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The Idea Of Australia Season 1 Episode 2
#TheIdeaOfAustralia
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FunTranscript
00:00For the best part of 20 years my career took me overseas.
00:22My nostalgic view of Australia was challenged by the place I returned to.
00:29I wonder is it time that we all began to re-imagine what is the idea of Australia?
00:37When I close my eyes and think of Australia, I see my dad in his shorts mowing the grass.
00:42The surf lifesaver, the footballer, meat pies, Vegemite, big sky, big red dirt roads through
00:48the desert.
00:49This is like a country, there's no question about it, I mean if you're born in Australia
00:53you've won the lottery.
00:55What an extraordinary polyglot place it is.
00:58It is astonishing.
00:59But the idea of who we are as a nation is still a work in progress.
01:05It sparks debate and conflicting views.
01:08Fair go, egalitarianism, greatest multicultural country on earth, like that's a great package,
01:13it's just that it's not real.
01:15It's been served up to our people and it's a shit sandwich.
01:18Out of this multitude of stories crystallises a story of Australia that is only ever going
01:26to be partially true.
01:28This is the story of the contest to create a nation.
01:32Fighting for the republic has been gruelling and heartbreaking.
01:35To make the changes that we need in the constitution is going to take people power.
01:41How rebellion and defiance courses through our history.
01:45It's not what we think is the foundation of our culture as these radical progressive women.
01:51Activism was coming from women just standing up and saying it's not fair.
01:54And I am the product of the extraordinary women who came before me.
01:58And the legacy of war.
02:00The idea that any wartime feat forges a nation leaves me distinctly uncomfortable.
02:06What does the making of our nation tell us about the idea of Australia?
02:11And if we were to recognise the dynamism of the past, could we build something even better
02:17for a rapidly changing world?
02:41When I lived in the States, I was always amazed that Americans from all walks of life could
02:46quote from both their constitution and its amendments.
02:50From we the people to the right to bear arms and of course free speech.
02:55Americans have so internalised that document that it's almost become part of the DNA of who they are.
03:04I was always embarrassed that I couldn't quote from our own.
03:07And I'm sure I'm not alone in this.
03:09There's no grand sweeping statements or even a Bill of Rights to quote every time we're told we can't do something.
03:16But our constitutions in fact have something in common.
03:20Just like the American version, ours was written with the capacity to be changed to suit the times.
03:27Now we know that's not easy and that's by design, but it can be done when the idea of who we are needs to grow.
03:39On January the 1st, 1901, Sydney, the site of the first permanent settlement on our continent, celebrated the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia.
03:49The swearing in of the first Federal Cabinet in this pavilion marked the birth of our mission.
03:55What do you know about this Sydney landmark?
04:02Very little to be honest. All I know is that it's a monument for something.
04:07It's for Federation.
04:09Right.
04:10Do you know when that happened?
04:11Again, no.
04:12Is it, um, 1771? Is that right? No.
04:19What do you know about Federation?
04:20Captain Cook invaded Australia with a bunch of convicts at Port Bockingham.
04:26I don't know much about that sort of stuff.
04:29We were just having a little butchers there and, yeah, it's, uh, it's nice, but no idea, no.
04:35Do you know that we got a constitution then?
04:38I didn't know that, but, again, that does make sense.
04:41Um, you need a constitution that governs all of the states.
04:44Can you quote anything from our constitution?
04:50Um...
04:51Well, is it not freedom of speech? Is that not part of our constitution?
04:54Don't quote the American. I don't know.
04:57We probably know more about American history and their war of independence
05:06than we know about Federation and what it was we were trying to do
05:10when these separate state colonies chose to come together.
05:13It's not seen as a sort of revered moment of our history.
05:18Maybe Australians just don't give a shit enough
05:21to actually understand their constitution.
05:24They really don't care.
05:26Billy Bryant! Come on down!
05:31We need to care about our constitution.
05:33We need to care about where Federation brought us.
05:35We could choose not to care about it
05:37and have generations not understand why it is
05:40that our democratic institutions and principles are so strong
05:43and set us apart.
05:44That would be a catastrophe.
05:46Britishie?
05:47Cookie, where are you?
05:50I don't know. What's up?
05:52Can you make an Australia Day barbie at my place? Bit of cricket.
05:57For a lot of white Australians they think in terms of British settlement
06:00rather than the actual creation of the legal structure
06:03as the beginning of Australia.
06:05When Cook takes possession of the eastern side of the territory,
06:10it's generally known as New Holland.
06:12It's linked to ancient ideas of Terrastralis, a great southern land.
06:16Well, Australia didn't exist. There was no such thing as Australia.
06:19We became a series of colonies administered by England
06:23that were almost like their own separate countries
06:25and, in fact, could have become their own separate countries.
06:29The idea of Federation started when Henry Parks,
06:32who was the Premier of New South Wales,
06:34accepted a dare from the English governor
06:36to see if he could unite the colonies into one nation.
06:40Parks thought it could be done within a year.
06:43In fact, it took 11, and by that stage he was dead.
06:47You know, there was a lot of discussion that was happening
06:50during that 11-year period
06:52about what sort of society it was that they wanted to create.
06:56There were people arguing
06:57that women should be formally recognised in the Constitution.
07:00The New Zealanders, who at one point were going to be part
07:04of the Australasian Empire,
07:06were arguing that the First Peoples should be recognised.
07:09Now, to Section 6 of the Constitution.
07:12The states will be all these ones,
07:14this little one here,
07:15and New Zealand.
07:17They just need to accept our offer.
07:19Which, of course, they will.
07:21There were Irish groups and others
07:23who were arguing that it should be a republic.
07:25So, to get federation was quite a coup.
07:29The day the Commonwealth of Australia was inaugurated,
07:321st of January 1901,
07:34unlike today, it was hot and windy.
