fair go

1. AustraliaNew ZealandinformalUsed in protest to implore or demand that someone act with more fairness or reason, or desist in something considered outrageous.

   Fair go mum! Let me go to the party tonight!

   1 more example

   ‘Fair go, mate,’ protested Al, as the man dropped to his knees and attempted to pull the sturdy army-issue boots from the private′s feet. George, catching on, directed Al′s gaze to a row of neatly stacked shoes and Aloysius begrudgingly relented.

   2010, Colin McLaren, Sunflower: A Tale of Love, War and Intrigue, page 62

   Synonyms: fair crack of the whip, fair suck of the sauce bottle, fair shake of the sauce bottle, fair suck of the sav

plural fair gos

1. AustraliaNew ZealandinformalA reasonable or equitable opportunity to attempt something.

   He said he wanted a fair go to apply for the scholarship.

   5 more examples

   I have never minded a licking and have never asked for anything more than a fighting chance. But to have to give away five stone in weight and six inches in height was not my idea of a fair go.

   1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 85

   But for this government to load up funding to the wealthiest schools in this country is anathema to the great Aussie notion of a fair go for all.

   1944, Australian Parliament, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): House of Representatives, volume 266, page 32254

   ‘We have heard about a fair go for Labor,’ Fraser told the crowd in his peroration. ‘A fair go for the most hopeless Government in our history? A fair go for the party that created the first depression for forty years?[…]’

   1976, Laurie Oakes, Crash Through or Crash: The Unmaking of a Prime Minister, page 241

   1983, Australian Parliament, House of Representatives Weekly Hansard, Issues 4-5, page 2677, The people of the Northern Territory do not want any special deals. They are not looking for privilege or preferential treatment. All they are after is a good old-fashioned fair go.

   The traditional ethic of the fair go was resurrected, the light on the hill reignited, and the government promised that those currently unemployed would not be left to stagnate.

   2002, Francis Gordon Clarke, The History of Australia, page 186

   Synonyms: fair crack of the whip, fair suck of the sauce bottle, fair shake of the sauce bottle, fair suck of the sav