AUSTRALIA
"CORE OF MY
HEART, MY COUNTRY"
To-day is
Australia Day! I thank God for bringing me to Conception and Birth in this
remarkable Country.
Not the most
beautiful country in the world, not the strongest country in the world, not the
leading country in the world. You can have all that.
My Country is
a place of real freedom, of real peace, of frank and trustworthy folk, whose
friendship isn't feigned. An open, generally trusting people who are
nevertheless not too easily fooled. They abhor pretension and if they have a
fault it is a desire to ensure that no-one rises too high - it is called the
"tall poppy syndrome" - tall poppies get cut down to size!
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| AUSTRALIANS GATHERED AT ANZAC COVE GALLIPOLI - LEST WE FORGET |
Australians
are a pragmatic people, no doubt a product of the sometimes harsh extremes of
weather, and the lack of almost everything except land in early colonial days.
As a result public discourse is not big on principles, but more on what will
work. Our political system and legal system are born out of our English
colonial origins. Our independence was sought and given, rather than fought for
and won. We remain a constitutional monarchy, with the British Monarch as our
Head of State, but our pragmatic nature makes the majority of Australians see
that we are really and factually independent; and advocates of a Republic have
been unable to gain traction. The system works, the pragmatists don't need to
fix it.
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| AUSTRALIAN ICONS |
Politically,
we are fairly evenly divided between political Conservatives and a Labor based
group. The latter have a fragile balance of power in the Federal sphere at
present, but seem certain to be rolled out of office at the next election.
There is an underlying small "c" conservatism in the Australian
psyche, which, combined with pragmatism, kills off such ideas as a Republic,
identity cards, or anything that excites modern radicals.
One of the
best summaries of Australia, the land, is contained in Dorothea Mackellar's
1904 poem "My Country”. It is a fine piece of work, addressed to many of the
British citizens of Australia who, at the time it was written, would still
speak of "home" and mean England! So it begins:
"The love
of field and coppice,
Of green and
shaded lanes,
Of ordered
woods and gardens,
Is running in
your veins.......................
I know, but
cannot share it,
My love is
otherwise.
I love a
sunburnt country,
A land of
sweeping plains,
Of ragged
mountain ranges,
Of droughts
and flooding rains............
Her beauty and
her terror,
The wide brown
land for me!
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| AYERS ROCK |
An opal -
hearted country,
A willful
lavish land -
All you who
have not loved her,
You will not
understand,
Though Earth
holds many splendors,
Wherever I may
die,
I know to what
brown country
My homing
thoughts will fly!
AMEN to that!
Yet another
lady, this time English - born Caroline Carleton, wrote in 1859 the Song of
Australia which was set to music by the German Carl Linger. It won a
competition sponsored by the South Australian Gawler Institute for a patriotic
song. It also has things to say, which merit attention, despite some of the
flourishes of its time. It begins:
"There is
a land where summer skies
Are gleaming with a thousand dyes,
Blending in witching harmonies, in harmonies;
And grassy knoll, and forest height,
Are flushing in the rosy light,
And all above in azure bright-
Australia!
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| BOUNTEOUS CROP IN WAKE OF DROUGHT BREAKING RAIN |
........
On hill and plain the clust'ring vine
Is gushing out with purple wine,
And cups are quaffed to thee and thine-
Australia!
.........
There is a land, where floating free,
From mountain top to girdling sea,
A proud flag waves exultingly,
And freedom’s sons the banner bear,
No shackled slave can breathe the air,
Fairest of Britain's daughters fair,
Australia!
I love
it! - Australia, Yes - But the Song of
Australia too! Oh, I know it's more than a little over the top! But it has the
spirit of my country. And any lady who can write about "gushing out with
purple wine and cups are quaffed to thee and thine" has got my vote!
There is
another patriotic song by Father Maurice Reilly C.M. Which is more subtle and substantive,
which I also love, and which I first heard in First Class at my Convent School
in 1946:
AUSTRALIAN
NATIONAL HYMN
God bless our
lovely morning land!
God keep her
with enfolding hand
Close to His
side.
While booms
the distant battle's roar
From out some
rude, barbaric shore.
In blessed
peace forever more,
There to
abide.
............
Land of the
dawning! Lo! At last,
The shadows of
the night are past;
Across the
sea,
Is spreading
far the purple light,
The lonely
mountain peaks are bright,
And visions
crowd upon the sight,
Of days to be.
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| "THE WARM OF HEART AND STOUT OF HAND" CREW OF HMAS PERTH - LOST IN THE BATTLE OF SUNDA STRAIT DEFENDING AUSTRALIA FROM THE EMPIRE OF JAPAN |
The future is
thine own, loved land,
The warm of
heart, the stout of hand,
The noble
mind,
Shall build a
Nation truly great,
With Christ
for King; where love not hate,
Shall be the
charter of the State
To all
mankind.
There is much
more, all warm with faith in God and belief in Australia's promise.
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| PATRONISING ENGLISH VIEW AT THE TIME OF FEDERATION ! THE AUSTRALIAN COMMENTS MIGHT HAVE SURPRISED THE CARTOONIST AND EDITOR |
In fact, at
the time of Federation there was a widespread confidence in Australia's unique
character and mission to show the world a new way of true freedom and peace and
justice for all. It was a heady idealism, which sadly seemed to be overwhelmed
by the tragedy of the First World War, the Great Depression, and the crusade of
the Second World War. It still survives in wisps of spirit which are caught
here and there. But is largely lost to the national consciousness.
Let's not get
too analytical - it is a day for Fair Dinkum CELEBRATION. With a very great
deal to celebrate! We can save the “cerebration" for another day!
And so off to
Lunch with dear friends - “AUSTRALIA!” as Caroline Carleton would have exclaimed.
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