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The Golden Country: Australia's Changing Identity
In The Lucky Country, Donald Horne wanted to capture ‘what the huge continent was like…before it was peopled from all over Asia’. Sixty years later, we need to ask what Australia is like today, as it is being ‘peopled from all over Asia’, and what a century of nation building in the image of White Australia has meant for our country.
John Howard was the unlikely reformer of contemporary Australia. He transformed the migration system, creating the first immigration boom since the White Australia policy ended and dramatically diversifying the population. Yet his divisive rhetoric about national identity has hamstrung discussion about what these changes mean. As a result, Australia is a successful multicultural society with monocultural institutions and symbols.
Tim Watts’ family personifies this contradiction. His children are descendants of Hong-Kong—Chinese migrants and of pre-Federation politicians who sought to build a nation that excluded anyone who wasn’t white. As the representative of a diverse federal electorate, Watts asks: why is Australia’s imagined community so far behind its lived community, and what can we do about it?
John Howard was the unlikely reformer of contemporary Australia. He transformed the migration system, creating the first immigration boom since the White Australia policy ended and dramatically diversifying the population. Yet his divisive rhetoric about national identity has hamstrung discussion about what these changes mean. As a result, Australia is a successful multicultural society with monocultural institutions and symbols.
Tim Watts’ family personifies this contradiction. His children are descendants of Hong-Kong—Chinese migrants and of pre-Federation politicians who sought to build a nation that excluded anyone who wasn’t white. As the representative of a diverse federal electorate, Watts asks: why is Australia’s imagined community so far behind its lived community, and what can we do about it?
256 pages, Paperback
Published September 17, 2019
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September 30, 2019
Asian-Australians are a larger minority group in Australia than African-Americans are in the USA. Ever since I heard that figure from Watts himself I've been waiting for this book.
Watts, a Federal Labor Member of Parliament, sets out to trace how Australia is becoming a 'Golden Country', and how the politics and society of Australia are changing due to the significant migration of the last three decades. The book charmingly merges the personal (Watt's wife is Chinese), with the social and political. The central figure in his story is John Howard. Not for his 1987 opportunistic remarks, but rather his double act on immigration in the 1990s: Rapidly increasing capacity for skilled migrants to come, while hampering a national conversation about the changes that were coming.
As the comparison with the African-American population in the US makes clear, Asian-Australians are badly under-represented in Australia. In our parliament, culture, business and national identity. This must change. Not only to remove the discrimination which seems clearly at work - the so called bamboo ceiling - but also because the nation itself is changing.
Watts' book is one of the first I've seen from our political class to begin albeit tentatively, to engage with the relative decline Australia faces. The last time Australia had to debate 'facing Asia', it was an economic giant compared to many in its neighbourhood. Today, several of its neighbours are either nearly the same or on track to grow larger over coming decades. In turn potentially attracting the same skilled migrants who have fuelled Australia's economy so substantially over the last few decades.
The Golden Country offers a strong defence of a big and broad immigration system. Watts doesn't get too wonky on the policy details, but offers a clear explanation for how the system works and why it has been so strongly in our interests. Watts argues (i think correctly) that Australia's society is already far ahead of its polity in recognising and accepting its changing colour. That for all the history of racism in this country, the racists are the small minority who are breaching the common norms like egalitarianism.
While I agree with his critique of Howard, it would also have been good to see some reflection on the failure of the left to both defend the system and to put in place new ideas, images and identities. Leadership is not the sole province of the Prime Minister. For all the anger and spittle the left has put out since Pauline Hanson was elected, the left too has failed to bring the population with it, or to reflect the country as it is. An honest engagement with the left's problems in building an enduring response could have been useful. Watts begins this effort, at least in terms of looking ahead, with some smart ideas in his final chapter on re-imagining Australia as a Golden Country.