07:36Imperial troops and horse-drawn floats
07:39paraded through the city and up here on Oxford Street.
07:42Thousands of flags waved in the breeze,
07:45and 10 especially commissioned triumphal archers
07:48adorned this route.
07:49Now, I have stood right here for Mardi Gras,
07:53and I know Sydney loves to party.
07:55So, that first New Year's Day of the new nation
07:58must have been quite the spectacle.
08:01Now, on the evening of New Year's Day, 1901,
08:18celebrations for the great and the good
08:19ended up at the Sydney Town Hall.
08:22There's our first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton,
08:25and our second, that lover of the Ouija board,
08:29Alfred Deakin.
08:31Who claimed federation was a miracle.
08:35Also in the house, Samuel Griffith.
08:37No relative of mine,
08:38but instrumental in writing our constitution.
08:43Now, it had been a long day,
08:45and the VIPs were getting tired of speeches.
08:47They were just looking for a drink.
08:49In fact, poor Samuel Griffith's toast to the Commonwealth
08:53was drowned out twice.
08:55Eventually, the speeches stopped,
08:57but the party did not.
09:01The toast for the Australian Commonwealth was not properly delivered
09:14because all these men were three sheets to the wind.
09:18And the interesting thing here is,
09:21where were the women?
09:23Where were their wives?
09:28Meanwhile, the women,
09:29many of whom had been passionate campaigners for federation,
09:32were relegated up here in the upstairs gallery.
09:35They had hoped to civilise Australian politics,
09:39but on this night,
09:41they were merely spectators of the revelry below.
09:45It's no surprise so many women thought temperance a good idea.
09:49Perhaps they thought this young nation needed to sober up
09:53before it had listened to them on fair wages,
09:55full suffrage,
09:56and protections against domestic violence.
10:00Despite this separation of the sexes,
10:03it was quite the opening night bash for a nation.
10:05Celebration of the nation
10:08Give us a hand
10:10Celebration of the nation
10:11Let's make a grand
10:14We were no longer just South Australians
10:16or Queenslanders,
10:18Victorians or Westralians,
10:20New South Welshmen or Tasmanians.
10:22We were Australian.
10:23Someone give us a hand
10:26A nation had been made,
10:30but the document establishing the new form of government
10:33had some gaps.
10:37Still does.
10:39What we don't see reflected in our constitution
10:41are rights for every Australian.
10:46If you look at our constitution,
10:48we borrowed cut and paste from the United States.
10:50So we borrowed the federal system from the United States,
10:52we adopted the Senate,
10:54took parliamentary responsibility and responsible government
10:56from the Westminster system, from the UK.
10:59But where we stopped
11:00was the cut and paste of the US Bill of Rights.
11:03We don't even have a statement that we're all equal.
11:06We are the only liberal democracy in the world
11:09that doesn't have
11:10a Bill of Rights.
11:15The concept at the time
11:16was parliaments
11:18as representative bodies
11:20would be the most appropriate body
11:23to balance rights.
11:25And on one level,
11:26that has strength to it,
11:28that you want your parliamentary body
11:30to be doing that.
11:34We have politicians telling us,
11:35don't worry,
11:36responsible government protects you
11:37and protects your rights.
11:39Why any Australian would believe politicians
11:41when they're selling to you a concept
11:43which means they're less accountable to us
11:45and to our rights
11:46is astonishing to me.
11:48The fact that there is no reference
11:50to citizenship rights
11:51has meant that the government of the day
11:54has a lot of power
11:56in relation to
11:57the restriction of people's rights.
12:00We begin with the latest
12:01on the coronavirus outbreak.
12:03Australians overseas are this morning
12:05scrambling to come home
12:06as authorities prepare
12:07to shut the country's borders.
12:09not to include a Bill of Rights,
12:11not to include equality provisions
12:13has had a huge impact on our nation
12:15and what we are today.
12:17It enabled ongoing discrimination
12:19against First Nations people
12:21who were not even treated as humans.
12:22And that's continued
12:30throughout our history.
12:32We cannot help but wonder
12:34why it has taken
12:36the white Australians
12:38just on 200 years
12:40to recognise us
12:42as a race of people.
12:44Our history guides us
12:47in understanding
12:47how we got into these problems
12:49and if we're blind to the history
12:51it'll be harder to fix things.
12:55History has proved
12:57that taking a pen
12:58to the Constitution
12:59is no easy task.
13:02Just 8 out of 45 referendums
13:05have been successfully passed.
13:08I actually think
13:10we need more referenda, not less.
13:13But part of the problem we face
13:14is that there's
13:15a great unknown
13:17in the holding of a referendum
13:18a feeling that
13:19we're changing the Constitution.
13:20this is massive
13:21and yet the Constitution
13:23is made to change.
13:24It's made to be changed.
13:26It has the provision in it
13:27through the section
13:28on changing the Constitution.
13:30We must stop thinking
13:31of our Constitution
13:32and Federation
13:33as a frozen moment.
13:36It's a living document
13:37that requires a degree
13:38of creativity
13:39and an imagination
13:41about what kind of a nation
13:42we need to be
13:43in a modern context.
13:45But the systems of power
13:46that have evolved in practice
13:48have made that very difficult.
13:51When the voice referendum
13:52was proposed
13:53it was 25 years
13:54since the last one
13:54so we don't do them
13:55very often.
13:55The idea for a voice
13:57came from the people
13:59and it will be decided
14:01by the people.
14:03The voice yes campaign
14:04launched a hopeful fanfare
14:06but only one referendum
14:08has ever passed
14:09in Australia
14:10without bipartisan
14:12political support.
14:12The Coalition
14:14like all Australians
14:15wants to see
14:16Indigenous disadvantage
14:18addressed.
