What is the origin of the idiom "smellier than a Hyde Park dunny"? Full history required for this one gents.
 
Ahhh... oh well, you may fire when ready. I'll let it stand for someone from Sydney to take a crack at.
 
Bugger!! I was hoping this thread would stay buried.

Why in earth's name would we want to tell everyone about the best kept secret in the world.
 
Well, the expression dunny would be purely Australasian, and to a great degree unknown in England, except recognisable to some in very modern Australian humour, Dame Edna etc., and jungle reality shows.

I have never heard of any connection here between our Hyde Park and dunnies, or even Hyde Park and toilets. I cannot recall any official toilets in Hyde Park, although we do have plenty of horse traffic!

I have never heard Hyde Park in London used as a butt of jokes, except perhaps with reference to homosexual cottaging, for which it was once infamous, and may still be for all I know. Historically, 19th century etc. Hyde Park did have terrible down and out poverty stricken localities, and connections with the famous one, Rotten Row.

So I still can't throw any light on this one. For the above reasons, I assumed it referred to Hyde Park, Sydney.

Can it have any reference to Buckingham Palace, which stands nearby?
 
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Dame Edna was a sendup of both Australia and England, I imagine that this "saying" was made up by the script writers as was most of the remainder of the script.

It's a bit like expecting everyone in Sydney to be walking around dressed like Crocodile Dundee.
 
Dame Edna is a send-up of Melbourne, according to him.

Not the women surely! But damn, I did think everyman in Aus dressed like Crocodile Dundee.
I do - and I'm English but good at cricket.

Nervertheless - 'dunny' shouts Aus.
 
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Yeah Barry Humphries (Edna) is a send up of Aussie culture. The character Edna is from Mooney Ponds in the outer Melbourne suburbs, but honestly, I'm sure the saying is just a bit of made up slang by Humphries that has no real background.

I think this question has every Aussie stumped

Although we do have plenty of ridiculous sayings
 
Aussie Nick - I was not referring to the expression, only the use of the word 'dunny' in it. This is the slang bit I thought was Aussie, as we have never used the word here, traditionally. I was just making the point that I have only heard it used in Aussie references.

That's why i thought the expression we are searching for related to Sydney rather than London. The answer will reveal all!
 
There is no denying that Dame Edna probably said it, but as I said earlier, it is probably something made up by the script writers. I lived in Sydney for about seven years, and can't say I ever heard the expression used, nor have I heard it since.
 
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