Watts, a Federal Labor Member of Parliament, sets out to trace how Australia is becoming a 'Golden Country', and how the politics and society of Australia are changing due to the significant migration of the last three decades. The book charmingly merges the personal (Watt's wife is Chinese), with the social and political. The central figure in his story is John Howard. Not for his 1987 opportunistic remarks, but rather his double act on immigration in the 1990s: Rapidly increasing capacity for skilled migrants to come, while hampering a national conversation about the changes that were coming.
As the comparison with the African-American population in the US makes clear, Asian-Australians are badly under-represented in Australia. In our parliament, culture, business and national identity. This must change. Not only to remove the discrimination which seems clearly at work - the so called bamboo ceiling - but also because the nation itself is changing.
Watts' book is one of the first I've seen from our political class to begin albeit tentatively, to engage with the relative decline Australia faces. The last time Australia had to debate 'facing Asia', it was an economic giant compared to many in its neighbourhood. Today, several of its neighbours are either nearly the same or on track to grow larger over coming decades. In turn potentially attracting the same skilled migrants who have fuelled Australia's economy so substantially over the last few decades.
The Golden Country offers a strong defence of a big and broad immigration system. Watts doesn't get too wonky on the policy details, but offers a clear explanation for how the system works and why it has been so strongly in our interests. Watts argues (i think correctly) that Australia's society is already far ahead of its polity in recognising and accepting its changing colour. That for all the history of racism in this country, the racists are the small minority who are breaching the common norms like egalitarianism.
While I agree with his critique of Howard, it would also have been good to see some reflection on the failure of the left to both defend the system and to put in place new ideas, images and identities. Leadership is not the sole province of the Prime Minister. For all the anger and spittle the left has put out since Pauline Hanson was elected, the left too has failed to bring the population with it, or to reflect the country as it is. An honest engagement with the left's problems in building an enduring response could have been useful. Watts begins this effort, at least in terms of looking ahead, with some smart ideas in his final chapter on re-imagining Australia as a Golden Country.
February 20, 2020
‘What does it mean to be a real Aussie today? What should it mean?’
Tim Watts is a seventh generation Australian who grew up on the Darling Downs in Queensland. He is also a Labor MP — the federal member for Gellibrand, an ethnically diverse electorate in Victoria. His children are the descendants of Hong-Kong Chinese migrants and of pre-Federation politicians who wanted to exclude people who were not white. In this book, Mr Watts explores how we have made the transition from ‘White Australia’ and what that means in terms of national identity.
‘Australia has made enormous progress in transcending the history of racial exclusion at the heart of Federation.’
I agree that we have made progress, but I think we still have some way to go. While 1966 marks the official end of the White Australia Policy, it wasn’t until the 1970s that the Whitlam Government established a policy of multiculturalism. And increased immigration from Asia came even later.
But what does this mean?
In 1996, in Pauline Hanson’s maiden speech to the Australian Parliament, she said: ‘I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians.’ ‘They have their own culture and religion, form ghettos and do not assimilate.’
I’d like to say that no-one agreed with her, but that would not be accurate. However, Australia is changing. There is much more diversity in our backgrounds now than there was fifty years ago. Those of us with essentially monocultural heritages have benefitted from this, but we’ve not embraced every aspect. Nor have our institutions reflect this diversity.
‘Today Australia is a nation of diverse classrooms but a resolutely monocultural parliament.’
There’s a gap between how we see ourselves as a community and how our institutions and symbols represent that diversity. We’ve not come to terms with the past, and until we do, we can’t move confidently into the future. Our institutions represent our British colonial past (with a few nods to the USA). Sigh.
But despite the sigh, I am mostly optimistic about the future, hopeful that we can move beyond ‘us’ and ‘them’ to an inclusive ‘we’.
I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in what it means (or might mean) to be Australian.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Tim Watts is a seventh generation Australian who grew up on the Darling Downs in Queensland. He is also a Labor MP — the federal member for Gellibrand, an ethnically diverse electorate in Victoria. His children are the descendants of Hong-Kong Chinese migrants and of pre-Federation politicians who wanted to exclude people who were not white. In this book, Mr Watts explores how we have made the transition from ‘White Australia’ and what that means in terms of national identity.
