The national image of Australia from 1945 to 1965 as depicted by Robert Menzies’ speech on The Forgotten People and Sir Frederic Eggleston’s The Australian Way of Life.

At the end of World War 2 and into the mid 1960’s, Australia was undergoing a national identity change and concurrently developing different images.  This essay will discuss two of the different new images of Australia by analysing two documents from that time period: Robert Menzies’ speech on ‘The Forgotten People’ and Sir Frederic Eggleston’s ‘The Australian Way of Life’.  The national images of a consumerist/middle-class nation as shown by Menzies and of a threatened nation talked about by Eggleston shall be discussed in the context of these and other supporting documents.  Events both current to and in the recent past of this time will be mentioned to give further context, relevance and support to the discussion.

The first image of Australia that will be discussed is that of a consumer and ‘middle-class’ nation.  The global economy was recovering from the depression of the 1930’s as well as the drain that the Second World War had put on the nations.  Due to the fact that most of the men went to fight in the war, more women started entering the workforce, and the result was a new sense of pride and of financial independence for them.  According to Macintyre, (as cited in Study Guide AUS 11, 2009, p. 26), between 1947 and 1961 the number of married women in the workforce increased fourfold.  The newfound income that the women had did not go unnoticed by businesses.  Women were placed squarely in the “role of housewives and mothers and consumers of domestic labour-saving devices” (Study Guide AUS 11, 2009, p. 26).  This is part of the consumerism and middle-class Australia image that was being formed through politicians, journalists, and advertising companies.  The bush legend of the turn of the century was being replaced by a view that suburbanization, being a ‘home-maker’, and household possessions were a necessary part of the Australian way of life. 

Robert Menzies talked in 1942 about ‘The Forgotten People’, or the middle class of Australia.  Regarding the middle class citizens and in relation to consumerism, he said “The material home represents the concrete expression of the habits of frugality and saving for a home of our own” (MacLeod in Documents AUS 11, 2009, p. 139).   Further to this, Menzies said that the middle class of Australia is the country’s backbone.  This stems from a comment that he made earlier in his speech; “I do not believe that the real life of this nation is to be found either in great luxury hotels… or in the officialdom of organized masses.  It is to be found in the homes of people who are nameless and unadvertised… The home is the foundation of sanity and sobriety… its health determines the health of society as a whole…” (MacLeod in Documents AUS 11, 2009, p. 138-139).  The question of why Menzies makes this statement in talking about middle class Australia becomes apparent in the next two statements that he made in his speech: “Your advanced socialist may rage against private property even while he acquires it…” and “National patriotism, in other words, inevitably springs from the instinct to defend and preserve our own homes.” (MacLeod in Documents AUS 11, 2009, p. 139).  With these two statements, Menzies both makes it clear that middle class Australia is prospering and developing a protective sense of the suburban homes that it only a few decades earlier shunned with the bush legend, and that Australia is also a nation that is under threat and needs to defend itself.

The nation under threat is the next image that is prevalent during this time in Australia.  Sir Frederic Eggleston stated that “Australians firmly believe that their way of life is unique, and they are fanatically determined to protect it.” (Heinemann in Documents AUS 11, 2009, p. 14).  This is not just a threat of invasion or war, as was the case with the Asian Peril, but of loss of identity through immigration of non-whites and non-Europeans and the influence of Communism.  White cited W. V. Aughterson’s Taking Stock when discussing the defence of the Australian way of life; “our way of life in Australia is a miracle for this kind of world, and … the danger lies in thinking of it as ‘natural’ and likely to endure without a passionate determination on our part to preserve and defend it.” (Readings AUS 11, 2009, p. 159). 

The end of World War II saw the onset of the Cold War and a shift in the way that the West viewed the Communist Bloc and racial purity.  “In that Cold War context, Australia was becoming an important bulwark of ‘freedom’.  Australia’s racial identity became less important than its alliance with the United States in the Cold War.” (White in Readings AUS 11, 2009, p. 158-159).  With the Cold War outlook on communism and the Nazi regime fresh in the world’s mind, Australia’s already existent racism towards non-whites and non-Europeans, in the form of The White Australia Policy and the scheme initiated by Minister Arthur Calwell to bring British ex-service personnel and their families to Australia (Study Guide AUS 11, 2009, p. 27), had to be altered, albeit only slightly.  According to the Study Guide, as it became increasingly clear that attracting sufficient British migrants was simply not possible, the definition of who would be suitable and adaptable to an Australian lifestyle was necessarily broadened to include southern, eastern and central Europeans (Study Guide AUS11, 2009, p. 27).  As Sir Eggleston put it, “…[Australians] are therefore determined to prevent these norms from being broken down by the admission in large numbers of unassimilable elements.”  (Heinemann in Documents AUS 11, 2009, p. 14). 

