tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/australian-values-12654/articlesAustralian values – The Conversation2020-09-25T04:12:34Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1069402020-09-25T04:12:34Z2020-09-25T04:12:34ZAustralia’s natural history and native species should be on the citizenship test<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359944/original/file-20200925-14-1d25382.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C3872%2C2592&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thomas M Wilson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-australian-citizenship-test-can-you-really-test-values-via-multiple-choice-146574">proposed changes to the citizenship test</a> has raised questions about whether you can really evaluate someone’s “Australian values” via a set of exam questions.</p>
<p>But here’s another question not even considered by the test: should Australian citizenship entail a knowledge and appreciation of Australia’s unique wildlife and natural history?</p>
<p>At its heart, this is a question about what it truly means to be an Australian. Some would argue I’m not qualified even to ask it. My ancestors arrived in Perth in 1830 from England and unloaded plenty of inappropriate cultural baggage, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/for-whom-the-bell-tolls-cats-kill-more-than-a-million-australian-birds-every-day-85084">cats</a>, onto the shores of Australia. </p>
<p>Modern Australia is both an ancient land of hundreds of different languages and cultures, and a creation of transplanted Europeans who have sought to establish Western democratic ideals such as freedom of speech. There have also been many waves of economic migrants or those fleeing persecution and violence in their homelands. </p>
<p>With democratic ideals attacked or disregarded in many parts of the world, Australia’s citizenship test aims to ensure new citizens have a shared knowledge of these values and responsibilities. The <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/test-and-interview/prepare-for-test/practice-test">current test</a> puts a lot of emphasis on knowing about free speech, the constitution, and how parliaments are organised.</p>
<p>But being Australian shouldn’t just mean agreeing with the principles of free speech and deliberative democracy. In 2006, the Australian author William J. Lines published <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Patriots.html?id=BUIvEeBB4IwC&redir_esc=y">Patriots: Defending Australia’s Natural Heritage</a>. The title presupposes that being Australian is bound up with knowing and appreciating at least a little of Australia’s heritage of unique lifeforms and ecosystems. </p>
<p>My own book, <a href="https://www.fremantlepress.com.au/products/stepping-off-rewilding-and-belonging-in-the-south-west">Stepping Off: Rewilding and Belonging in the South West</a>, published in 2017, also champions the idea of embracing the natural environment as part of one’s identity, with a particular focus on Perth and Australia’s southwest corner, an internationally recognised <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-south-west-a-hotspot-for-wildlife-and-plants-that-deserves-world-heritage-status-54885">hotspot</a> for unique plants and animals.</p>
<h2>An appreciation of Australia</h2>
<p>In my book I lament some aspects of the “Britanisation” of this country by my forebears. I also decry the smooth surface that corporate globalisation has more recently smeared over our modern cities. </p>
<p>As a counterbalance to these forces, I suggest other ways of “becoming Australian” that might help us live more gracefully and sustainably on this landscape.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-so-many-australian-species-are-yet-to-be-named-59237">Why so many Australian species are yet to be named</a>
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<p>What if we asked prospective Australian citizens to know and value the land on which we live, and the living things with which we share it? This might involve knowing facts such as:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>much of southern Australia is geologically ancient, and broke from Antarctica around 40 million years ago before drifting north alone, evolving thousands of unique species</p></li>
<li><p>a eucalyptus leaf contains oils that can cause massive explosions in the forest canopy when fires tear through the environment, but which can also be used in kitchen detergents</p></li>
<li><p>Australia has about 70 species of macropod, of which kangaroos and wallabies are just two examples, and kangaroo meat is more sustainable than beef or lamb because of its low carbon footprint and its softer impact on the landscape compared with hoofed animals</p></li>
<li><p>a <a href="https://www.australianwildlife.org/wildlife/western-quoll-chuditch/">chuditch</a> (or a quoll on the eastern side of the country), is a small carnivorous marsupial that is very friendly, although it’s (sadly) illegal to keep one as a pet.</p></li>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Chuditch" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359945/original/file-20200925-22-1f8xzmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359945/original/file-20200925-22-1f8xzmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359945/original/file-20200925-22-1f8xzmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359945/original/file-20200925-22-1f8xzmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359945/original/file-20200925-22-1f8xzmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=683&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359945/original/file-20200925-22-1f8xzmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=683&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359945/original/file-20200925-22-1f8xzmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=683&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Do you know a chuditch when you see one?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SJ Bennett/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I’m not suggesting throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I appreciate many of the legacies of Western civilisation, including freedom of speech, deliberative democracy, and the rule of law by an independent judiciary. Of course being Australian should mean accepting these central tenets. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-australian-citizenship-test-can-you-really-test-values-via-multiple-choice-146574">The new Australian citizenship test: can you really test 'values' via multiple choice?</a>
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<p>But we should expect new arrivals to our shores — including those whose ancestors have been here for a couple of centuries — to supplement this culture with an understanding and appreciation of land and ecosystem we live in. These values are also more aligned with those of Indigenous Australian cultures. </p>
