Australian National Identities

 

The Australian national identity in the contemporary world has come to be considered a matter of considerable debate. This is because there are varying opinions concerning what it means to be Australian. There is a diversity of opinions from international observers concerning what it means to be Australian and these opinions are often based on some aspect of Australian history. Australia is a nation that has been unique since it was founded and it has come to enjoy a status on the world stage that has essentially been based on its unique identity. Its alliance with the United States has made it one of the most important players in the East Asian region, and this is to such an extent that Australia has managed to essentially advance its influence over a region that that would otherwise have been beyond its reach. However, the development of a national identity has essentially come to depend on the manner through which individuals in the country view themselves. In this paper, there will be a discussion of how international observers view Australia, including its being essentially British, and its being a multicultural society. However, the paper will argue that Australia, rather than having any of the identities mentioned above, is actually quite laid back concerning its identity to such an extent that it is not such an important issue for a majority of its population.

One of the most significant opinions by international observers concerning Australia is that it is essentially British. This opinion is based on its colonial history, because Australia was for a long time a British colony. It was a colony that began as a place where criminals from Britain were taken and was essentially a prison colony. However, the resilience of its settlers ensured that Australia fast developed into a land of opportunity for many British settlers to such an extent that rather than being merely a colony, the quality of life for its people improved. Australia became a middle class nation that was in between the powerful motherland at the top, on one hand, and Third World countries at the bottom, on the other (Lake, 2013). A result of such a situation is that it led to the advancement of a situation where Australians came to be considered middle class British. Because it was a British colony, a majority of the population of the country used to be of British descent, and this has ended up creating an opinion among observers that Australians strongly identify with their British ancestry (Tranter & Donoghue, 2007). A consequence has been that at an international level, there are very few differing opinions concerning the British nature of Australians, and this is despite many Australians actually not feeling the same way. For international observers, Australia is an essentially British settlement because of its history and it is rarely the case that outsiders think otherwise.

One of the most significant connections to Britain that Australia had and continues to inform current opinion concerning its identity internationally is that it was a part of the British Empire. A result was that as an integral part of the empire, it did not have a separate identity, with many Australians considering themselves British. Australia participated in both World Wars on the side of the empire and this was essential because it showed a clear connection between it and Britain (Donoghue & Tranter, 2015). However, the situation in the contemporary world has changed because Australia is no longer a part of the British Empire. In fact, the British Empire can be considered to have come to an end following the end of the Second World War because it could no longer sustain the costs of maintaining such a far flung empire. The main connection that Australia has with Britain is that they share a monarch, with Queen Elizabeth II of Britain also being the head of state of Australia (Austin & Fozdar, 2016). This situation often leads to an international misconception that Australia is British, but this is not the case because Australia has become an independent state and has made its own decisions and ran its own affairs for many decades. That it has the same monarch as Britain is incidental because even though Queen Elizabeth is officially the head of state, she is represented by the Governor General, who is an Australian citizen. Therefore, Australian national identity, despite its close history with Britain, can no longer be defined as British because to do so would be to discount the considerable advancements that Australia has made since the end of the First World War.

Another opinion that has come to be made concerning Australian national identity is that it is a multicultural society. This is especially the case considering that Australia has come to include immigrants from other parts of the world. In addition, a situation has developed where there is growing recognition of the part that has been played by the Aboriginal peoples in the history of the country. This has been to such an extent that there is considerable support for the negative history concerning them to be made public. The Aborigines, who have lived in Australia for millennia before the advent of British colonialism and settlement, have undergone some of the most brutal treatments by latter settlers in the country (Neville, Oyama, Odunewu & Huggins, 2014). Therefore, by coming to terms with its history of negatively treating the Aborigines, Australia has come to terms with its unique identity to such an extent that it can be considered multicultural (Maddison, 2013). There is also the opinion that because there is increasing non-European settlement in the country, Australia, rather than being British, has become a truly multicultural society and this is to such an extent that it is approaching a situation where its multiculturalism is similar to such countries as the United States and Canada. However, despite this opinion, there are still questions concerning what Australian multicultural identity actually means.

