Come-on Aussie, belong, belong; come-on Aussie belong!

It’s only a couple of sleeps to go and once again we will get to celebrate what it is to be a ‘true Aussie’.

The 26^th January; a time for barbeques, a few beers and sharing stories of what it is that actually stirs the emotions about being truly ‘Australian’.

I recall a few years ago whilst departing from Germany’s Frankfurt Airport, as we walked to our boarding gate, suddenly there outside, we saw it. Yep, that is what stirred our emotions about being an Aussie more than anything, and what gave us that ‘lump-in-the-throat’ and maybe even a small tear-in-the-eye.

As we looked, that beautiful big red and white kangaroo tail came into view as a Qantas 747-400 slowly rolled into its gate. Both my wife and I stood there gazing at that symbol of what was just ‘so Australian’.

“It makes you pretty home-sick yet proud to be an Aussie when you see the Flying Kangaroo”, I said to Katherine, as we stared through the window, collected our thoughts....and then ironically proceeded into our Emirates boarding lounge for our flight home.

We are a funny mob, but I guess that is what really makes us unique. During the baby boomer era in the seventies, we overseas Aussies were renowned for a good work ethic, a wicked sense of humour and our practical jokes. We were either loved or unknown; but never disliked.

The only downside was that too many people thought our flag was that of New Zealand. Strange how after 113 years since federation we still struggle as a nation with our true identity; desperately clinging to a flag that depicts the Union Jack - a symbol of a place 14,000 kms away - and a collection of stars that symbolise a place almost 8,000 light years away.

The other strange thing is the event that occurs on the 26^th January every year. A day when we celebrate the anniversary of the day in 1788 when a captain of a wooden ship from the ‘mother land’ went ashore at Sydney Cove, 12 kms from Botany Bay and proclaimed an English colony called New South Wales.

Meanwhile, on our real National Day, when we should be celebrating the formation of our nationhood and independence (on 1^st January 1901), not only does the day go unrecognised but is completely ignored as we all struggle with our hangovers from the New Year parties the night before! It’s a pity that our forefathers chose such an inconvenient day to form our nation.

In recent years the lead-up to our special day has seen the introduction of flag-bearing cars. There is nothing wrong with that and in fact it’s a wonderful thing to see us proudly displaying love and respect for our nation. Just a pity that our footballers and cricketers find it so hard to actually sing our national anthem; a hard thing to do when you don’t know all the words!

What is not a positive development is the use of those car stickers and tee shirts saying, “We are full, f...k off”. Anti-immigration will always be around, but for a county like Australia we do have plenty of room. Paul Keating made an issue of us wanting to keep Australia for ourselves by saying, “When they were handing out continents, not many people got one; except Australia, that got one for itself”. It is a valid point, so why do so many of us feel the need to use Australia Day to display our national insecurities?

The famous developmental psychologist, Erik Erikson, argued that one’s ‘identity’ also involves factors such as beliefs, ideals and values that shape (a child’s) behaviour; leading into adolescence. So perhaps this lack of ‘belongingness’ and true sense of who we are plays out in our behaviour at such times as our national day?

NSW Labor Senator, Sam Dastyari recently wrote that Australia welcomed almost 240,000 immigrants last year. “It seems a lot”, he said. “Yet compared to the three million people who now rely on the Australian government for their pension – and that number is set to increase sharply as us baby boomers retire – the number not only seems small but becomes critical in supplying our economy with mostly young people who will go out and work and accordingly contribute taxes to help pay for those pensions whilst providing employers with the skills needed to drive our economy.”

It is hard to imagine an Australia today if we had not allowed the Greeks and Italians to come to our country post war. Imagine an Australia that doesn’t have pasta, garlic, pizza and al fresco (outdoor) dining. Our Vietnamese community, who were subjected to appalling racial abuse when they first came here to WA after the Vietnam War, now produce over 45% of all vegetables grown in our state. They, and many other immigrants, export produce and goods ‘back home’ and in doing so create foreign income for Australia. It’s such a good news story yet we still feel somewhat ‘uncomfortable’ about these foreigners who want to live here.

And whether we are happy about it or not, we find this continent of ours ‘slap-bang’ in the middle of Asia, that now provides us with employment and growth. Our future is Asia; not Britain. Yet many of us still struggle in being comfortable with Asians and still see our region from a very ‘Anglo-Saxon’ perspective. But this will change as more-and-more young families from around the region chose Australia to be their home.

We need to celebrate our uniqueness. We are, as a small nation in population, generally well respected, generous, clever and accommodating people. And in time we will feel more comfortable about ourselves and who we are.

You never know, one day we even may celebrate our national day on the 1^st of January.

 

Ross Taylor
January 2014.