<p>Being Australian shouldn’t just mean knowing about federation and the ANZACs, mateship and Vegemite. It should also mean knowing at least a little of the plants and animals, stones and clouds, smells and sights, of our wide shared land.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106940/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas M Wilson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The revamped citizenship test would include questions focused on “Australian values”. But why not ask prospective Australians to show an understanding of our ancient landscape and unique species too?Thomas M Wilson, Honorary Research Fellow in Literature and Environment, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1465742020-09-22T20:13:39Z2020-09-22T20:13:39ZThe new Australian citizenship test: can you really test ‘values’ via multiple choice?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359263/original/file-20200922-16-qqf3pc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C779%2C4084%2C2104&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Gourley/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Morrison government has announced <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/18/the-new-australian-citizenship-test-what-is-it-and-what-has-changed">plans to revamp</a> the Australian citizenship test. From November 15, there will be new test questions on “Australian values”. </p>
<p>What does this new, “<a href="https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/alantudge/Pages/focus-on-values-in-updated-australian-citizenship-test.aspx">clear focus</a>” on values involve? And what is the best way to assess values? </p>
<h2>How do you become a citizen?</h2>
<p>According to the 2007 <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00040">Australian Citizenship Act</a>, you can become an Australian citizen “by conferral” if you,</p>
<ul>
<li>have been a resident for four years, with at least one as a permanent resident</li>
<li>have a basic knowledge of English</li>
<li>have an adequate knowledge of Australia and the responsibilities and privileges of Australian citizenship</li>
<li>are likely to reside in Australia or maintain a close and continuing association with Australia, and</li>
<li>are of good character.</li>
</ul>
<p>Since 2007, the English language and “knowledge of Australia” requirements have been established via a “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-09-28/citizenship-test-is-the-new-aussie-cringe/683634">citizenship test</a>”. According to the Department of Home Affairs, applicants between 18 and 59 need to sit the test.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-australian-citizenship-test-failing-team-australia-31230">Is the Australian citizenship test failing 'Team Australia'?</a>
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<p>The test is multiple choice, with 20 questions in English. An applicant must get 15 correct to pass. </p>
<p>It is based on a <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship-subsite/files/our-common-bond-15112020.pdf">booklet</a> that includes information on “Australia and its people”, “Australian democratic beliefs, rights and liberties” and a crash course on government and the law. The updated booklet now includes a section on “Australian values”. </p>
<h2>How is the test changing?</h2>
<p>Last week, acting Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Alan Tudge announced an <a href="https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/alantudge/Pages/focus-on-values-in-updated-australian-citizenship-test.aspx">increased focus on “values”</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge at a press conference" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359261/original/file-20200922-14-1x3kxej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359261/original/file-20200922-14-1x3kxej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359261/original/file-20200922-14-1x3kxej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359261/original/file-20200922-14-1x3kxej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359261/original/file-20200922-14-1x3kxej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359261/original/file-20200922-14-1x3kxej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359261/original/file-20200922-14-1x3kxej.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge wants more focus on ‘Australian values’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Ross/AAP</span></span>
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<p>Tudge says this will require potential citizens to understand Australian values like freedom of speech, mutual respect, equality of opportunity, the importance of democracy and the rule of law.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are asking those who apply for citizenship to understand our values more deeply before they make the ultimate commitment to our nation. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The increased focus requires applicants to get all five test questions on values correct. Applicants also still need to score at least 75% overall. </p>
<h2>Why have a test?</h2>
<p>Those in favour of a citizenship test argue the burden of having to pass the test gives citizenship <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/reports-and-pubs/files/australian-citizenship-report.pdf">greater gravitas</a>. It promotes citizenship as a “<a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F3219af20-da22-4762-b08e-ad4cf9b7009e%2F0021%22">privilege</a>” and not a right one acquires through long-term residence. </p>
<p>But the idea that citizenship should be difficult to achieve is a recent phenomenon in Australia. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Prime Minsiter Scott Morrison at a citizenship ceremony in Canberra." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359262/original/file-20200922-20-7aiuk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359262/original/file-20200922-20-7aiuk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359262/original/file-20200922-20-7aiuk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359262/original/file-20200922-20-7aiuk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359262/original/file-20200922-20-7aiuk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359262/original/file-20200922-20-7aiuk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359262/original/file-20200922-20-7aiuk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian citizenship is not automatic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>In the 1980s and 90s, the federal government <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/0910/AustCitizenship#_ftn45">ran campaigns</a> to encourage permanent residents to become citizens, so they could fully participate in Australia’s civil and political life. In 1984, the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2004A02993">Australian Citizenship Amendment Act</a> reduced the English language requirement for citizenship from “adequate” to “basic”, while applicants over 50 years were exempted from the language requirement.</p>
