What it means to be Australian
- Written by Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud
There’s many that have tried to define exactly what it is to be Australian, but it’s hard to do, because we’re a strange lot.
While Australia is a melting pot of multiculturalism, whose identity was initially defined by our British roots, we have evolved and continue to evolve to this day.
What we have become as Australians was, in a small part, what we initially built our country from; that romanticised notion of a wealthy country built off the sheep’s back from some outback frontier, or to a greater extent, that of our young sons, forging our national identity with courage, hard work and mateship on the battlefields of foreign lands.
While our past still helps define us from what and how we built this country over the last 220-plus years, it laid the foundations of who we are becoming as a people today; a country that is prepared to celebrate what we have built but is also prepared to accept the mistakes of our past without having to be asked.
That’s a country that knows itself and is comfortable with itself, who knows what’s right and wrong and just expects our country to do the right thing and to get on with making things right, when we haven’t.
Ultimately, Australians have become a laid-back but fair people, who have a sense of community and who understand if you’re prepared to work for it, you can still make it here.
Australians will celebrate those that have started from scratch and made something of themselves over those that have been born into privilege and wealth.
It gives us a sense of hope to see the little guy get up from nothing, because it says to us all we can still make it here, and you still can too.
We’re a laid-back people, ultimately because we’re comfortable with ourselves and who we are, but also our great lifestyle.
You can live anywhere you want in Australia. You can enjoy the beach and you can still determine how much you want to earn to support the sort of lifestyle you want.
To an extent, in aspiring for a better lifestyle in years past, we became more self-absorbed in ourselves, in our quest for a ‘better life’.
However, I sense a shift in our country. I sense one that is slowly becoming more outward thinking, one more interested in each other and the communities we live in.
In the bush our communities are what have defined us and bonded us together from the beginning, but what we should also be proud of is that many of our suburbs across the country have re-engaged in that sense of local community more and more recently.
Whether it be through a sense of belonging or sadly through a tragedy or a local cause from an outsider, our suburbs seem to be rediscovering that power of local community, looking after one another and giving back to a greater good.
I sense our cities are really re-embracing community more, not just because of tougher and uncertain times, but I have a purer belief that there is a rediscovery; that it not only gives us that sense of belonging, but it’s the right thing to do.
Above all, I think our most endearing trait as Australians is that we’re a fair people. While we normally remain laid-back and content with our lot in life and won’t actively engage in the day-to-day running of our country, we still have a great sense of fairness when provoked.
Australians will express themselves when provoked to right a wrong, or if they perceive someone or something getting an advantage that the rest of us don’t get, they’ll engage.
That’s what gives Australia our balance in coursing our country’s future.
If Australians don’t feel they can get a fair go, that their communities aren’t supported or their lifestyles aren’t being preserved, they’re woken from their content and become a people prepared to demonstrate that with conviction.
That’s what I believe it is to be Australian. It’s not complicated, it’s the simplicity we’ve created and the beauty of living in the greatest country on earth.