14:19We just disagree
14:19on the voice
14:20being the solution.
14:22We've got one
14:23of the great democracies
14:23no question about it
14:24in terms of
14:25one man won't vote
14:27one woman won't vote
14:27but the truth is
14:28you can't change
14:29the Constitution
14:30with a referendum
14:31if you get one side
14:32of politics that opposes it.
14:33Doesn't matter what it is.
14:35This voice is risky
14:36divisive
14:37and permanent
14:38so if you don't know
14:39vote no.
14:40Do we want to
14:41become an advisory body
14:43to the colonial system?
14:45If you don't know
14:47vote no.
14:48The no campaign
14:49galvanised support
14:51amongst undecided voters
14:53and uncertain communities.
14:55Never even heard of it.
14:57So it's voice to parliament.
14:59I'm not sure at the moment
15:00but most probably
15:02no for now
15:04because I'm not sure
15:05what happened
15:06if I say yes.
15:07There were a lot of people
15:09from Meineke the Woods
15:11that actually voted
15:12no.
15:14As refugees
15:16or as people
15:17who've come here
15:18to call Australia home
15:19you just want to
15:21keep a low profile
15:22and it was seen
15:24that if you voted yes
15:25you'd be a troublemaker.
15:28They were saying
15:29that if we vote yes
15:30they're going to
15:31come and take our land
15:32take my house
15:34because of where I live
15:36and the zoning
15:36and everything else.
15:37One of the goals
15:38is to tear down
15:39the war memorials
15:40and replace them
15:41with the fake genocides
15:42of the Aborigines.
15:43I object to
15:45a minority group
15:46controlling
15:47what happens
15:49in Australia.
15:50The fear
15:51fear sells man.
15:52But we are so
15:53easily manipulated
15:55I think
15:55that's the problem.
15:57Or they believe
15:57what they hear
15:58on social media
15:59or from their
16:00misinformed friend.
16:02Have you googled it?
16:04The voice
16:04the proposal
16:06the referendum
16:06have you googled it?
16:08You know what
16:08I have not
16:10had heaps of time.
16:11It's just
16:12busy.
16:13Yeah.
16:15Pretty much.
16:16Life.
16:20It's not
16:21good enough
16:21to say
16:22I don't know
16:22therefore I'm going
16:23to vote no.
16:24Go and find out
16:24that's part of
16:25what democracy is about
16:26that's why we give
16:27you the vote folks.
16:29There are always
16:30many and varied
16:31reasons why
16:32the winds of change
16:33are held back
16:34and constitutional
16:36reform fails.
16:38The tragedy
16:39is that
16:40the referendum
16:40came at a time
16:41when Australians
16:43were starting
16:44to feel the impacts
16:45of a severe
16:46economic downturn
16:48and a rise in
16:49cost of living
16:50a rise in interest
16:51rates forcing up
16:52rents.
16:53The result clear
16:54within minutes
16:55of the count
16:56getting underway.
16:57Tonight's result
16:58is not one
16:59that I had hoped
17:00for.
17:00This is the referendum
17:01that Australia
17:02did not need to have.
17:04Leaving voices of anger
17:05on both sides.
17:07My greatest regret
17:10if I were to think
17:11about it carefully
17:12is not saying
17:14firmly enough
17:16to the Prime Minister
17:17that we should
17:17delay the referendum.
17:21Australia was not
17:22ready for that
17:23referendum.
17:24For Australians
17:25to consider
17:25constitutional change
17:27timing it seems
17:29is all important.
17:31If we look back
17:32to the referendum
17:32on the Republic
17:33that was 1999
17:34a quarter of a century ago.
17:36Australians had given
17:37the thumbs down
17:39to a republic.
17:4054.7% said no
17:42to a republic
17:43with 45.3%
17:45in the yes can.
17:47And we still
17:48aren't revisiting
17:49that question
17:50in our constitution.
17:52What was squandered
17:53with the Republic
17:53referendum
17:54wasn't just the opportunity
17:55to become a republic
17:56and stand on our own
17:57two feet
17:58and to be seen
17:58to stand on our own
17:59two feet.
18:00The loss in that
18:02referendum
18:02made it harder
18:03for the next one.
18:05The loss of this one
18:06the voice
18:06the most recent one
18:07is going to make it
18:09that much harder again
18:10for any future attempts
18:11to have a referendum
18:12no matter how important
18:13the issue might be
18:14that we need to resolve.
18:15And just because we have
18:16one of the longest
18:17continuing democracies
18:18in the world
18:19doesn't mean
18:19we should be too scared
18:21to update our constitution
18:24to reflect modern times.
18:26So we're dreamers
18:27and yet every now and then
18:28we're put to the test
18:29and fear comes in
18:30and we pull back
18:31from doing the brave thing.
18:33There has never been
18:34a more intense period
18:35of change.
18:36The industrial revolution
18:37was huge
18:37but we are facing
18:40change on change
18:41on change
18:42on change
18:43and yet
18:44we can't
18:46use the constitution
18:48as one of the tools
18:49in our kit
18:51to be able to adapt.
18:53Now that isn't just sad
18:55that's dangerous.
18:57And our constitution
18:57could be an aspirational document
18:59and I don't believe
19:01that our constitution
19:02reflects the society
19:03that we are
19:03or the society
19:04that I certainly
19:05want us to be.
19:07But as successful
19:08referendums have shown
19:10constitutional change
19:12is possible
19:13with a hard fought
19:14contest over ideas.
19:16Australia can no longer
19:18tolerate legal
19:19racial discrimination
19:20against its indigenous people.
19:22The result of the referendum
19:24on the aboriginal question
19:25was a resounding triumph
19:26for the aboriginal cause.
19:28It's from such debate
19:29that seminal questions
19:31are asked
19:32about what our idea
19:34of Australia is
19:35and what we want to become.
19:38There's an inscription
19:39around this building
19:40that asks the question
19:42should Australia
19:42be a place of greed
19:44and worship
19:44of materialism
19:46or a paradise
19:47to last a thousand years?
19:49It comes from a poem
19:50that was written
19:51around the time
19:51of Federation
19:52but it's still
19:53a pretty good question
19:54don't you think?
20:07For a largely
20:09law-abiding bunch
20:10this nation of ours
20:11has been forged
20:12from a long line
20:14of rule breakers.
20:16We love the idea
20:17of sticking it
20:18to authority.
20:23It's a trait we adore
20:24in our folk heroes
20:25and film characters.
20:27One of the new guys
20:28first day on the job
20:29and he rips me off
20:30ten grand.
20:32And you've done
20:32some bad things sweetie.
20:35Our politicians
20:37I tell you what
20:37any boss who sacks anyone
20:39for not turning up
20:39the day is a bum.
20:41And most of all
20:43in our sports stars
20:44Adam Goods
20:45was booed.
20:47Well
20:47some of our sports stars.
20:51So where does
20:52this maverick streak
20:53come from?
20:56What Australians
20:57don't understand
20:58is that we were
21:00the Guantanamo Bay
21:01for the British Empire.
21:02At least 3,600
21:08political prisoners
21:09were transported
21:10to our colonies
21:12in the 19th century.
21:14And these people
21:15were sentenced
21:15for protest,
21:17reform,
21:19for outright
21:20rebellion.
21:22Britain was built
21:23on a series
21:23of hierarchies.
21:24It was built
21:25on landed privilege,
21:26it was an aristocratic
21:28country,
21:28it was based
21:29on property
21:30and so
21:31the radical
21:32colonial democrats
21:33were wanting
21:34to instate
21:35a radical ideal
21:36of equality.
21:39The fear
21:40of the British
21:40was that
21:42there would be
21:42a revolution
21:43in Britain
21:43as occurred
21:45in France.
21:46These people
21:52were transported
21:53en masse
21:53to Australia.
21:55Some of the
21:56leading orators,
21:58political activists
21:59of the age
22:00and they made
22:02a difference.
22:04Like
22:05Eureka Stockade.
22:10The uprising
22:12of gold miners
22:13in 1854
22:14gave claim
22:15to Eureka
22:16as the birthplace
22:17of Australian
22:18democracy.
22:20No taxation
22:20without representation
22:22and having
22:23the vote
22:24and removing
22:25the property
22:25franchise.
22:27Eureka
22:27was critically
22:28important
22:29as a moment.
22:30And around
22:32the same time
22:33the union
22:33movement
22:34erupted.
22:36Unions
22:36were organising
22:37unskilled workers
22:39for the first time
22:40in Britain
22:40and the United
22:41States
22:41and there's
22:42an explosion
22:43of working-class
22:44radicalism.
22:46It's the job
22:47of the trade unions
22:48to look after
22:49wages,
22:50hours of work
22:51and fair treatment.
22:53Australia's had
22:54a very vibrant
22:55union history
22:57and it was
22:58a very militant
22:59movement.
23:00People power
23:01continues to rise
23:03and shapes
23:04the party
23:04political system
23:06we know today.
23:07The Labour Party
23:08formed,
23:09which would be
23:09a political arm
23:11for the union
23:12movement
23:12because they realised
23:13that they actually
23:14needed to be
23:15organised and
23:16in government
23:16if they are
23:17going to improve
23:18the conditions
23:18of workers.
23:20The Labour Party
23:21emerges as the
23:22first effective
23:24organised
23:25working-class
23:25political organisation
23:27in the world.
23:30Like all political
23:31parties,
23:32the ALP
23:32has evolved
23:33from its roots.
23:34But what is
23:35also striking
23:36about the
23:37reforming
23:3819th and
23:39early 20th
23:40century
23:40is what has
23:41been airbrushed
23:42from the
23:43storytelling.
23:44This period
23:45of radicalism
23:46celebrated
23:47as his story.
23:50I think the
23:51thing that has
23:52surprised me
23:53most about
23:53studying Australian
23:54history
23:55is that I
23:57couldn't see
23:58myself in that
23:59history necessarily.
24:01The history
24:01that I was
24:02studying didn't
24:03have women in it.
24:05It's
24:06extraordinary
24:06how they
24:07are absent
24:07from the
24:08history.
24:09And yes,
24:10they were there
24:10in far fewer
24:11numbers than
24:12the numbers
24:12of the
24:12male convicts
24:14that were
24:14sent out,
24:14but they
24:15were there.
24:19A number
24:20of women
24:20who were
24:21transported
24:21for petty
24:22theft,
24:23property
24:23offences
24:24or for
24:25political
24:25offences
24:26were put
24:27into female
24:27factories
24:28on their
24:28arrival in
24:29Australia.
24:31Serving
24:32the needs
24:33of the
24:33colony
24:33for
24:34mass
24:35female
24:36labour.
24:37That meant
24:38they were all
24:38brought together
24:39and they
24:41networked.
24:43It was always
24:43said there was
24:44a counterculture
24:45called the
24:45flash mob.
24:47The flash mob
24:48were a group
24:50of women
24:51convicts who
24:52were wild.
24:54killed.
24:59She bumped
24:59into me.
25:00And they
25:00were violent,
25:01terrible morals,
25:03they'd all been
25:03prostitutes.
25:05Women who
25:06had given up
25:07on respectability.
25:11Assigned to
25:12female factories
25:13with terrible
25:14working conditions
25:15in the
25:151840s,
25:17they revolt
25:17against the
25:18system.