<p>In 1994, a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/0910/AustCitizenship#_ftn45">parliamentary inquiry</a> also recommended the widespread promotion of citizenship.</p>
<p>However, in the 21st century, amid concerns over international terrorism, there has been an emphasis on citizenship as a privilege. In 2015, the Abbott government commissioned Liberal MPs Philip Ruddock and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells to lead a national consultation on citizenship. As <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/reports-and-pubs/files/australian-citizenship-report.pdf">their report</a> states, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Overall there remains a strong view in the community that Australian citizenship is a concept worth valuing and certainly worth protecting. While we strongly encourage migrants to become citizens, it is not something that should be earned too easily or given away cheaply.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Can you test values?</h2>
<p>Tudge’s <a href="https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/alantudge/Pages/focus-on-values-in-updated-australian-citizenship-test.aspx">press release says</a> the new test will have “more meaningful questions that require potential citizens to understand and commit to our values”.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship-subsite/files/our-common-bond-15112020.pdf">booklet</a> provides six pages of information on our values, which includes statements such as, “Australians value ‘mateship’. We help each other in times of need”. And, “in Australia, the lawful actions of the police should be supported.” It also notes, “it is important to learn to speak English.” </p>
<p>This is an example of a practice question on values: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Which of these statements best demonstrates Australian values about freedom of expression?</p>
<p>a) everyone can peacefully express their opinions within the law</p>
<p>b) people with different views from me need to keep quiet</p>
<p>c) only approved topics can be discussed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are significant reasons to doubt the usefulness of these questions as part of the criteria for citizenship.</p>
<p>Firstly, identifying the correct answer does not necessarily say anything about a person’s actual values. Most people can spot examples of freedom and equality, regardless of whether they are committed to them. </p>
<p>Secondly, if people get an answer wrong, it is likely to say more about their English comprehension than their values.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-values-are-hardly-unique-when-compared-to-other-cultures-76917">Australian values are hardly unique when compared to other cultures</a>
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<p>Having said this, there is a role for civics education for citizens and prospective citizens alike. Discussing and comparing values and identifying where they differ across nations and cultures is valuable for the formation of a coherent political community. It is the reduction of these complex questions to a multiple choice test that is the problem. </p>
<h2>Permanent residents already have Australian values</h2>
<p>When it comes to the values of citizenship applicants, the government should take comfort in the fact that they have already lived and contributed to the community for at least four years. </p>
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<img alt="Crowds at NRL match on Sunshine Coast." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359266/original/file-20200922-20-1g9e1v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359266/original/file-20200922-20-1g9e1v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359266/original/file-20200922-20-1g9e1v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359266/original/file-20200922-20-1g9e1v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=346&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359266/original/file-20200922-20-1g9e1v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359266/original/file-20200922-20-1g9e1v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359266/original/file-20200922-20-1g9e1v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Australia has had a citizenship test since 2007.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Darren England/AAP</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>In 2014, the government also <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r5345">tightened the “character test”</a> for permanent residents, making their deportation mandatory if they have been sentenced to imprisonment for a year or more. </p>
<p>Since last year, it has also had <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd1920a/20bd012#:%7E:text=The%20purpose%20of%20the%20Migration,of%20a%20'designated%20offence'.">legislation before parliament</a> to make it even easier to fail the character test over certain “designated offences”, including sexual assault and aggravated burglary.</p>
<p>So, there are safeguards in place. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/forcing-australia-day-citizenship-ceremonies-on-councils-wont-make-the-issue-go-away-109871">Forcing Australia Day citizenship ceremonies on councils won't make the issue go away</a>
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<p>Applicants for citizenship are already entitled to live in Australia permanently. They demonstrate their commitment to Australian values through participation in work and community activities, sending their children to school, and obeying the law. </p>
<p>These are more effective ways to demonstrate Australian values than through correctly answering multiple choice questions. </p>
<p>The changes to the citizenship test are a public relations exercise, consistent with the Coalition government’s use of citizenship as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-tougher-citizenship-test-should-not-be-used-to-further-divide-and-exclude-70905">mechanism of exclusion</a>. </p>
<p>Perhaps it is not surprising these changes have been announced at time of great uncertainty, when external threats loom large, both across and beyond our borders.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146574/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Reilly receives funding from the Department of Social Services for a research project on Refugee Women, Work and Well-being.</span></em></p>From mid-November, people wanting to become citizens must get all five questions on Australian values correct.Alex Reilly, Professor, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/779442017-06-19T20:02:00Z2017-06-19T20:02:00ZWe need our country; our country needs us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174348/original/file-20170619-28805-1olfx55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The sun rises above Uluru in outback Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Gray/Reuters </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Increasingly, our leaders talk of Australian values and presume that these arose organically, as though through some moral forge. An alternative view is that our national character and sense of identity have been shaped mostly by the land itself: we are a nation of individualistic, resilient and resourceful individuals because our land is isolated, expansive, capricious and unique. </p>