Even though those migrants that were allowed to enter Australia had met the approval of the strict immigration policies, not everyone was happy with them.  The newly admitted immigrants were expected to assimilate into Australian culture and bring nothing of their own with them (Study Guide AUS11, 2009, p. 27-28).  In 1957 John O’Grady wrote to immigrants in his novel saying, “There are far too many New Australians in this country who are still mentally living in their homelands, who mix with people of their own nationality, and try to retain their own language and customs… cut it out.  There is no better way of life in the world than that of the Australian.”  (White in Readings AUS 11, 2009, p. 160). 

In conclusion, these two newly formed images of Australia, while different to each other, are both accurate and valid perceptions of the Australian identity at the time.  The image of a consumerist middle-class Australia was reinforced by the advertising agencies of the time by linking consumption to being a good wife or mother or home-maker, and thus a good Australian; because Australia wanted to be seen as modern, prosperous and stable (Study Guide AUS11, 2009, p. 30).  At the same time, the defensive, almost paranoid view that the Australian way of life and culture was in jeopardy by migrants and communism was in full force.  “…[T]he notion of ‘the Australian way of life’ served the interests of conservative political and social forces… it ‘not only denied the possibility that the cultural traditions of migrants might enrich Australian life, but also denied the existence of different “ways of life” among Australians themselves’” (Study Guide AUS11, 2009, p. 29).  These two images of Australia combined helped make Australia the country that it is today.

Reference List

Documents AUS 11 2009, ‘Australian Studies: Images of Australia 1A’, School of Humanities, Griffith University, Brisbane.

Readings AUS 11 2009, ‘Australian Studies: Images of Australia 1A’, School of Humanities, Griffith University, Brisbane

Study Guide AUS 11 2009, ‘Australian Studies: Images of Australia 1A’, School of Humanities, Griffith University, Brisbane.

The national image of Australia from 1880-1920 as seen from the literary works of Dyson and Paterson.

The national image of Australia and that of the ideal Australian were in their first stages at the end of the 19^th and beginning of the 20^th century.  This essay will discuss and analyse these images and why they were constructed.   Socio-political and economic situations, and two contemporary Australian poems; A. B. Paterson’s Clancy of the Overflow and Edward Dyson’s In Town, will be used to define, analyse and discuss the constructed image of Australia and Australians for that time period.  The influences of Imperialism, the idea of “The Coming Man”, and the “Bush Legend” will also be discussed for contextual purpose.

In the late 1800’s, Australia was not yet a country in its own right, and the influence of the British Empire was heavily felt.  Instead of looking to each other for support and guidance, the individual colonial capitals continued to look to London (Study Guide AUS 11, 2009, p. 11).  This Imperialistic influence was helped in its perpetuation through the media of the time; the newspaper.  Even though each capital had its own periodical, the London Daily News was more widely read, and as such gave the colonies a self perception of being outposts of the British Empire (Study Guide AUS 11, 2009, p. 11).  This viewpoint was not true of all Australians, however.  The Roman Catholic and the Irish communities held grudges against the British Empire, and the labour movement saw the Imperialists as anti-Australian. 

At the beginning of the 1890’s, Australia was plunged into a depression.  At the same time, the unions were fighting to gain better conditions for workers.  These conflicts grew and created rifts in the political and social environments, and when coupled with the racist viewpoint of the time, fuelled the unionist’s perception of Brittan, the local government, and the Imperialists being the enemies of Australia (Study Guide AUS 11, 2009, p. 12).  These and other factors helped usher in the viewpoint of ‘The Coming Man’. 

‘The Coming Man’, also referred to as ‘The Coming Australian’, according to Richard White’s work (White in Readings AUS 11, 2009, p. 76-84), was the ideal example of the new colonial Australian in direct juxtaposition to that of the staunch Imperial Britton.  White, quoting James F. Hogan from 1880, stated that there were three main characteristics of ‘The Coming Australian’:  1) An inordinate love of field-sports, 2) A very decided disinclination to recognise the authority of parents and supervisors, and 3) A grievous dislike to mental effort (White in Readings AUS 11, 2009, p. 76).  ‘The Coming Man’ was an embodiment of masculinity and the tests of coming into manhood. 