‘Australia has made enormous progress in transcending the history of racial exclusion at the heart of Federation.’
I agree that we have made progress, but I think we still have some way to go. While 1966 marks the official end of the White Australia Policy, it wasn’t until the 1970s that the Whitlam Government established a policy of multiculturalism. And increased immigration from Asia came even later.
But what does this mean?
In 1996, in Pauline Hanson’s maiden speech to the Australian Parliament, she said: ‘I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians.’ ‘They have their own culture and religion, form ghettos and do not assimilate.’
I’d like to say that no-one agreed with her, but that would not be accurate. However, Australia is changing. There is much more diversity in our backgrounds now than there was fifty years ago. Those of us with essentially monocultural heritages have benefitted from this, but we’ve not embraced every aspect. Nor have our institutions reflect this diversity.
‘Today Australia is a nation of diverse classrooms but a resolutely monocultural parliament.’
There’s a gap between how we see ourselves as a community and how our institutions and symbols represent that diversity. We’ve not come to terms with the past, and until we do, we can’t move confidently into the future. Our institutions represent our British colonial past (with a few nods to the USA). Sigh.
But despite the sigh, I am mostly optimistic about the future, hopeful that we can move beyond ‘us’ and ‘them’ to an inclusive ‘we’.
I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in what it means (or might mean) to be Australian.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
June 27, 2020
Thoroughly researched, well written, and engaging, this is a good segue into a non-threatening discussion about a changing Australia identify. The book allows for an informed conversation about the place of Chinese heritage in our nation's story, and the need for the Australian Identity to merge to include all parts of our collective history and culture. There are many positive ideas presented for how and why to be more inclusive as a nation, and I would be interested to hear Watts's views on other marginalised groups too, out of pure interest! He writes well, and it's an easily accessible book. It makes for some thoughtful reflection, and as a teacher of history myself, it made me think about how much Chinese history is taught in schools, and encouraged me to think about how I would be more explicit in teaching the stories of people like Billy Sing and even Toowoomba identities like Diamond Lum and Kwong Sang. (I was pleased that my history education from a regional university and career as a teacher in a regional town had paid off because I recognised many of the names mentioned in this book, both historical and contemporary! I will research the others as well, for future reference.) This book is a topical and hopeful read, and many forward thinking people would agree with the ideas presented. The personal touches from Watts's life are a good addition too.
November 28, 2019
Like most people in Australia, I don't usually have shelf-space for books written by Australian politicians. I don't mind the occasional political bio such as David Day's biographies of Curtin and Chifley, but there are only two here on the blog: Margaret Simon's recent biography of Senator Penny Wong (see my review here) and a very disappointing one of former SA Premier Don Dunstan. Craig Emerson's autobiography was another exception. But when it comes to politicians writing books about their political views, well, I'd rather do my tax return...
However, occasionally a book gets under my guard. Some readers may remember that I reviewed Two Futures, Australia at a Crossroads about four years ago. It was written by two Labor politicians, (then) backbencher Clare O'Neil and Tim Watts, and the book explored Australia's long-term future. It was because I admired that book that I bought Tim Watts' new one, and it's turned out to be rather interesting.
(You may remember that it was the catalyst for my recent reading of Bigger or Better, Australia's Population Debate by Ian Lowe).
As the federal member for Gellibrand, one of Melbourne's most ethnically diverse suburbs, Watts is witness to the transformation of our society since the infamous White Australia policy was ditched, and this book is a thoughtful exploration of how that came about, as well as a discussion about how this diversity isn't always reflected in our institutions such as parliament or the board room.
Although this diversity isn't reflected in rural and regional areas, it seems that survey after survey reveals that Australians are mostly comfortable with multiculturalism, and we don't (in contrast to monocultures like Japan) tend to feel that you have to be born here to be 'truly Australian'. But what is expected is that it's very important to 'share national customs and traditions' to be truly Australian.