For many international observers, Australia has adopted a multicultural identity because of the rapid increase of settlers from other cultures. Immigrants from other parts of the world, especially from Asia, have settled in Australia over the years and their numbers make up a significant part of the population of the country. These numbers have come to be used as a means of signifying the increasingly multicultural identity of Australia (Moran, 2017). This has been especially the case when considering that many individuals in the country do not often consider themselves to be different from one another and rather identify only as Australian. Australian multicultural identity can be considered a situation that has yet to be resolved because there is still considerable debate concerning what it really means to be Australian. This is especially the case when it comes to the opinions of international observers because they do not often have firsthand information concerning the real national identity in Australia.

One of the most significant aspects concerning Australians and their national identity is that it is one that it laid back. Most Australians do not consider their national identity on a day to day basis and are instead more concerned about living in the best way that they can. In addition, because of the relaxed nature of their national identity, Australians are not often tied down by issues concerning their identity to such an extent that they are not able to achieve a sense of peace. Instead, these people are able to advance their lives through focusing on everyday matters that are not involved with national identity (Dixson, 2015). Because of the relaxed way through which Australians view their national identity, this country has not been affected by the same negative attributes that have come to be associated with nation states. For some, there is the belief that excessive nationalism could lead to the development of instances such as those that affected Germany and Italy prior to the Second World War. In addition, despite sharing a monarch with Britain, most Australians do not consider themselves to be British. This is especially among the younger generations, who do not have a direct connection to Britain and consider it quite strange to have a foreign monarch. These individuals, because of a lack of direct connection to Britain, consider themselves Australian and do not attempt to attach any identities based on their origins within their definition of what it is to be Australian. This is not the case with members of the older generation, some of who consider Britain to be the mother-country and are extremely loyal to the British monarch as their own (Smith, 2017). For them, the connection to Britain is much stronger and this is because of the manner through which the latter country had an influence on their lives. A consequence is that while many of these individuals consider themselves to be British or of British descent, younger generations are not that particular about their origins; a sign of the relaxed nature of Australians concerning their identity.

Australia has become a multicultural state over the decades because of significant migration from people of other cultures. A result has been that rather than having a monolithic national identity, Australians have been able to accept the different cultures of its peoples and accommodate them into its historical narrative. Australia has ended up developing an extremely multicultural environment for its entire people and this has been to such an extent that this country has been able to overcome the divisions and negative effects that often come with excessive nationalism. In addition, Australian multiculturalism, which is considered an essential aspect of being Australian today, has developed in such a way that it is accommodative of all the people in the country without emphasizing their differences. Therefore, Australian national identity can be considered to have grown beyond emphasizing petty differences and has become more of a unifying factor for its people. Instead, Australian national identity is expressed in a diversity of ways and this is especially the case when it comes to sport. Australians tend to back their teams, especially in international competitions, with a passion and this creates a situation where they are unified in a common identity (Hallinan, 2015). It allows them to come together both in times of wins and losses, and helps them to achieve a level of identity that allows them to come to terms with what it really means to be Australian. Such unifying factors, rather than a clearly defined national identity, ensure that Australians are able to advance their sense of nationhood without undertaking controlled activities aimed at achieving the same results. Thus, an understanding of Australian national identity is one that seeks to advance the idea that they are actually quite relaxed about it and do not seek to emphasize its characteristics.

In conclusion, there are many opinions concerning Australian national identity from the perspective of international observers. One of the most important of these is that it involves a situation where Australians are essentially British and this is based on the belief that they identify as such because Australia was a British colony. Another opinion concerning Australian identity is that it is multicultural and this is because despite its British origins, the country has come to encounter other cultures because of immigration from other parts of the world. Thus, a multicultural society has come about that accommodates all the people within the country. While the above opinions might be partially true, one of the most significant aspects of Australian identity is that it is not rigidly defined and has instead come about because it is a means through which individuals are brought together in various occasions. The relaxed attitude that Australians have concerning their national identity is based on their unique history because while they are no longer a British colony, the British monarch is still the head of state. Moreover, its cultural diversity has prevented Australians from being held down by forces of nationalism that are often harmful. Therefore, Australian national identity is manifested in a diversity of ways including in sport, which brings the people of this country together in a manner that allows them to have a sense of unity.