The Australian Coat of Arms, adopted in 1912, shows a kangaroo and an emu. Both creatures that can only move forwards; they cannot walk backwards.
200 Years of Successful Mixing (and ‘Stirring’)
Australian culture is a successful mix of values and lifestyles from the variety of settlers and immigrants who came and made their homes here.
The English military and Irish convicts were predominant among the first white settlers of this vast continent and they all added their own culture to the mix.
They took the land without any thought about the native Australian aborigines who had lived here for around 40,000 years and had their own culture.
Settlement remained dominated by white Anglo-Saxon peoples with little but British immigration. Australian culture barely changed for it was part of the then-great British Empire. Then came World War 1 (often referred to as The Great War). In 1915, tens of thousands of young Aussie men volunteered to fight “for King and Country” and sailed off excitedly to far places such as Gallipoli and France, where they died by the tens of thousands trying to charge machine-guns with bayonets.
At the end of World War 2, many refugees from Europe started settling here too. They included Italians, Jews and Greeks who arrived here in significant numbers and brought their food, music and customs.
By the 1970s and 1980′s the Vietnam war was over and the number of Asian immigrants increased accordingly, boosted by boat people, refugees and illegal immigrants from the middle east. There had always been some Asians, but they had been a small minority before.
Our Australian culture, and its mix of peoples, was changing and maturing.
Sydney is now a thriving metropolis with diverse races and creeds working together with little serious friction. The Aussie culture has changed, albeit slowly. Most Aussies are willing to give the newcomers a “fair go”, and racial violence is rare.
Multiculturism works rather well here – especially in large cities such as Sydney, where the cultural mix is at its most diverse and really socially interesting. For example, we now have restaurants in Australia with all kinds of different cuisines; but fifty years ago the food was so British it was boring and unimaginative.
Thankfully, that has changed. And it is the immigrants who helped to open our eyes and ears, and tickle our taste buds.
Australia’s culture has now become a rich blend of values and lifestyles from the wide variety of settlers and immigrants who have made their homes here, worked hard and raised families.
Image via Wikipedia.
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