Tall old ships sailed into magnificent Sydney Harbor on Tuesday as Australia began to celebrate 200 years of European settlement.
Long a British outpost in the South, from the onset of World War II subject to powerful American influences and more recently to the impact of Asia, Australia has begun to see itself as a unique civilization, a corner of the West tucked into the East.
It is one of the world`s most unthreatened nations. And one of the most uncluttered-16 million people in a land almost the size of the United States. No wonder Australia is sometimes known as the ”lucky country.”
When James Cook, the British sea captain, reached Sydney he called the area Botany Bay because a strong first impression was of the flowers and trees. Still today Sydney seems above all a slice of nature. In Europe and America and Japan, cities intrude upon the countryside; in Australia the countryside invades the cities.
The enviable social peacefulness of Australia owes much to nature as a safety valve for urban frustrations. A few hours at the beach or in the bush- often just minutes from office or factory-dissipates a lot of tension.
If Australia is a comfortable land, its people can seem reticent about their rich inheritance. Disagreement exists as to which date is truly Australia`s national day. Capt. Cook`s arrival on the east coast 218 years ago? The first governor`s hoisting of the British flag near Sydney 18 years later (the anniversary observed Tuesday)? The day in 1901 when the six British colonies formed a federation of Australia? Or the unknown day far in the mists of the past when the first blacks reached Australian shores?
The Australian standard of living has been falling and prospects for its recovery are uncertain. Terms of trade have gone against Australia`s primary products and a protected manufacturing sector is too inefficient to innovate and export.
Iron ore, nickel and a variety of energy resources have not proved a panacea. Prices in recent years have been disappointing, and as the world goes high-tech, less metal is being used. Australia`s share of world trade has dropped from 3 percent in 1960 to less than 1.2 percent today. The old days of easy wealth from the land are gone.
When I was at college in Melbourne 25 years ago, some feared that Southeast Asian countries might fail to resist the communist threat, turning Australia into the ”last domino.” Today some fear that the capitalist economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and Taiwan might succeed so well that Australia will be left behind as a white backwater in a dynamic ”yellow sea.”
Yet for many Australians the diagnosis ”crisis” leads to little more than a yawn and one more can of Foster`s beer. The problems do not seem all that desperate. The philosophy behind the bumper sticker ”Avoid Hangovers, Stay Drunk” retains a hold over many Australians.
Australians are easy-going. There is an egalitarian spirit, though less equality of condition than there used to be. Even the very rich do not lock the gates of their mansions. Some of them parade their wealth, but in a society that began as a prison few can parade their status. Tycoon and bank clerk alike will probably ride beside the driver in the front seat of a taxi. The Australian spirit dwells somewhere within a triangle whose points are diffidence, innocence and skepticism. The Aussie cannot easily be fooled, nor easily enthused. He has seldom given himself to big schemes or soaring beliefs. This has tended to immunize him against envy of the rich; he views the rich as lucky, not as superior.
As it tries to fill up its vast empty spaces, Australia more and more is a land of immigrants. Possessing stability and space-the one state of Western Australia is eight times the size of Italy-it has become one of the great immigrant-receiving countries of the world. Nearly 45 percent of Australians were either born outside Australia or have at least one parent who was. And after decades of a ”white Australia” immigration policy, about half the current immigrant inflow is from Asia.
Today Australia has an impressive leader in thrice-elected Prime Minister Bob Hawke. A pragmatic and strongly nationalistic Labor Party man, Hawke told me he hopes the world will appreciate three things about Australia at its bicentenary:
That Australians know their land is an ancient one which once belonged to the Aborigines and ”increasingly accept their responsibility” toward the first inhabitants.
That Australia intends to ”take its place within the dynamic Asian region.”
And that Australia remains true to its ”fair go” tradition, the social progressivism that made it a pioneer in the late 19th Century in democracy and workers` rights.
The real test of Hawke`s nationalism will be whether he can institutionalize Australians` new cultural confidence in themselves-brought about by excellence in films, painting and literature-perhaps by cutting the constitutional ties with Britain and making Australia a republic. And whether he can lead Australians beyond their ”them and us” mentality in industrial relations, which saddles the country with strikes, and tends to eclipse altruism and preclude long-range vision.
I find a double character to the spirit of Australia as it celebrates 200 years of European settlement. An exciting maturation has been occurring, as diverse immigration, excellence in the arts and the pleasures of a comfortable life in a unique habitat all bring a new pride and sophistication to the country.
At the same time, a young nation-with few glorious moments in its past-is still in pursuit of its post-British identity. It takes time to overcome anxiety at remoteness, to feel truly at home in a natural environment that can be unpredictable, and to come to terms with a regional setting, Asia, almost totally outside the traditions of Australia`s first 200 years.
The enduring force of geography ensures that Australia will continue its gingerly steps into the Asian orbit. But this will not be rapid or total. Australia, like Japan, hangs at a tangent to the nearest region. Over a long period it may become to Asia what Japan is to the West-the most Asian nation of the West, as Japan is the most Western nation of the East.
”Some people say the Australians are lucky, it`s a wonderful place, but they don`t really deeserve it-they`re not good custodians of their good fortune,” said mining executive Sir Arvi Parbo when I asked what he would like the world to think about Australia at the 200-year mark. ”I would like to think that over the next few years we can turn this around, that we can gain the respect of the world, and that people will say, `Yes, they`re lucky, but they deserve it, they`re doing things we admire.` ”