25:19There's the
25:20we are all
25:21alike incident
25:22where these
25:23women just
25:23have had
25:24enough with
25:24the rotten
25:25food they're
25:25given.
25:26They bring
25:26in the
25:26police and
25:27they say,
25:28who's the
25:28ringleader?
25:30Who's in
25:30charge?
25:31Who caused
25:31this riot?
25:32And they say,
25:33we are all
25:33alike.
25:34We are all
25:35alike.
25:35It's sort
25:35of a,
25:36we're all
25:36Spartacus
25:37moment.
25:38You won't
25:38read about
25:39them in the
25:39history books
25:40because essentially
25:40men wrote
25:41the histories.
25:42And they
25:44didn't think
25:45that things
25:45that women
25:46were doing
25:46were relevant,
25:49necessary.
25:49I certainly
25:50didn't learn
25:51about Australia's
25:52radical women
25:53from traditional
25:56education.
25:57It's not what's
25:57celebrated.
25:58It's not what
25:59we think is the
25:59foundation of our
26:00culture as these
26:01radical, progressive
26:02women.
26:03I will not be
26:04lectured about
26:05sexism and
26:06misogyny by this
26:07man.
26:08I will not.
26:09Certain vested
26:10interests don't want
26:11women to progress
26:13and be treated
26:15equitably, but I
26:16legitimately don't
26:17understand what
26:18the threat is
26:19from women.
26:22I personally am
26:24the most non-threatening
26:25creature, except for
26:27maybe when I'm in
26:27the lodge.
26:29And then, you
26:29know, but even
26:32then I didn't do
26:33anything threatening.
26:34I just frowned at
26:36someone.
26:41In Australia, we've
26:42had about 140
26:43years of feminist
26:44activism.
26:46From about the
26:471880s right through
26:48to the present day.
26:50And two demands
26:52characterise women's
26:53activism, and they
26:55are the demand that
26:57women be safe from
26:58men's violence.
27:00Can we really
27:01believe that we're
27:02protesting, asking for
27:04women not to be
27:05assaulted?
27:06That demand has been
27:09there for 140
27:11years.
27:12Intertwined with that
27:13demand, that is the
27:15demand for the
27:16economic independence
27:17of women.
27:18Until women had
27:19economic independence,
27:21they would not be
27:21free.
27:22They could not be
27:23self-determining.
27:25And we are far from
27:26achieving that ideal
27:28yet.
27:29Oh, life's a bugger.
27:31Yet, Australia was
27:36once at the forefront
27:37of advancing female
27:38rights.
27:40This nation seen as a
27:42beacon across the
27:43globe.
27:45As an Australian
27:45woman, I'm proud that
27:46we led the world on
27:48female suffrage.
27:49In 1902, women were
27:51given not only the
27:52right to vote, but also
27:53to stand for federal
27:54election.
27:57Gaining the ballot,
27:58of course, was seen
27:59as a major form of
28:01power.
28:02If women could only get
28:03political power, they
28:05would then be able to
28:06achieve all these
28:06reforms that they
28:07wanted.
28:08It was going to be a
28:09place where there were
28:10welfare payments, where
28:12there was a widow's
28:12payment, where there
28:13were maternity
28:14allowances.
28:15We had changes to
28:17arbitration legislation
28:18that saw workers in
28:19Australia have the best
28:20conditions in the
28:22world.
28:23A Labor government was
28:25elected very much by
28:26female voters.
28:28So all of these
28:29things led to
28:30Australia in this
28:31period to be seen
28:33as a land of
28:34experiments, a social
28:36laboratory.
28:37All of these
28:39progressive ideas
28:40were going to
28:41actually come to
28:42fruition in Australia.
28:44Australia.
28:46And then there's the
28:48First World War.
28:50The new myth that
28:52was created from
28:54there was that
28:55Australians were not
28:57these progressive
28:58radicals, but were
29:00these virile young
29:01men who were prepared
29:02to put their lives on
29:04the line.
29:04in the making of the
29:13Australian nation and
29:15the formation of our
29:16identity, the horror and
29:19commemoration of war has
29:21loomed large.
29:23It's impossible to come to
29:25these sacred places and
29:27reflect on the loss and
29:28sacrifice of so many and
29:31not be moved.
29:34And yet the interplay
29:35between the battlefield
29:36and the national
29:37character is a complex
29:38one.
29:40It conjures a clash
29:41between myth-making
29:42and truth.
29:45Also, too, a
29:47suppressed and selective
29:48telling of our
29:50history.
29:52We celebrate and
29:53acknowledge the
29:55sacrifice in those wars,
29:57First World War, Second
29:58World War, Korea, Vietnam,
29:59et cetera.
30:00We should also
30:01acknowledge the people
30:03who fought in what I
30:05call the Australian
30:07Wars.
30:11There are the British
30:11Wars, the American
30:12Wars and the Australian
30:14Wars.
30:14And the Australian
30:15Wars are how the
30:16Australian people, our
30:18First Nations, fought
30:20against the British.
30:22What an heroic story.
30:24It's what Australia is.
30:25It's what it was
30:26founded on is this
30:28violent territorial
30:30struggle for the
30:31continent.
30:32That's what made the
30:33nation a hundred years
30:35of war.
30:37Thousands and
30:37thousands of Aboriginal
30:38people died.
30:40We pretend like it just
30:41didn't happen.
30:42Well, I'm here today to
30:43tell you that it did
30:44happen and my great
30:46grandmother survived it
30:48and so did my
30:49Kalkadoo ancestors.
30:51We survived it and
30:52we're here to tell you
30:54that it happened.
30:56I think it's fair to
31:02say that over time
31:03most nations have been
31:06formed and forged
31:07through war.
31:08Australia had a war.
31:10It had a long
31:10protracted guerrilla war
31:12that went on and
31:13took enormous goals.