<p>Our country’s dust, drought, flood, blood and harsh beauty have made us what we are.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2017/06/my-country-our-outback-voices-from-australias-remote-heartland">report published today</a>, the Pew Charitable Trust compiled a series of perspectives on how people living in remote and rural Australia see their lives and country. We interviewed about 12 groups over the course of a year, trying to understand the intricate relationships between our people and our nature.</p>
<p>The core questions addressed in these accounts are simple. How do we see our land? How do we live in it? How do we care for it? How are we shaped by it? What do we value in it, or seek from it? And to what extent does the land now need us?</p>
<p>The responses were intriguing. For many Indigenous Australians, country is a defining feature, a place of belonging, imbued over countless generations with meaning and spiritual significance. For many other Australians living in remote regions, country still provides an embracing sense of place, a setting in which life can be meaningful. </p>
<p>“This place is where I feel safe and inspired and needed,” conservation manager Luke Bayley said of Charles Darwin Reserve. “I love the landscape – the big sky, the weathered rocks and the harshness; the beauty when it all comes together […] I also find it an endless journey.”</p>
<p>Although they may want different things from the land, miners, pastoralists, Aboriginal landowners, wildlife rangers and tourism operators all share some pivotal values, concerns and language. </p>
<p>All seek to treasure and maintain its productivity and health; all recognise the new threats that may be subverting it; all feel a sense of belonging and a responsibility to it; all appreciate the need to know how it works in order to draw benefit and sustenance from it; all see beauty and wonder in at least some of its constituent elements; all recognise the challenge of managing vast lands with few people; and, to some degree, all understand a mutual dependency between land and people.</p>
<p>This common ground provides a robust foundation for the collaboration and regional - or national - scale planning needed for the management of Outback Australia, with its unique challenges of complex environmental linkages across vast distances, pervasive threats and few management resources.</p>
<p>But the nuanced differences in perspectives are also important. Many living in Outback Australia identify strongly with other groups living on the land. But there is much scope – so far little developed – in remote Australia for increased recognition of the perspectives and expertise of others. </p>
<p>Most notably, there is extraordinary opportunity to bring together the intimate knowledge of country and its care held by Indigenous Australians with the often complementary strengths of land management based on western science. We can create distinctively Australian environmental management, based on intimate knowledge of country and the capacity to respond to its new threats.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174332/original/file-20170619-28794-adn4uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174332/original/file-20170619-28794-adn4uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174332/original/file-20170619-28794-adn4uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174332/original/file-20170619-28794-adn4uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174332/original/file-20170619-28794-adn4uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174332/original/file-20170619-28794-adn4uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174332/original/file-20170619-28794-adn4uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174332/original/file-20170619-28794-adn4uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A previous Pew study mapped the ‘Outback’ based on factors like low population density and infertile soil, and found it covered 73% of Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/projects/outback-to-oceans-australia">Pew Charitable Trust, The Modern Outback (2014)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, there are also some notable inconsistencies among the perspectives we investigated, indicative of unresolved issues that need attention and a better process for conciliation or mutual understanding. For example, the values attributed to <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2011.00203.x/full">dingoes and wild dogs</a>, and hence their <a href="http://www.pestsmart.org.au/national-wild-dog-action-plan/">management</a>, remain <a href="http://www.actazool.org/temp/%7B92CEDBE7-1613-4572-AD35-EDB92BF4916D%7D.pdf">highly polarised</a> among people living in remote Australia. The elements of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1442-9993.2000.01036.x/full">water</a> and fire are pivotal in the Outback, and their use is <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14486563.2005.10648644;">often also contested</a>.</p>
<p>Furthermore, just as our society has been moulded by our country, increasingly we are re-shaping the country, deliberately or inadvertently, expertly or ineptly. Across most of the world, biodiversity is in decline particularly in areas with high human population density and extensive habitat destruction. </p>
<p>The Australian outback is one of the world’s few remaining <a href="http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/wildareas-v2-human-footprint-geographic">large natural areas</a>, along with places like the Amazon Basin and the Sahara. Such areas are most likely to long support <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australias-outback-is-globally-important-32938">functional and healthy ecological processes and biodiversity</a>. </p>
<p>However, somewhat counterintuitively, in much of the Outback, <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/112/15/4531.short">nature is in decline</a> even in its most remote and sparsely populated regions. This decline reflects the loss from many areas of a long-established, intricate and purposeful Indigenous land management, that has <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2001.00555.x/full">long moulded its nature</a>. Now, fire is often <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/bt/BT00087">managed inexpertly or not at all</a>, leading to <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/26/10287.short">uncontrolled and destructive wildfire</a>. And the decline of biodiversity and loss of productivity in remote Australia is due also to the extensive spread of <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320716309223">many pests and weeds</a> introduced over the last century or so, and the inadequate resources committed to their control. </p>
