First Dispatched 2 December 2013

Egun on nire lagunak

My family arrived in Australia in 1958 . As I’ve mentioned before, we were part of the first post-WWII wave of boat people. We initially lived in Moe, pronounced Mah-oo-wee, in Gippsland (Victoria). Not far from Moe there was a chicken farm said to be “the biggest chicken farm in the Southern Hemisphere”. A plethora of “ best, biggest, longest, thickest, weirdest and so on, in the Southern Hemisphere” kept being referred to in newspapers and discussions. In a humorous book on post war Australia that I can’t recall the title of, there was a chapter titled “The Southern Hemisphere” illustrated by a George Molnar cartoon of a fellow sitting in a large halved globe (the bottom half in case you’re wondering). The book was published around the same time as Nino Culotta’s ‘They’re a Weird Mob’. Having arrived in Australia from another Southern Hemisphere country (via my Northern Hemisphere country of birth), I had my serious doubts about these claims , I would not have been at all surprised if Argentina or South Africa for that matter boasted an even larger chicken farm. The Great Australian Cringe was alive and well. We ‘New Australians’, as long as we retained a trace of a wog accent, were forever being asked how we liked Australia and any hint of criticism in our response, however well intended or naively delivered was not very graciously received. I soon learned not to argue with such unproven boasts: If Australians wanted to feel good about having the largest chicken farm in the Southern Hemisphere, who was I to deflate their supercilious  pride? It’s not good to be a wet blanket. It earns you no gratitude. The ‘go back to where you came from’, or its less polite form ‘If you don’t like it… fuck off’ mentality were much in evidence then and sadly remain with us today. A bit problematic and somewhat ironic when many want to apply the same sentiment to those that have been here all along.

Some years ago on the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service) radio network, after 5 p.m. when normal ‘traffic’ ceased, there was what was known as the ‘Galah Session’. People on cattle stations used to socialize on their short wave radio, whenever there were no occasional medical emergencies being dealt with. During the period of self determination suddenly a large number of radio licences were obtained by Aborigines who joined the Galah sessions (mostly in Pitjatjantjarra). On occasions radio conditions were such that you’d hear those people whose boats were going to be purchased by the present Australian Government. A large number of Indonesian fishermen could be heard talking to each other in Bahasa Indonesia. Their signals were rather weak. The Pitjatjantjarra signals on the other hand were loud and clear. A ‘cow-cockie’ was famously overheard to say to his friend on another station: “Geez Bob, can you hear them foreigners?”

When we returned to Australia from our much enjoyed two year sojourn in Canada in 1971, as Wendy was walking down the ship’s gangplank carrying a guitar, a wharfie sang out “Gissa chune on ya banjo luv”. That’s when we knew we were back home. Many Australians have experienced a return from exotic and amazing places overseas to feel that they’re back home and that Australia isn’t so bad and really a great place and that there is absolutely no need to claim the largest chook farm in the Southern Hemisphere in order to be a proud Australian. It’s a nice a place…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFacWGBJ_cs

Mind you in 1970 the Canadian Government paid for a television advertising campaign promoting tolerance and multiculturalism. The advertisements featured Canadian singer Buffy Saint Marie….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqaEdk4Jsko

In Australia the mining industry spent around $20million to convince a majority of Australians that taxing the super profits of large multinational mining companies was a bad idea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CREUOpaVYJQ

Fair enough I say, how could we ever expect foreign investors to invest in the largest chook farm in the Southern Hemisphere, if their super profits are liable to be subjected to extra taxes? As for multiculturalism and tolerance, we’ve got to get our priorities right, we certainly don’t want to see a reason for the revival of the Great Australian Cringe. Nah, what we want the most is the largest chook farms in the Southern Hemisphere, then truly will we be The Lucky Country, The Country of the Fair Go, The Clever Country. The greatest country in the Southern Hemisphere, the land down under…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYR4rM6Y4v4

Australia often ‘punches above its weight’. In sport, in medicine and many other fields.
Some great music has emanated from this sunburnt country….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWwVRxixrXw …Pigram Brothers ‘Saltwater Cowboy’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRdl60MfTBY … Powderfinger ‘These Days’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZGQd1KR8xY … Billy Thorpe ‘Rock me Baby’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbqH4FjiXac ….Black Sorrows ‘Chained to the Wheel’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxteU1qWLDA ….Buddy Knox Band
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kpc1tlZlGg …. Lajamanu Teenage Band ‘Wiyarpa Wanti Jalu’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmLVxRS_Sxs ….Wildflower ‘Galiwn’ku’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhgDqY7_RGs ….Gurrumul ‘Gopuru’

We have much to embrace, much to celebrate. Why can’t we extend this to include the first Australians? And not by Closing the Gap, but Bridging the Gap.

How much richer we’d all be? How much less likely our cause to cringe? How much lesser the need to invoke the largest chook farm in the Southern Hemisphere to be proud to be Australians?

Zergatik egin behar da, beraz, esan nahi dugu?
Hurrengoan arte,

Frank

(won’t keep you in the dark…. Google translate from Basque…. Just tried it, is never quite the same when you translate anything back)