31:15But we didn't factor
31:16that into the notion of
31:17the formation of the
31:18nation.
31:18We had to wait for
31:25World War I to be
31:26retrospectively
31:27invented as the war
31:30that formed the nation.
31:35And there's the battle
31:36at Gallipoli that was
31:37lost, let's remember.
31:39It was an absolute
31:40balls-up.
31:42A seminal moment in our
31:44history, mythologised, of
31:46course, on film.
31:48Get away!
31:49No!
31:50No!
31:53Out of those losses and
31:54defeats emerged this story
31:57that the Australian nation
31:59was made on the shores of
32:01Gallipoli.
32:02The First World War did so
32:10much damage to the
32:11country, but nations gain
32:13their strength, they gain
32:15their legends and they gain
32:16their mythology through
32:17genuine sacrifice, the
32:19sacrifice which forms the
32:21Australian soul.
32:23Well, the Anzac myth is
32:24very important because people
32:27gave their lives fighting for
32:28their country.
32:29But it's not the only thing
32:32that defines our country.
32:35But at the time, actually,
32:36World War I was hugely
32:38divisive.
32:40The Prime Minister argued
32:41for conscription.
32:43By referendum in 1916 and
32:441917, the people rejected
32:46the proposals.
32:48It was pretty dicey putting
32:50these questions to
32:52enfranchised men and women,
32:54particularly putting these
32:55questions to women.
32:57Prime Minister Billy Hughes
32:58thought women would put
32:59their family interests first
33:01and not the national
33:01interest.
33:02And he actually said women
33:04voters were on probation.
33:08And we'll be watching how
33:10they vote.
33:11And if they don't vote for
33:13the national interest, in
33:14his case, conscription, well,
33:17we'll have to think about
33:18their citizenship.
33:19I mean, it was a shocking
33:20claim, but it shows you too
33:21how radical it was still then
33:23that Australian women had the
33:25vote and defeated referenda
33:27twice.
33:30Meanwhile, in central western
33:31New South Wales, a propaganda
33:33campaign springs up, a
33:36grassroots movement determined
33:38to boost Australia's dwindling
33:40number of diggers.
33:42William Thomas Hitchin was a
33:44local of Gilgandra.
33:45He and his brother, they would
33:47often get together and have an
33:48evening smoke and a chat about
33:51the casualties in the trenches
33:53over in France and in Turkey.
33:58They came up with this idea of
34:00doing what we would call a
34:02snowball recruitment scheme.
34:05And the idea was to start here
34:08at Gilgandra, march the way
34:10through to Sydney.
34:11And as they passed through each town
34:15or village, they would send out
34:18call of Cooey.
34:20And the hope was that they would get
34:22one recruitment per mile.
34:24On the day of October 10th, 1915, out of a
34:31shire of 4,000 people, 3,000 people
34:35turned up.
34:37There were bands playing and there was
34:39people cheering and they marched out and
34:42went slowly but surely.
34:45And each township along the way had like a
34:48fate or a little festival.
34:49There's lots of other like-minded people
34:52who choose to join them and go off
34:54and fight.
34:57By the time they got to Sydney, they were
35:01faced with a crowd of 100,000 people.
35:07And so from that success, there was an
35:10additional eight more recruitment drives
35:12done throughout New South Wales.
35:15And there was a total of about 1,200 more
35:19volunteers to go over into the First World War.
35:28November the 11th, 1980.
35:31Battered and tired, we were going home.
35:36After World War I, people thought,
35:37what were we fighting for?
35:39You know, there was a real cynicism
35:40throughout the 1920s about what Anzac meant
35:43and what the war meant.
35:44And then as we move forward, you know, in the
35:481960s and 70s, Australia is fighting in Vietnam
35:51and Anzac Day feels like, what does Anzac Day mean?
35:55Is it militaristic?
35:56And in fact, Anzac Day was, you know, really on
35:59the wane during that period, perhaps rejecting
36:02what war is.
36:03It's at the height of the peace movement.
36:05It's not until the 1990s that new life is breathed
36:09into an old mess.
36:12It was a very conscious decision of John Howard,
36:16the then Prime Minister, to invest deeply
36:18in the memorialisation of war to give Australians
36:24a sense of identity around the Anzac tradition.
36:28Today, we do pay homage to those men and women
36:32who either offered or gave their lives in war.
36:37It was a sort of Anglo-Celtic white dreaming.
36:39This is who we are as Australians.
36:41It was forged in the trenches of World War I.
36:45With the huge observance of Anzac Day,
36:47the numbers of young Australians that were going
36:49to Gallipoli and the Western Front,
36:51there is an argument that Howard struck something deep
36:53in the Australian psychology with Anzac.
36:56Howard was speaking to the country.
36:58He was speaking to the identity of the country.
37:01He wanted to express the spirit of Australia.
37:05John Howard says right at the end of his autobiography
37:08that the sight of thousands of young Australians
37:12wrapped in the Australian flag warms the hearts of Australians.
37:18It's never warmed my heart.
37:19If I feel anything out of the Anzacs, and I do,
37:22I feel sadness.
37:23I feel immense sadness.
37:24The Anzac myth was seen to be an easier way
37:27to talk about Australian identity
37:29that didn't have to take into account
37:31the multicultural story
37:32or the story of Indigenous dispossession.
37:35You need to be very careful about how we define our myths,
37:40what those myths are based on,
37:42and how we use them.
37:44They can be abused.
37:45There's usually only one day of the year
37:48when everyone's favourite toss of the coins is legal.
37:53Most Australians know something about Anzac Day.
37:57It's synonymous of an Anzac Day that two-ups played throughout Australia.
38:00It is the Australian way.
38:02But what else do they know?
38:04Do they know that Aboriginal people served at Gallipoli?