<p>Inexorably, we will lose much that is special in our nature unless we can collectively address these causal factors and manage our lands more effectively. The land managers we talked to are skilled and willing, but they need more support. </p>
<p>One example is Les Schultz, a Ngadju elder from the country around Norseman in south-western Australia. He told us he wants to see the Great Western Woodlands managed properly, saying, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We will always be around, and it ticks all the boxes of everything good in terms of outcomes for Ngadju people and the general community …. We need Ngadju rangers with boots on the ground.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A similar call comes from some pastoralists, such as Michael Clinch from the Murchison region of WA. He inherited a land long over-exploited by unsustainable levels of grazing, and is now seeking new management approaches to to take his land on “a journey of redemption”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Outback, to me, is the cathedral of Australia. We’re desperate to reclaim the quality and value of the Outback, and to achieve that vision we need support … We’re not asking for a handout, but by jeez we’re asking for a hand up. We need assistance to rebuild and restructure our grazing. If we don’t do it, who the hell will?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The accounts showcase people at home in their country. Such accounts, of characters living in the bush, have long been emblematic for our nation. But these lives represent a diminishing minority of Australians. </p>
<p>In our increasingly urbanised society, for much of our nation’s population, the bush remains quixotic and unfamiliar, to be experienced superficially or fearfully. One objective of this collation is to allow urban Australians to see and feel the country through the eyes and hearts of those who are immersed in it. </p>
<p>We would like all Australians to more appreciate the care bestowed on our land by those who cherish it, the benefits we all derive from that care, and the need to better support those who seek to maintain our natural legacy.</p>
<p>We cannot live well in this land unless we understand it, and value it.</p>
<p><br></p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article is based on <a href="insert%20link">Outback Voices</a>, a report compiled by the <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/en">Pew Charitable Trusts</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77944/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Woinarski worked with Pew Charitable Trusts to contribute to a series on Outback Australia. He is currently a deputy director of the Threatened Species Recovery Hub, funded by the Australian government's National Environmental Science Programme. </span></em></p>‘Australian values’ have been mangled into meaninglessness by countless politicians. But there is an national character, shaped by the Australian land. New research investigates Outback values.John Woinarski, Professor (conservation biology), Charles Darwin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/769172017-05-01T01:34:55Z2017-05-01T01:34:55ZAustralian values are hardly unique when compared to other cultures<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167262/original/file-20170430-12994-18n2rvg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Social psychologists and sociologists have spent decades understanding how values are best assessed.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/en/australia-flag-fingerprint-country-653164/">pixabay</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There has been much talk recently about <a href="http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2017/04/20/turnbull-cracks-down-on-citizenship-rules.html">“Australian values”</a>. The new citizenship test will require aspiring Australians to demonstrate they possess them, or can at least reproduce them under exam conditions. This raises the question of what these distinctly Australian values might be.</p>
<p>Politicians and commentators have made a variety of suggestions. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-20/migrants-to-face-tougher-tests-for-australian-citizenship/8456392">Malcolm Turnbull</a> proposes “respect, the rule of law, commitment to freedom, democracy”. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-28/these-are-our-core-australian-values/8476902">Other contenders</a> include mateship, tolerance, belief in reward for effort, a resilient can-do attitude, egalitarianism, larrikinism and the storied “fair go”. But are there any singularly Australian values at all? </p>
<p>One novel way to tackle this question would be to rise up from our armchairs, step down from our soapboxes, and consult the large body of research on cultural values. Social psychologists and sociologists have spent decades understanding how values are organised and how they are best assessed. In the process they have conducted numerous comparative studies of the values of different cultural groups, Australians included.</p>
<h2>How to examine cultural values</h2>
<p>The most well developed understanding of cultural values can be found in the work of social psychologist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalom_H._Schwartz">Shalom Schwartz</a>. Schwartz and a large ensemble of international collaborators have established that cultural values are best captured by <a href="http://kodu.ut.ee/%7Ecect/teoreetiline%20seminar%2023.04.2013/Schwartz%202006.pdf">seven distinct orientations</a>. Each culture can be positioned somewhere along each dimension, from low to high, based on the degree to which its people endorse each set of values.</p>
<p><em>Embeddedness</em> represents the extent to which people value being part of a larger collectivity, respecting cultural traditions and social order and subordinating personal desires to those of the group. In contrast, <em>autonomy</em> refers to more individualist values, in which the person’s independence is held in higher esteem. </p>
<p>Schwartz distinguishes two autonomous cultural orientations. <em>Intellectual autonomy</em> values prize individual curiosity, creativity and openness, whereas cultures that value <em>affective autonomy</em> cherish the pursuit of pleasure, excitement and diverse life experiences.</p>
<p>Embeddedness and autonomy are opposing cultural orientations. The same goes for Schwartz’s <em>harmony</em> and <em>mastery</em> orientations. Cultures that score high on Harmony place an emphasis on adjusting peacefully to the world and to nature, whereas those high on <em>mastery</em> value changing the world in the pursuit of individual or group goals.</p>