The image of Australia formed through the romanticising of the bush is due in part to the strong anti-urban and anti-metropolitan feelings of the time (White in Readings AUS 11, 2009, p. 83).  England and the cities were seen as overcrowded, unhealthy, and depressing.  This was antithetical to the bush, which was open-spaced, fresh, vibrant and full of life and adventure.  White goes on to say that the bush offered heroic struggle, adventure, wide open spaces, camp life and all the tests of manhood, and this is everything that ‘The Coming Man’ was all about (White in Readings AUS 11, 2009, p.83).  ‘The Coming Man’ also reflected a more hardy type of man, more rugged and better fit for work hard. 

Hard work played a major role in the constructing of the Australian image in the late 19^th and early 20^th century.  In Dyson’s poem In Town, he writes “I, who… faltered at no work a man might do… I who hewed and built and burrowed, and who asked no man to give, When a strong arm was excuse enough for venturing to live…” (Dyson in Documents AUS 11, 2009, p. 73-74).  This begins to display the viewpoint of the time that a strong, hardy man, a man of labour or ‘The Coming Man’ was desirable over that of the intellectual, city man.  This can be further seen when reading Paterson’s Clancy of the Overflow.  Paterson wrote similarly to Dyson, using the point of view of a man in an Australian town who longs for the romanticised bushman’s and labourer’s life.  This is easily observed through the line, “And I somehow rather fancy that I’d like to change with Clancy” (Paterson in Documents AUS 11, 2009, p. 76). 

These poems helped also to create the bush legend, where the bush life was idealised over the current urban structure of Australia, which was a carry-over from its Imperialistic British heritage.  Dyson paints a picture of a bleak and depressing urban city, where men are trapped in poverty or thankless jobs, women and children are sickly, unemployment runs rampant, and overcrowding is a problem.  Dyson writes, “Out of work and out of money… out of firewood, togs and tucker, out of everything but debt… the corners polished free of paint and mirk, By the shoulders of the men who’re always hanging ‘round for work.” (Dyson in Documents AUS 11, 2009, p. 73).  He goes on to talk about the sickness that prevails in the city by writing “Where a crippled man is dying… And a woman in the horrors howls remorsefully at night…” (Dyson in Documents AUS 11, 2009, p. 73). 

Paterson also contributes to the bush legend through Clancy of the Overflow from the viewpoint of a man trapped in an office job that he does not like.  When the narrator of this poem receives an answer to a letter he has written to Clancy, he immediately starts to daydream and fantasize about the bushman’s life particularly of a drover, which Clancy is, and was regarded as one of the standards of ‘The Coming Man’ (Study Guide AUS 11, 2009, p. 15).  Paterson wrote “In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy… For the drover’s life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.” (Paterson in Documents AUS 11, 2009, p. 75).  He continues by talking about the dingy little office that he is sitting in, surrounded by tall houses that block the sunlight, the foetid air of the dirty city, and the shoulder to shoulder pallid faced people.

To contrast the drab, trapped feeling he conveys of the urban city, Dyson then talks about the bush and its appealing clean and free nature.  “Far away the hills are all aflame; the blossom golden fair, Streams up the gladdened ranges, and its scent is everywhere, And the kiddies of the settlers on the creek are red and sweet…” (Dyson in Documents AUS 11, 2009, p. 74).  This viewpoint of the bush being free, clean, and healthy is supported by Clancy of the Overflow in its employed descriptions.  “As the stock are slowly stringing, Clancy rides behind them singing… And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him… murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars… visions splendid of the sunlit plains… And at night the wond’rous glory of the everlasting stars.” (Paterson in Documents AUS 11, 2009, p. 75). 

In conclusion, the image of Australia and the ideal Australian at the time that Paterson and Dyson wrote these poems was anti-imperialist and focused heavily on the bush legend.  Australia was seen as a ‘last frontier’ and had a sense of open spaces, struggle, clean air, and masculinity about it.  The city was undesirable and viewed as stifling, crowded and sickly.  Quoting E.J. Brady, White sums up the image of Australia that Paterson and Dyson helped construct: “Under clear cold stars their camp fire had been lighted.  On the edge of odorous eucalyptus forests, their broad axes had flashed in the sunlight.  Mountain fastnesses had echoed the report of their rifles.  Over great plains their horses had galloped – north, south, east and west they had been staking out a continent for the White Race.” (White in Readings AUS 11, 2009, p. 84). 

Reference List

Documents AUS 11 2009, ‘Australian Studies: Images of Australia IA’, School of Humanities, Griffith University, Brisbane.

Readings AUS 11 2009, ‘Australian Studies: Images of Australia IA’, School of Humanities, Griffith University, Brisbane

Study Guide AUS 11 2009, ‘Australian Studies: Images of Australia IA’, School of Humanities, Griffith University, Brisbane.