38:09Call out to God.
38:11Most unusual guard this in all the Empire's armies.
38:14Original Aboriginal Anzac.
38:15My father was Herbert Staley Lovett.
38:24He was born on Lake Contamission,
38:26and this is him here on my jumper.
38:29He was one of nine boys.
38:33He went to the First World War in 1917.
38:37There was four of them all up.
38:39The four Lovett brothers were the only four brothers
38:42in the holds of the British Empire to serve in two World Wars.
38:48They thought that it'll pay dividends at the end
38:52because you had input into keeping the country safe.
38:56But that only applies to white people, apparently.
38:59Australians persisted with the idea
39:01that men, white, working-class men mainly,
39:06should be settling on the land.
39:08Come World War I,
39:09it was agreed return soldiers
39:12must be put on the land as farmers.
39:15In Victoria, it was so extensive,
39:18the Soldier Settlement Scheme,
39:19that one-fifth of all land changed hands.
39:22The whole concept of Soldier Settlement
39:24didn't include Aboriginal people.
39:27Did not include Aboriginal people.
39:32Why didn't my father get what everyone else got?
39:35There's a sort of further tragic irony
39:40that in order to find enough land
39:42to settle Soldier Settlers,
39:44they were also taking over Aboriginal reserves.
39:48The soldiers coming back from World War I
39:49are given land.
39:51Aboriginal people get picked up
39:52and moved off into other places.
39:54Like many other Indigenous diggers,
39:59the Lovett brothers were not only denied
40:02Soldier Settlement land,
40:04but kicked off the reserve
40:05where they had lived before the war.
40:09Their land was gone.
40:12Given to five returned soldiers,
40:15non-Aboriginals.
40:16And the mission had closed.
40:19They actually wanted everyone off there.
40:22So they destroyed the church
40:27and there used to be a well there
40:29and they filled that up with stone.
40:31So there went the water supply.
40:33So it was a real act of determination
40:36to rid people of that area.
40:38Today, this land is estimated
40:43to be worth millions of dollars.
40:46I've been fighting pretty hard
40:47for compensation for Dad
40:50for the last goodness knows how long.
40:54It's been a really hard battle.
40:58In 2021, the Victorian State Government
41:01commissioned an artwork
41:02to commemorate the contribution
41:04of the Lovett brothers
41:05and their fellow Aboriginal Anzacs.
41:09Is that the best you can give my father?
41:11Recognition on a solo.
41:18I don't ask for anyone's charity.
41:22I do what I do.
41:23I'm proud of who I am.
41:24Proud of my father.
41:27Proud of my old uncles.
41:30All my families.
41:35I love this awesome picture
41:48by Tom Roberts
41:49depicting the opening
41:50of our first parliament in 1901.
41:54It is in fact 269 lifelike portraits
41:59of the most important people
42:01who were in attendance that day,
42:03including, of course,
42:04our first parliamentarians
42:06who created the new laws
42:08for a new nation.
42:10You'd think a painting like this
42:12would have been commissioned
42:13for all Australians
42:14to be cherished for generations.
42:17But it was in fact promptly
42:19crated up and sent back
42:21to the king.
42:22It only came home in 1958
42:25after Menzies asked
42:27his adored queen
42:28if perhaps maybe
42:30we could borrow it back.
42:31it's still officially
42:33on loan.
42:38There is still
42:39an extraordinary extent
42:40to which Australia
42:41still looks towards Britain.
42:45Up until the mid-1980s,
42:47God Save the Queen
42:48was still your
42:49national anthem.
42:50Australians like to think
43:03of themselves
43:03as fiercely patriotic,
43:06green and gold,
43:07and yet you still have
43:08an Englishman
43:09as your head of state.
43:13I find that bizarre.
43:15I find that ridiculous.
43:16God Save the King
43:20You know,
43:22why do we still have
43:23this Union Jack
43:24in the key spot
43:25of the Australian flag?
43:26Because we can't be bothered
43:27because it doesn't matter.
43:28We appoint Australians
43:29as Governors-General,
43:30but they're responsible
43:32to the Queen of England,
43:33or the King of England now,
43:34and not to our government.
43:35Now that's absurd.
43:36Why do we accept it?
43:37That's childlike
43:38to accept it,
43:39and we do.
43:39I think in many ways
43:41Australia is
43:42a conservative country,
43:44and I think
43:45the pragmatic view
43:46of the Australian people
43:47on so many issues is,
43:50well, I'm prepared
43:51to change arrangements.
43:53Just tell me the reason.
43:55If it's a good reason,
43:56I'll make the change.
43:58So what that means,
43:59of course, is
43:59if it ain't broke,
44:00we don't need to fix it.
44:04This is a very strong model
44:06of a democracy
44:07that is proving
44:07that it has strength
44:09and continuity,
44:10and the public
44:10generally takes confidence
44:12from its strength
44:13and history.
44:15The cold reality
44:16of our warm relationship
44:18with Britain
44:19is that a friend in need
44:20is not necessarily
44:22a friend indeed.
44:25With Britain
44:26in dire straits
44:27during World War II,
44:29they were unable
44:30to come to Australia's aid.
44:34Singapore,
44:35now Japanese,
44:36where impregnable batteries
44:38have roared their land.
44:39The fall of Singapore
44:40in 1942
44:41is about the folly
44:44of relying on a great power
44:45for protection.
44:47Political leaders
44:47throughout the late 1920s
44:49and 1930s
44:50took at face value
44:52the kinds of guarantees
44:53and assurances
44:54from London
44:55that if Australia
44:56was ever attacked
44:57by the Japanese
44:58or a major Asian power,
45:00that Britain
45:01would send its fleet.
45:0316,000 Australians
45:04were taken prisoner.
45:05The British
45:06could no longer
45:07afford to have an empire.
