Wikipedia tells it as follows:
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Thanks–should have looked it up myself. Still sounds like a pejorative in an attempt to stir up trouble.
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Hi @Hary ,
It looks beautiful. We try to help people who are learning English as a second language. Do not be hesitant about joining in discussions. Your English does not have to be perfect… we will understand
Regards
Neville
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It is a mix of down-putting and affection.
Most migrant ethnic groups that come to Australia acquire slang terms that I will not use here. The Pommies merely got in first.
It tends to wear off in the next generation. My sister married a Pommie, but their children do not have to wear it.
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We try hard to welcome everybody to this site to share knowledge and experiance which we all learn from.
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Ty Neville.
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Someone else already posted an answer… Mostly English (but also Scottish and Welsh) assisted migration to Australia - post WW2 there was severe “austerity” for the British - paying off the debts to save the world from Nazism and Facism… at one point, before Hitler invaded Russia, Britain was the only steadfast nation ready to stand up to fascism…
“pommie” is a rhyming slang term (one thing Australia has in common with England - mostly Cockneys - our accent is pretty much a more laid back and laconic take on Cockney) :
pommegranite : immigranite (sic : immigrant)
hence us calling everyone “mate”…
I don’t have a problem with poms - FFS - I married a 10 pound pom - 40 years in September last year 
and she was from Yorkshire where @callpaul.eu reckons everybody “talks right” (apart from pronouncing “bury” as “burrey” )
Without 10 pound poms - we’d never have had The Easybeats (also Dutch immigrants) or the Bee Gees or most importantly of all AC/DC: “Highway to Hell” 
:
Bon Scott was a 10 pound pom (Scottish) who’s family eventually settled in Fremantle, West Australia - and “Highway to Hell” is widely postulated to represent Canning Highway - which runs between Fremantle and Perth…
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Seems like humans can’t escape the ‘us-them’ problem. I wish more folks would realize that ‘us’ is all humans who believe in the golden rule and ‘them’ are humans who have to feel superior to somebody.
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