This, says Watts, is a strong platform on which to build a national identity that is based on shared values and experiences, rather than birthright or ethnicity. And what are those elements of our culture that we are expected to conform to? Oh dear, I fail two of the four that are reported as being 'especially Australian':
'belief in the fair go (89%);
'love of the great outdoors' (89%);
'a sense of humour' (89%); and
'interest in sport' (82%) (p.122)
Yes, you guessed it, I am not interested in the great outdoors (except for vineyards), and I have no interest in any sport, of any kind. So notwithstanding having lived and worked and paid taxes here for over half a century, and despite my love of Australian literature, my fondness for my city, and the homesickness that assails me within three weeks of a long-anticipated overseas holiday, it turns out that I am unAustralian.
OTOH 78% of respondents said that was 'especially Australian' to have a diversity of background, and I've got that, so I expect I'll get over it:)
To read the rest of my review pleased visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/11/28/t...
However, occasionally a book gets under my guard. Some readers may remember that I reviewed Two Futures, Australia at a Crossroads about four years ago. It was written by two Labor politicians, (then) backbencher Clare O'Neil and Tim Watts, and the book explored Australia's long-term future. It was because I admired that book that I bought Tim Watts' new one, and it's turned out to be rather interesting.
(You may remember that it was the catalyst for my recent reading of Bigger or Better, Australia's Population Debate by Ian Lowe).
As the federal member for Gellibrand, one of Melbourne's most ethnically diverse suburbs, Watts is witness to the transformation of our society since the infamous White Australia policy was ditched, and this book is a thoughtful exploration of how that came about, as well as a discussion about how this diversity isn't always reflected in our institutions such as parliament or the board room.
Although this diversity isn't reflected in rural and regional areas, it seems that survey after survey reveals that Australians are mostly comfortable with multiculturalism, and we don't (in contrast to monocultures like Japan) tend to feel that you have to be born here to be 'truly Australian'. But what is expected is that it's very important to 'share national customs and traditions' to be truly Australian.
This, says Watts, is a strong platform on which to build a national identity that is based on shared values and experiences, rather than birthright or ethnicity. And what are those elements of our culture that we are expected to conform to? Oh dear, I fail two of the four that are reported as being 'especially Australian':
'belief in the fair go (89%);
'love of the great outdoors' (89%);
'a sense of humour' (89%); and
'interest in sport' (82%) (p.122)
Yes, you guessed it, I am not interested in the great outdoors (except for vineyards), and I have no interest in any sport, of any kind. So notwithstanding having lived and worked and paid taxes here for over half a century, and despite my love of Australian literature, my fondness for my city, and the homesickness that assails me within three weeks of a long-anticipated overseas holiday, it turns out that I am unAustralian.
OTOH 78% of respondents said that was 'especially Australian' to have a diversity of background, and I've got that, so I expect I'll get over it:)
To read the rest of my review pleased visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2019/11/28/t...
December 19, 2019
New Gold Mountain Reimagined
This is an important book about a country which has three parts to its identity - which if successfully embraced - each part by the other two - will bring us our Golden togetherness. This book encourages us as Australians to examine our own identity - our ethnic and cultural roots - those within our wider family and community and into the nation’s past and present - our national myths and the realities (often brushed out of the public triumphalist discourse however) that we need not be fearful or exclusionary - that the divisiveness of “them” and “us” should have no part in our identity as Australians. Set this book for study in senior school!
This is an important book about a country which has three parts to its identity - which if successfully embraced - each part by the other two - will bring us our Golden togetherness. This book encourages us as Australians to examine our own identity - our ethnic and cultural roots - those within our wider family and community and into the nation’s past and present - our national myths and the realities (often brushed out of the public triumphalist discourse however) that we need not be fearful or exclusionary - that the divisiveness of “them” and “us” should have no part in our identity as Australians. Set this book for study in senior school!
December 21, 2019
Valuable reflections on contemporary Australia, noting the gulf between the successful multicultural transformation of Australia and the monocultural stories that make up our national identity. Although this could have been a bit tighter in places, it's an important book and a stimulating read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews