Citizenship and 'Australian Values'

by Emeritus Professes Ingrid Moses

Presented at Manning Clark House Weekend of Ideas “Australian Citizenship - is it really worth having?”, 29-30 March 2008

 

Chair, let me thank the Programme Committee for inviting me to this Forum, and let me acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Ngunnawal people.

And I need to start with a disclaimer: I am not an expert on Australian values and citizenship, and, of course, I do not represent the University of Canberra in any way.

I am also not speaking as an academic, but have been asked to speak from personal experience as a migrant who took out citizenship – eventually.

Eighteen months ago I was asked to speak at the National Wattle Day at the National Museum of Australia. I was asked:

• Are we able to easily recognise and articulate commonly shared Australian values?, and

• What does citizenship mean in contemporary Australia?

Some of the points I made then I am repeating here.

In May that year I had attended in Brisbane the Future Summit 2006. And one of the background papers we received was a Task Force Report on ‘National Identity’. The authors (Jones and Dale) posed some final questions:

“Are the traditional Australian values of egalitarianism, classlessness, ‘a fair go’, stoicism and mateship that have drawn migrants to our shores and defined who we are, being eroded in the multicultural and multigenerational mix that Australia is today? Are there serious threats to these values or do they still sit at the core of what it means to be Australian?”

I am quibbling with a couple of the assertions: the traditional Australian values mentioned are indeed widely propagated in literature, songs and legends. But they are the values of a different Australia, of a white, mainly Anglo-Celtic country with a small and dispersed population. I cannot judge whether the English, