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| Our PM - 100% Australian |
I'm totally Un-Australian and I'm proud of it.
Why? Because if I'm Un-Australian, it means that I am something other than fitting a subjective psychological mould of what's right and wrong. What's good and bad. What's patriotic and what's not. What is so bad about not being Australian anyway?
I find the term Un-Australian utterly racist. It implies that any behaviour that is not classified 'Australian' must be bad, shameful, wrong. Therefore, not being Australian is bad, shameful and wrong. You can come to our shores (by plane, not by boat) but you better start eating Vegemite and choose a footy team before you get through customs.
I can't believe that the term is used so loosely and bandied about all the time on TV by presenters. Don't people realise how racist it is? When Americans claim to be the greatest country in the world, don't we as Australians recoil in horror at their arrogance and their ignorance? When we hear the Poms declare to be the best nation in the world due to their class and heritage, don't we shake our heads and think 'that's bullshit, I've seen Ladette to Lady!'
So why do we think it's ok to judge our behaviour by its Australianness? Isn't that just the same as claiming to be the best country in the world, in fact isn't it even worse because its not just about geography, wealth and opportunity, but down to character traits and birthright. It's not just alienating the rest of the world, its alienating those people living in Australia who are not Australian by birth or citizenship or who are Australian but don't fit the status quo.
As a kid I always felt ashamed to be Australian. I craved the culture I believed was lacking in Australia. I was more interested in artistic pursuits like writing and music. I hated football and all sport in general. I wished I had been born to migrant parents; I wanted to have Italian or Greek or Indian blood like half of my classmates at school. They had history, architecture, tradition, food and exotic language. Whilst most of these kids might have been secretly wishing they had Aussie parents, little did they know that the pasty white skinned kid sitting in the shade, desperately wanted even just a teaspoon of that difference. That Un-Australianness.
Then in my twenties I went backpacking and lived in the UK for a couple of years. I decided that being Aussie was a good thing after all. We had a good reputation when travelling (at least we did ten years ago), the cost of living was affordable, we had little conflict internally or from external threats and Melbourne was starting to become a global city in its own right. I felt blessed when I returned from my stint in grey, dreary England.
So I loosened up. Started to accept all facets of being Australian. The larrikin, the bogan, the underdog. Hell, I even chose a footy team and started watching the Aussie Open every January. I embraced our culture. We like a beer. We like a derogatory joke. We like new cuisines. We'll accept new races into our fold but not until we've put you through the wringer and you've populated our cities with an Australian-born generation or two. Then you're ok. Then we'll not only eat your food, we'll learn how to cook it and share a table with you. As long as you don't mind us calling you a wog. As a joke of course.
But now, having ditched the booze and spent a dry Aussie day, not playing cricket but instead eating pannetone with some Italians, I'm reconsidering my stance on being Aussie. I'm not proud of our treatment of refuges, I'm not proud of a culture that makes me feel bad for being sober and not joining in sports, I'm not proud of a culture that only accepts difference once it can pick it apart, eat the good bits of meat off the bone and then throw away the gristle.
And that's why I'm proud to be Un-Australian.
