One Lucky Culture
Australia’s success has nothing to do with multiculturalism, says Tony Pasin MP, a self-declared ‘wog’ and descendant of Italian migrants.
Firstly, I think it’s important for me to note that I am first generation Australian, born to parents of Italian heritage.
Or, put more simply, I’m a wog.
Like countless others my parents immigrated to Australia in the aftermath of the Second World War in search of a more prosperous future. As Nick Cater, himself a migrant, described in his text The Lucky Culture, they came to Australia ‘not for deliverance but to deliver’.
While many might cringe at my use of the ‘W’ word, I wish they wouldn’t. In my case I have adopted it as a term of endearment. My best friends call me ‘The Wog’. For me it has always been associated with mateship and thankfully, doesn’t carry the racial vilification that I understand it carries for others.
As difficult as my acceptance of that term might be to comprehend for some, my thoughts around the concept of multiculturalism could make some even more uncomfortable. That’s because I categorically reject the notion or more specifically the assertion that Australia is a multicultural nation, successful or otherwise.
My argument is as much quantitative as it is qualitative. Australian culture, whilst complex, is a singular concept. We can argue about its constituent parts, and which value set informs it but ultimately it exists singularly.
This basic fact flies in the face of phrases like ‘Australia is the great multicultural experiment’ or that ‘Australia is the most successful multicultural nation on earth’ which sadly are taught in an almost doctrinal way and unthinkingly repeated at nauseam.
The Australian experiment, as Deakin described it, has in fact given rise to a remarkable nation, one which we should all take great collective pride in but it is not a multicultural nation. Sure, a stroll down any high street in Australia will present diners with a plethora of culinary options from around the world but none of this makes us multicultural. If you like food as much as I do it means we are truly fortunate but that doesn’t make Australia multicultural. Similarly, religious festivals, anniversaries of importance to various nationalities amongst other celebrations are observed throughout the year in town squares, civic buildings and family homes but the willingness to observe these anniversaries doesn’t equate to multiculturalism.
You see, I don’t get to choose my ethnicity. I am Italian by race but I am Australian by choice. The Australian culture is informed by my Italo-Australian experience and that of others whose share my racial identity, in the same way that it is also informed by the Viet Australian experience etc. After all, no one would suggest that Italian or for that matter Vietnamese cultures co-exist in Australia alongside the Australian- they don’t, and it’s wrong to suggest they do.
In truth, Australia is a successful multiracial nation with a vibrant monoculture. That monoculture is a dynamic organism formed from the coagulation of the culture of Australia’s first peoples with the cultures of the many and varied races that have come together from the four corners of the Earth. The Australian monoculture exists to the exclusion of all others.
This monoculture concerns the things that famously make Australia such a desirable country in which to live: mateship, individualism, enterprise, humour and a certain scepticism towards overbearing authority. These are the values that I adhere to and are grateful for.
Why does this matter anyway? Shouldn’t we just accept the cultural norm and ‘celebrate our multiculturalism’? No, we shouldn’t. Aside from it being academically dishonest, it is also dangerous. If we accepted the modern view of Australian multiculturalism, that contends any number of cultures exist in Australia in parallel, then as a nation we will have great difficulty reconciling a culture at odds with the Australian cultural identity.
Nick was right when he suggested that migrants come to this great country to deliver and I am so grateful that my parents were brave enough to join the Australian experiment but I do wonder if we will ever be honest enough with ourselves to banish multiculturalism from the lexicon and accept multiracialism in its place.