Boyd's three main criticisms stem from three ideas: the Australian obsession with "featurism"–a fixation on parts rather than the whole, the use of building materials and styles that are unsympathetic to the country's landscape/climate, and the culling of trees in order to "divert" drains, prevent leaf clogging and other immaterial issues.

Boyd's belief that trees are not a feature, or a byproduct of design, but rather a fundamental landscaping necessity, something unrecognised by Australian homeowners and city planners who opt for low maintenance.

[citation needed] It also channeled the "cultural cringe", as well as drawing comparisons to the man-made landscapes of North America and to a lesser extent Europe.

[1] Boyd's belief was that because Australia was in its infancy at the time of his critique, it had not developed a strong historic character like Europe, and thus its architectural landscape was a bombardment of confused style and mixed ideas.

[citation needed] It was further examined in After The Australian Ugliness, a collection edited by Naomi Stead, published in 2020 by National Gallery of Victoria and Thames & Hudson Australia.