I am an ex-Australian.
If you yourself are an Australian then I expect I can tell what you are feeling now by reading that sentence. The very term ex-Australian conjures up a sense of confused, wounded pride and you may be thinking how is being an ex-Australian even possible!
Australians are brought up to believe that the country of Australia is the best in the world. This view is reinforced through Australian media reporting on international polls saying our cities are the most liveable, our landmarks are most unforgettable and our athletes the best in the world. There is an awareness that the big,brash USA also makes claim to the best country in the world, but the difference between Australians and Americans is that the former don’t go around telling everybody else about it – which in-turn gives Australians the moral high ground in feeling even better about themselves.
Let me be clear. I was born in Australia, have an Australian passport and love the country of Australia. I am simply finding that I now have difficulty in identifying myself as an ‘Australian’. After living overseas for a number of years I am finding the modern Australia to be quite different to the idealic, lucky country that I grew up in and to what everyone says it is. I think the key reason for this – is the so-called typical ‘Aussie’.
Looking at the front page of news.com.au today there are 2 main stories that give me clear reasons as to why I am unwillingly starting to find myself disassociating myself with what it means to be Australian.
1. The Australia Day protest against the PM and Opposition Leader
Firstly, I get the feeling that Australians love to hate their leaders, whether it is their boss, corporate achievers or especially politicians (that are still holding office). It is even in Australian nature to give the footy umpire a hard time. Indeed, we have a term ‘tall-poppy syndrome’ which is only known in Australia.
Taking this further, we do not hesitate to use our right to free speech* to attack other Australians who do not share the same views. You can see this through the multitude of disparaging comments left on news sites and the phenomena of demonstrations for the sake of demonstration. Seriously I feel every left-wing student activist is just hoping for the next Vietnam War so they can ‘make a stand fighting for what is right’. I do not see how these demonstrations do anything except ‘create awareness’. After the events of Australia Day I’m sure that many Aboriginal activists realised there is such a thing as positive AND negative awareness.
Here is a thought – instead of just showing anger through demonstrations, how about submitting a group proposal for change outlining specific steps that need to be taken to better the situation?
2. The second news article is a proposal looking at getting migrants to come to Australia to do all the dirty jobs
The article talks about how workers for all of our unwanted jobs get paid ever-so-marginally more than those on the dole. It seems obvious to me that many Australians now feel entitled to living in a Lucky Country. We go on and on about how Australia is a multicultural country, talk about the poor boat people, yet complain about not being able to find a job – or that migrant workers take them, when from this article it seems there are jobs but they are not wanted. If you want to see a multicultural country just go to the UK.
Here are some other things I find difficult in identifying myself as an Australian:
- Complaining … about pretty much everything.
- An incredible cynicism for anything that does not match up with one’s personal views.
- A love of drinking (lots of it)
- the sexualisation of everything
- how everything has to be exactingly fair
- big consumerist culture with less of a focus on community (i.e. in the cities people often don’t know their neighbours)
As mentioned, I have lived overseas now for some time and perhaps some of the points I raised may be a result of Australia changing since I have been away. In that time, my personal outlook has also changed on a number of issues – even my Australian accent has to be ‘put on’ when talking to other Aussies now. Another influencing factor could be that I am just a 1st generation Australian.
Anyway to finish this quite negativebut hopefully thought-provoking piece (sorry) I want to share what I do like about Australia. I do want to be proven wrong and reconnect and once again feel proud of being Australian. I want my children to feel proud too.
- the country and its nature
- Australian humour
- Australian sport
- Political system and associated personal freedoms
- Comfortable
- Easygoing, laidback nature of most of its people.
- The Tim Tam slam
Please leave your comments below and tell me what you agree or disagree with.
*Author’s Reflection*
After some further thought and listening to some of the comments posted here and on my facebook site, I feel as if this post should become less of a ‘protest demonstration’ but an opportunity for all of us Australians to look at our lives and take it unto ourselves to represent the best of Australia. Myself especially. Whether I like it or not, people will still associate me with being an Australian and so I need to take a less passive attitude towards all of this. I encourage other Australians to think about this and how to be better Australians too.
Tags: australian nature, Ex-Australian, tall poppy syndrome, tim tam slam, typical aussie
】因为飓风，游客减少，澳大利亚东北部动物保护区的一只名叫Tonka的袋熊（wombat）因为没人来拥抱它了，所以患上了抑郁症。 Tonka掉了20%的体重，因为没人拥抱！！好可怜！期待Tonka尽快康复~
好萌的袋熊有没有！！！！好想一口咬死它！！！！
