The Idea of Australia

Australians like to believe they live in the land of a fair go. Is this true or just a comforting story we like to tell. This episode looks beyond the myths to harder truths to reimagine a fairer future. At a time of geopolitical uncertainty, the need to celebrate and rebuild an informed truly independent civic national identity is greater than ever.

This episode explores the strengths and weaknesses of Australians' attachment to fairness. It reexamines the appeal and power of this founding principle and reflects on how it might be made stronger.

Australia is one of the most successful countries on earth, democratic, rich and innovative.
But not everyone is a winner. It has still not come to terms with its ancient past or meaningfully recognized the First Peoples.

Australia has learned to make its own luck and changed a lot since it threw off the white
Australia policy, protectionist economic policies and many of the ties to Britain, but it is still a work in progress.

Australians know little about the debates, dreams and compromises involved in making the nation in 1901. This makes it hard to change the constitution. If more were known, would change be possible? The process of Federation that created the nation is a mystery to most. The 1890s was a difficult period marked by booms and busts, but it was also a time of active debate. It took more than a decade, two polls in each colony and months of negotiation with Britain, to create the foundation of a democracy that others wanted to copy.

Australians are proud of the country's long democratic history and robust electoral systems, apologetic about the racial exclusion that followed, but reluctant to contemplate changes in a constitution written in a very different time. Re-telling the creation of the nation (as opposed to colonial settlement) as a debate between competing interests, dreams and compromises, is important to breathe new life into the idea of Australia in the 21st century.

Land is the heart of Australia, the source of wealth and opportunity for many, identity and belonging for the First Peoples. Battles over who owns the land, and how it should be used, were central to the old Australian story and climate change, native title, housing affordability and the need for environmental sustainability make it key now. The 26 million Australians who inhabit the vast continent have more space than any other country on earth, but most huddle in a few big cities that are becoming unaffordable for many.

Who owns the land, and how it should be used, has sparked bitter battles for centuries. This episode delves into the history of the wars between settlers and First Nations peoples, and the demand for land rights and native title; the impact of the squatters and others who claimed the "empty land"; nation-defining mining disputes; the challenge of home ownership; and acrimonious contests over the environmental sustainability and climate change. We ask, what needs to be done to ensure that this wonderous land can sustain future generations?

Australians have always been creative.  The most powerful expressions of identity come from art, novels, film, theatre and music.  These works explain us to ourselves and the world.  In this globalised, digital age how can we create new stories that reflect the 21st century idea of Australia?