When I first wrote this article I kept thinking " what is the image that most encompasses Australia? "
The Sydney Harbour Bridge?: Opera House? The Great Barrier Reef? What is it that makes us Australia?
And I realised that it was not a place. It was not building or a monument or even a flag. It was us.
It is the people and no matter what our government tries to do, we Aussies still love our country. Though many of our recent migrants do not. So I am leading off with something unexpected.
It is a photo that I love. It is of Dame Edna.
What an ambassador she was and still is.
Barry Humphries once said "There is no more terrible fate for a comedian than to be taken seriously."
For those of you who are not aware of the magnificent Dame Edna Everidge, she was the Australian housewife who became a global megastar. From humble beginnings, all those years ago, as a young girl, she knew that she was different. When I read her autobiography “ My Gorgeous Life “ back in 1989, I remember her describing herself the moment she knew that she stood out from her playmates. It was, as I recollect, in the sandpit. Her mauve hair made her feel like a magnificent agapanthus and her friends were envious of her beauty and grace… or something along those lines. She spoke of the things that made her stand out and her early realisation that she was destined for great things, far from the suburban confines of Moonee Ponds.
“ I was born in Melbourne with a precious gift. Dame Nature must have stooped over my little bassinet and gave me this gift. It was the ability - the priceless ability - to laugh at the misfortunes of others. “
Admittedly, her views on Barry Humphries have never been a secret. She did not like Barry Humphries. She criticised him as an opportunist ever eager to make money off her talents. However, she added, ''If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't be where I am today.''
I remember when Barry actually defended Sir Les over the infamous East West Airlines issue. Who could forget it?
From what I recollect, Sir Les Patterson boarded an East west Airlines flight and had a tin of creamed corn or similar, which he emptied into the airline “ sick bag. “ He was banned from East West. Barry Humphries intervened on Sir Les’ behalf. As a direct result of Barry Humphries pleas, Sir Les was allowed back onto the airline.
When I first came here. I never got it. It was outrageous. I was horrified.
But, over the years I assimilated and laughed and found joy in being an Australian.
I even listened to that fellow named Kevin Bloody Wilson.
It was very wicked but, to this day, I listen to it every Christmas come what may. And, yes it is not that sort of thing that you could not laugh at UNLESS YOU WERE AUSTRALIAN.
I found myself becoming one of you. And it was marvellous.
We had warm winter nights and endless summer.
Yet I have seen the autumn come and the winter descend. My life in the early days of the 1970s is a far distant memory.
When we came here,, life was simple: Become an Aussie or bugger off.
Which ( finally ) gets me to my point.
We have a referendum coming up here in Australia. To grant our Indigenous Australians greater rights than for other Australians
Apparently, Indigenous Australians are underrepresented."
Funny that. I would have said that we are about 95% represented. Maybe more, but let's not allow the facts get in the way of a good story.
It all comes down to the definition of the word.
The problem is that we all need to know what an Australian Indigenous person is.
So let us escape down the rabbit hole ( or snake hole if you want to be more precise in today's political terms ) and define what a first Nation person is and an Indigenous person, and what an Aboriginal person is.
What is a First Nation person?
A First Nation person is:
any of a number of peoples especially of Canada who are indigenous to the North American continent
Well, that doesn't seem terribly Australian.
An Aboriginal person is defined as
- Having existed in a region from the beginning: synonym: native.
- Of or relating to aborigines.
- Of or relating to the indigenous peoples of Australia.
That seems fair to me.- except for the bit about indigenous.
When we come to Indigenous person, however, things change a bit.
An Indigenous person is
produced, growing, living, or occurring natively or naturally in a particular region
And that is where this particular pickle begins.
Can we not stop this nonsense and have a laugh? Or is that no longer permissbile?
Or maybe too much truth?
I am neither indigenous nor Aboriginal and I am not a First Nation. I am merely an Australian citizen, granted by Indigenous Australians to build a new life here. I am indigenous to New Zealand and I am not aboriginal to any land.
In fact, that would explain why I still barrack for the All Blacks when they play against the Wallabies. I cannot help it. It is my Indigenousness coming through.
People like Malcolm are Indigenous. I suspect that many of our other contributors and readers are the same. I am here in Australia as an invited guest who was granted the honour to live here and grow and adapt.
I changed my way of speaking. I tried not to clip my vowels. I became an Aussie as much as I could. But I will never be as Aussie as Pensioner Pete or some of our other people here. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I am simply explaining that I am not indigenous.
We " imports " are not Aboriginal. We have skin cancers to prove it, as one aboriginal friend once told me, that I am " a white fella in black fella country. "
Many of us originated from roots grounded in foreign lands. Our forebears traversed seas and endured all kinds of hell to arrive in the antipodean lands we now call home. Places that many will never visit except in images on social media or in stories told in articles read from snowy northern hemisphere winters.
Many people braved the oceans through choice. Many others did not. They were transported from Britain as unwanted and discardable. Nationless. Others abandoned their homes in Ireland, England, Scotland and elsewhere to try their luck in somewhat luckier countries.
Like penguin couples searching for a nest, homes were found. Lives were created and histories formed. So many of us proudly placed and place the old photographic proof of our ancestors on our walls in our homes and thank them for their courage and salute them for their bravery. Much like our brave soldiers who sailed off to war to fight for "Mother England. "
Our first settlers were not aboriginal. They were not indigenous. But, by crikey, they were Australian.
Can we please work out what this referendum is really about?
Is it to give aboriginal Australians a greater voice in parliament?
Or is it to take away the voice of the Indigenous Australian and the Aboriginal Australian?
The man or woman born in this once great nation?
To replace it with a voice that is so much more impactive and more dangerous than any we have seen or heard before?
That the United Nations silence any Voice and seek to shut down Indigenous and Aboriginal voices because there must only be "One Voice" and that Voice has nothing to do with Indigenous rights, Aboriginal rights or any voice other than their own.
Mark my words. Indigenous Australia Is about to become a hot topic.
The wording of this referendum will be critical to the survival of Australia.
Who will be the recipient of this power?
The Aboriginal? The Indigenous?
Or the people who want to create a new FIRST NATION in the New World Order?
I am banking on the latter.
We saw what happened with the vote on Same-Sex Marriage.
Imagine the gates of hell opening up with this one and multiply it.
Because the minute you vote for the " Indigenous " vote, they will change the definition of the word. And your birthright will become meaningless. Your words will become nothing.
And there will not be a thing you can do about it because you asked for it.
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