<p>The third and final polarity in Schwartz’s model involves cultural orientations towards <em>hierarchy</em> and <em>egalitarianism</em>. Cultures that value hierarchy hold authority in high regard and view unequal distributions of power and resources as legitimate and necessary. Cultures with a more egalitarian orientation value equality and fair treatment for all, regardless of social position.</p>
<p>Schwartz’s model of cultural orientations is the outcome of decades of empirical research around the globe. The seven-dimensional structure is itself derived from studies carried out in a wide variety of cultural settings.</p>
<p>Schwartz and his colleagues have employed translated versions of a standard measure of more than 50 specific values, organised into these seven dimensions, in which they rate the extent to which each value is a guiding principle in their life. Scores on this measure can reveal where one culture’s values sit relative to others.</p>
<h2>Unique Australian values?</h2>
<p>Australia is one of a collection of nations in which large samples of people have completed Schwartz’s value measure. We can see how it measures up using a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304715744_The_7_Schwartz_cultural_value_orientation_scores_for_80_countries">publicly accessible dataset</a>. This dataset provides average scores on each of the seven dimensions of cultural values for 80 cultural groups, drawn from 77 nations. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167282/original/file-20170430-12987-hf6sje.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167282/original/file-20170430-12987-hf6sje.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167282/original/file-20170430-12987-hf6sje.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167282/original/file-20170430-12987-hf6sje.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167282/original/file-20170430-12987-hf6sje.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167282/original/file-20170430-12987-hf6sje.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167282/original/file-20170430-12987-hf6sje.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/167282/original/file-20170430-12987-hf6sje.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia is represented by the red dot.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These scores are presented in the figure above. Each culture is represented by a blue dot, with Australia singled out in red. (For the statistically inclined, scores on each orientation have been standardised so the mean score is 0 and the standard deviation is 1).</p>
<p>It is plain to see Australian values fall very much in the middle of the pack on every cultural dimension. If our values were uniquely tolerant we would score high on <em>harmony</em>, but we sit on the global mean.</p>
<p>If we valued initiative and reward for effort to an unusual degree, we would rise above other nations on <em>mastery</em>, but we again lie on the statistical equator. If we valued respect and the rule of law to a distinctive extent we would score high on <em>embeddedness</em>, but we do not. </p>
<p>If Australians were uniquely inclined towards fairness and equality, with an irrepressible larrikin streak, we would score high on <em>egalitarianism</em> and low on <em>hierarchy</em>. But we don’t. The only dimension on which we are at all distinctive is <em>affective autonomy</em>, but according to Schwartz’s data 19 cultures are more pleasure seeking and fun loving than we are.</p>
<p>So just how unique <em>are</em> Australian values overall? One way to answer that question is to add up how much Australia deviates from the international average over the seven dimensions. By this metric, Australia is the second <em>least</em> distinctive culture of all, beaten to the gold medal by Brazil. </p>
<p>It is hard to escape the conclusion that what is unique about Australian values is their averageness.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<h4 class="border">Disclosure</h4><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Haslam receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>There has been much talk recently about “Australian values”. The new citizenship test will require aspiring Australians to demonstrate they possess them, or can at least reproduce them under exam conditions…Nick Haslam, Professor of Psychology, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/358582015-01-14T02:34:12Z2015-01-14T02:34:12ZBook review: Mateship – A Very Australian History<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68329/original/image-20150107-1995-1m1d3b0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C35%2C640%2C439&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Any discussion of 'mateship' in 2015 will inevitably exist in the shadow of the centenary of the landings at Gallipoli.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian War Memorial</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In late 2007, a couple of months after our last HSC exam, one of my best friends punched me. In hindsight, I probably deserved it. We were 18, liberated from school and newcomers to alcohol.</p>
<p>To make a long and tedious story short, I said some mean things and he hit me. He wasn’t strong enough to do any damage and, thankfully, we were able to laugh about it the next day. Eight years later, we’re still very close.</p>
<p>I tell this story not to elicit sympathy, but to illustrate the often baffling nature of what Australians call “mateship”. As poet Henry Lawson once <a href="http://www.ironbarkresources.com/henrylawson/MateCanDoNoWrong.html">put it</a>, a mate is someone who abuses you to your face and defends you behind your back.</p>
<p>Author and academic Nick Dyrenfurth’s new book, <a href="http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9781925106350/mateship-very-australian-history">Mateship: A Very Australian History</a>, explores both the contradictions and virtues of the term – what he calls Australia’s “genesis story”. Like the original, Dyrenfurth’s tale is part myth, part religion and part source of enduring conflict. </p>
<p>2015 is a difficult year in which to think critically about mateship and the national legend. Any discussion of the topic will inevitably exist in the shadow of the 100th anniversary of the <a href="http://www.gallipoli2015.dva.gov.au/">landings at Gallipoli</a>. Politicians will invoke it, critics will decry its politicisation. </p>
<p>Dyrenfurth’s book is particularly useful on this point. Complaining about the politicisation of national myths is like complaining about the commercialisation of Hollywood – irritating, yes, but it’s also kind of what they’re there for.</p>
<p>The book makes it clear that the term has always been contested. Another way of putting it is that Australia has different mateship traditions, depending on your politics.</p>
<p>In the late 19th century, unionist William Lane famously defined socialism as a <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/it-pro/cobbers-through-thick-and-thin-is-that-the-real-mateship-20120125-1qhn2.html">“desire to be mates”</a>. One hundred years on, progressives continue to promote Lane’s sentiment, if not his language. These left-wing advocates of mateship argue that it can only truly exist alongside economic dignity – that inequality renders it meaningless. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68334/original/image-20150107-1977-tqmvla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68334/original/image-20150107-1977-tqmvla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68334/original/image-20150107-1977-tqmvla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68334/original/image-20150107-1977-tqmvla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68334/original/image-20150107-1977-tqmvla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68334/original/image-20150107-1977-tqmvla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68334/original/image-20150107-1977-tqmvla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68334/original/image-20150107-1977-tqmvla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1150&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">John Curtin evoked Australian ‘mateship’ during the Second World War.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This idea persists within the union movement, but it’s also an important thread in Labor politics. When John Curtin called for <a href="http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01224b.htm">equality of sacrifice</a> during the Second World War, he evoked mateship. When introducing laws to undo the former Liberal government’s <a href="http://australianpolitics.com/2005/10/09/howard-announces-workchoices.html">WorkChoices</a> industrial relations reform, Julia Gillard <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/bill-killing-workchoices-introduced-to-parliament-20081125-6gvl.html">accused</a> John Howard of having hijacked Australian values.</p>
<p>Howard didn’t think he was hijacking anything. He had his own feelings about mateship. His ideas built on the conservative tradition, one traced back to the sacrifices and Imperial enthusiasm of the First World War. Instead of a commitment to economic equality, Howard defined the term in his own way – as a symbol of folk wisdom, of ordinary people’s common sense, a noble defence against the imposed guilt of urban elites.</p>
<p>The reason the term has survived this long is precisely because of its political flexibility. It appeals to both sides of politics. One of Dyrenfurth’s more incisive points is that the country’s most successful leaders have also been its most successful interpreters of the Australian legend.</p>
<p>This isn’t always a good thing. It certainly hasn’t been historically inclusive. Dyrenfurth’s book is admirably honest about its flaws and critics – and there’s been a lot of critics.</p>
<p>In 1976, historian Miriam Dixson <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/30991603">linked</a> mateship to a culture of sexism. She claimed that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Men like women less in Australia than in any community I know. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Mateship was masculine and boozy, defined in opposition to the unwelcome presence of women.</p>
<p>Fellow historian <a href="http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/R/Reynolds.htm">Henry Reynolds</a> tied the development of mateship to colonial atrocities. If fraternal loyalty grew in the bush, it also stood in the way of prosecuting murder. Magistrates found it almost impossible to crack the code of silence among a group of mates. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68332/original/image-20150107-2002-1jau350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68332/original/image-20150107-2002-1jau350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68332/original/image-20150107-2002-1jau350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68332/original/image-20150107-2002-1jau350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68332/original/image-20150107-2002-1jau350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68332/original/image-20150107-2002-1jau350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1158&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68332/original/image-20150107-2002-1jau350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1158&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68332/original/image-20150107-2002-1jau350.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1158&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Scribe</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While Dyrenfurth suggests that mateship is evolving, it still maintains its original masculine musk. It might increasingly be used between men and women – <a href="https://overland.org.au/2013/10/in-defence-of-vance-and-nettie/">Vance and Nettie Palmer</a>, the 20th-century literary power couple, actually used “mate” as a lovers’ pet name – but it still overwhelmingly describes male friendship. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s also shaky ground on which to built a truly national myth.</p>
<p>Another confusing aspect of the mateship legend is its persistent relationship with the bush. Australia is historically urbanised and rural settlers often embrace a form of Protestant self-reliance. As speechwriter Don Watson puts it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Where we came from they were not inclined to sing about solidarity or even to call each other mate. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>If a form of egalitarianism carried into the 20th century, then surely other institutions are equally responsible. The beach holds a prime place in the Australian imagination and is a space largely uninfected by wealth and status. So too most sports clubs (sailing doesn’t count as a sport). A truly modern version of the Australian legend should ideally take into account these realities of urban and coastal life.</p>
<p>Despite these minor quibbles, Mateship: A Very Australian History is a thoughtful and thorough contribution to the literature on Australian identity. Mateship might just be a word, one provoking scorn in some and patriotism in others, but it’s one that Australia hasn’t managed to shake. As Dyrenfurth shows us, that has to mean something.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35858/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shaun Crowe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In late 2007, a couple of months after our last HSC exam, one of my best friends punched me. In hindsight, I probably deserved it. We were 18, liberated from school and newcomers to alcohol. To make a…Shaun Crowe, Research Manager and Doctoral Candidate, Centre for the Study of Australian Politics, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/312302014-10-01T02:11:49Z2014-10-01T02:11:49ZIs the Australian citizenship test failing ‘Team Australia’?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59701/original/6q3trxkc-1411369848.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Has testing prospective citizens on Australian values increased social cohesion?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Glenn Hunt/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today, October 1, the Australian citizenship test turns seven. This is the official test that determines if a migrant can become an Australian citizen. It is a good time to evaluate its performance.</p>
<p>The test was introduced in the final days of the Howard government so that migrants and refugees could learn to respect the Australian values that are embedded in the citizenship pledge. It was feared that certain migrants and refugees did not understand Australia’s democratic values and as a result they posed a threat to social cohesion with their own “un-Australian” values. </p>
<p>A multiple-choice, computer-based citizenship test was offered as the solution. </p>
<p>The migrants that I interviewed revealed that when it comes to migrant values, successive governments do not always get it right. Most of the migrants support freedom, democracy and equality. Most of them believe that a test that can “teach” them how to become model Australian citizens. All of them want to achieve belonging in a peaceful Australia. </p>
<p>Where they deviated from official views is that they do not believe that these values are uniquely “Australian”. Many migrants believe that so-called Australian values are really universal human rights and that multiculturalism is the only truly “Australian” value. </p>
<p>Others suggested adding to the <a href="http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/values/statement/long/">current list</a> of official Australian values. These new values include showing respect for elders, appreciating Australia’s accessible education system and working hard to protect the rights of the Australian worker. Let’s hope that the Prime Minister and the Treasurer heed their advice.</p>
<h2>Are all citizens not equal?</h2>
<p>What these migrant views show is that the Australian citizenship test is succeeding in “teaching” migrants how to become law-abiding citizens who support the Australian way of life. Yet the government’s recent rhetoric suggests otherwise. </p>
<p>Early in August, Prime Minister Tony Abbott urged the Muslim community to join <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-dumps-controversial-changes-to-18c-racial-discrimination-laws-20140805-3d65l.html">Team Australia</a>. Two weeks later, he <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/when-is-a-flag-not-a-terrorist-totem-when-it-flies-for-team-australia-20140818-3dwq0.html">reiterated</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Everyone has got to put this country, its interests, its values and its people first, and you don’t migrate to this country unless you want to join our team. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Abbott was implying that if migrants do not live like “real” Australians, they pose a threat to national security. So after seven years of administering the “Australian values” test, it appears that it has not eased fears that migrant values are un-Australian. </p>
<p>What Abbott’s Team Australia rhetoric ignores is that the values that are prescribed for migrants wanting to become Australian citizens are not always the same values that existing citizens must respect. </p>
<p>The now-defunct repeal of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act is an example of this inequality among old and new citizens. The proposed changes to the legislation contradicted the information on freedom of speech that was included in the citizenship test as an Australian value. The citizenship resource booklet, <a href="http://www.citizenship.gov.au/learn/cit_test/test_resource/_pdf/our-common-bond-2014.pdf">Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond</a>, states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is against the law to try to make other people hate or act violently towards others because of their culture, ethnicity or background. (page 18)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Had the repeal gone through, migrants and refugees who want to become Australian citizens would have to accept that while they could not hate or act violently towards people who are different, existing Australian citizens, in contrast, would have had <a href="https://theconversation.com/race-act-changes-are-what-you-get-when-you-champion-bigotry-24782">“a right to be bigots”</a>. </p>
<p>Fortunately, the reform was scrapped. So once again, new and old citizens must respect the same Australian values. Yet only migrants and refugees have to prove their dedication to and knowledge of them by passing the Australian citizenship test. </p>
<p>Similarly, the recent debate about stripping dual nationals of their Australian citizenship if they fight in overseas wars calls into question the efficacy of the Australian citizenship test. Assuming that some of these dual nationals were conferred with Australian citizenship after having passed the citizenship test, we must then question whether the test has succeeded in preserving social cohesion and national security as it was meant to do.</p>
<h2>It’s not about them, but about us</h2>
<p>If we still need to urge migrants to join our team, what then is the continuing relevance of the Australian citizenship test in a constantly globalising and terror-driven world?</p>
<p>Clearly we don’t need a citizenship test to prove that migrants and refugees can become good citizens. Most of us would concede that a test can’t teach values. But this misses the point.</p>
<p>This is because the Australian citizenship test has never had the migrant as its main stakeholder. It has always been about the “real” Australian people, what Howard affectionately referred to as the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/john-howard-embarrassed-by-failed-wmd-intelligence-on-iraq-20140922-10k5uz.html">mainstream</a> and Abbott has recruited into <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/dont-migrate-unless-you-want-to-join-our-team-abbott-meets-islamic-community/story-fn59niix-1227028006917">Team Australia</a>.</p>
<p>The Australian citizenship test was introduced in 2007 in order to reassure Australians that the Australian way of life could survive in a world dominated by the processes of globalisation and terrorism. Its role was and continues to be to show how the government cares for the national body, that is, for the <a href="http://www.citizenship.gov.au/ceremonies/pledge/">“Australia and its people”</a> of the citizenship pledge.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31230/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria Chisari does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Today, October 1, the Australian citizenship test turns seven. This is the official test that determines if a migrant can become an Australian citizen. It is a good time to evaluate its performance. The…Maria Chisari, Honorary Post-doctoral Fellow, Transforming Cultures, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.