Aussie, Aussie, Aussie..Where do I belong?

I shared a coffee with a friend of mine late year and he was recounting an all too common story of being tailgated by a young 'hoon' in a hotted-up ute with 'mag' wheels. At the traffic lights, the music was blaring and the young man was proudly flashing 'tatts' on his sun-bronzed arms and played with his 'goaty' beard as he tapped the steering-wheel aggressively. As the lights turned green, the ute raced-off, wheels screeching. Stupid!

My friend and I agreed that whilst this sort of behaviour is indeed ‘stupid’, beneath the young man's aggression and 'loudness' was probably a young man who was essentially insecure, immature, unsure of his place in the world, and desperately trying to make a statement about who he is.

It was an ironical discussion because shortly after, we started talking about Australia Day.

“I love Australia Day", rejoiced my friend. "Already got the flags flying on my car; the 'barbie' is ready-to-go and the beer is cold. Bloody brilliant! I am an Aussie and proud of it!"

As the discussion expanded into a conversation about who we are, where to next for Australian society and issues of immigration etc., my mate told me that people who come to our country can, “either be Aussies or f...ck off”.

It's interesting really, as I love my country and I am very proud to be 'Australian'. Yet come Australia Day many of us seem to have this desperate need to be loud and to drive around telling anyone who will listen that “we are Aussies” and saying silly things like, “If people don't like it they can piss-off.” We also seem to enjoy the occasional punch-up, and getting drunk. It all makes for a great day to celebrate who we really are!

We also seemed to be so focussed on the 26^th January as our ‘Australia Day’ that we totally overlook the real ‘Australia Day’ – or ‘Independence Day’ – a celebration of when our nation was born on 1^st January 1901. But as my friend said, “Mate, that is such a lousy date; it would never work as we are all so hung-over from the night before”. So much for serious patriotism, but I guess he is right. So for now, Australia Day remains the 26^th January and my friend can enjoy the beer, the flags, the barbie and the right to be ‘loud’ as to who we are.

To be honest, fortunately not all of us are like that. But maybe on this Australia Day we should reflect a little as to why we are still a bit 'unsure' of our place in the region in which we live; a region dominated by Asia including the emerging super-powers like China, India and Indonesia. And why we still feel warm and fussy when the Queen comes out to see us? And why we still feel insecure about the possibility of 'going-it alone' as a nation in a very ‘insecure’ world?

And perhaps we should ask why some of us still feel a little uncomfortable about immigrants coming to our country despite the astonishing contribution they have made to our economy, our social fabric and way of life? Can you imagine if we hadn't let the Italians and Greeks come here back in the fifties and sixties? So much for a pasta, pizza and cappuccino, or 'alfresco' dining at local cafes!

In WA our Vietnamese community now grow over 50% of all our vegies. They also export to their birth country and in doing so generate export income for Australia.

Australia is a wonderful example of how a multi-cultural country can work, and how we can save ourselves economically by allowing immigrants to come and live here. And generally we are a pretty tolerant lot.

We are young as a nation - a hundred and twelve years since federation and our birth as a nation - and we still have a lot of growing-up to do. But let’s hope that we can find the political leaders who will give us a dream to follow; the vision for a bright and vibrant future so we can really achieve the greatness of which we are truly capable, rather than just 'muddling along' trying to be 'tough' and ‘loud'.

In the meantime, I guess we will have the Australia Day barbie; still get drunk, and still stick our flags on our car doors to tell the world that we are, ‘Bloody Aussies mate!’

But hopefully we can also contemplate where we are at present in our journey as a nation.

And if we are not sure, perhaps we could just ask the young hoon in the ute, that my friend was talking about? 

Ross B. Taylor

January 2013