45:10Australians had to face up
45:11to the collapse
45:11of the defence
45:12and economic nexus
45:13of this relationship.
45:14The relationship
45:15around which they'd built
45:16the whole idea
45:17of themselves as a people,
45:19all of a sudden
45:20that was being taken
45:21from underneath them
45:21in decisions
45:22they neither sought
45:23nor welcomed,
45:24but it forced Australia
45:26to come up
45:26with a new idea
45:27of itself
45:27or to attempt
45:28to find one.
45:30We had a new enemy
45:31and a new ally.
45:33American troops
45:34came to Australia.
45:38We have clearly shifted
45:40from Great Britain
45:41as our great protector
45:43to the United States
45:44as our great protector.
45:45We have tied ourselves
45:47more and more
45:48and more
45:48and more
45:49to the relationship
45:50with the United States
45:51and in the process
45:51we have surrendered
45:53more and more
45:53and more
45:54of our sovereignty.
45:57In the making
45:58of the nation
45:58in times of peace
46:00and war,
46:01prosperity
46:01and hard times,
46:03Australia has tethered
46:04itself to Britain
46:06or America
46:07or both.
46:09A new security alliance
46:10for the Indo-Pacific region.
46:13Australia will become
46:14the seventh nation
46:15in the world
46:16to operate
46:16nuclear-powered submarines.
46:18The decision
46:19we have made
46:20to not continue
46:21with the attack-class submarine
46:22and to go down this path
46:23is not a change of mind,
46:24it's a change of need.
46:26So in the aftermath
46:27of the AUKUS announcement
46:29and this of course
46:30meant that Australia
46:31was ditching
46:32its deal
46:33to buy French submarines,
46:35the French ambassador
46:36said to me,
46:37I can understand,
46:38he said,
46:39why you have gone back
46:41to Uncle Sam
46:42in a way,
46:43he said,
46:43but I can never understand
46:45why you have gone back
46:46to Mummy.
46:48And this symbolised,
46:50I guess,
46:51this kind of confusion
46:52as to why Australia
46:53would see its strategic future
46:55bound up
46:56with the remnants of Britain.
47:01But could we really
47:02be comfortable
47:03with an idea of Australia
47:05that lets go
47:06of its old family ties
47:07and becomes
47:08a truly independent nation?
47:11If we don't have
47:12a great protector,
47:13yeah,
47:13we'd have to make
47:14different decisions
47:15about how we defend ourselves,
47:17how we protect ourselves
47:18in a very uncertain world
47:19and it would take
47:20tough decisions.
47:22But it's not impossible.
47:23Politicians have gone ahead
47:24and worked with China
47:26or worked with Indonesia
47:27or worked with India
47:28or worked with the Pacific now.
47:29It works.
47:31It functions
47:32and in fact
47:32it's to our advantage.
47:33The British heritage
47:35is still
47:35one of the keys
47:36to unlocking
47:38the character
47:39of this nation
47:41and that is a problem
47:43if you're trying
47:44to forge
47:45a different
47:46kind of
47:46identity.
47:52The death of the Queen
47:53meant we had to
47:54defer even more
47:55in our grief
47:56and our recognition
47:57of her
47:58passing.
47:59The time of a coronation
48:01is the time
48:02to talk about
48:03the monarch's impact
48:04on Australia.
48:05And the crown
48:05is not above
48:07politics to us
48:08because the symbol
48:09of that crown
48:10represented
48:11the invasion,
48:13the theft of land
48:14and in our case
48:15the exterminating war.
48:18And then there's
48:18this whole pylon
48:19especially on Stan.
48:21It was so
48:22inappropriate
48:23to do it
48:24on the occasion
48:25of the coronation
48:26of the King
48:27of Australia.
48:28And that's
48:30kind of I think
48:31the motto
48:31for Australia
48:32at the moment.
48:33Now is not the time.
48:34And people say
48:35well when is the time?
48:36That's the question
48:36for Australia.
48:38When is the time
48:39to talk about the monarchy?
48:40When is the time
48:40to talk about sexism?
48:41When is the time
48:42to talk about terra nullius?
48:43When is the time
48:43to talk about racism?
48:45When is the time?
48:47If we're to build
48:48a nation
48:49fit for purpose
48:50for the next century
48:51we must grapple
48:53with our past
48:54to make sense
48:55of today
48:55and to help us
48:57create
48:57a better tomorrow?
49:00Perhaps now
49:01really is
49:02the time.
49:05Next
49:06the fight
49:07to claim Australia.
49:09The law
49:09really
49:10conceptualises
49:11land
49:12as a thing
49:12to be used
49:13to be owned
49:14parceled up
49:15privatised
49:16built on.
49:17The rush
49:17for riches.
49:19Once upon a time
49:19it would have been news
49:20when somebody
49:21bought a $10 million
49:22house.
49:22They're now buying
49:23$20 million houses
49:24$50 million houses
49:26$100 million houses
49:27and the hope
49:28that looking back
49:29it was the first time
49:31an Australian court
49:32had recognised
49:32native title.
49:34Hallelujah!
49:35Can help us move forward
49:37to protect
49:38and preserve
49:39this ancient continent.
49:41A crown
49:50cannot be shared.
49:52The campaign
49:53for the throne
49:53of England
49:54ramps up
49:55as tensions rise
49:56and a battle
49:57brews
49:58when King
49:59and Conqueror
49:59continues
50:00Sunday 8.30
50:01on SBS
50:02and On Demand.
50:03I did not
50:06have it.
50:08I did not
50:10believe
50:11that
50:12you
50:12may
50:13have
50:15seen
50:26this
50:27day
50:27can
50:27have
50:27been
50:28co- snowflake
50:28and
50:29amazing
50:30on
50:30this
50:31evening
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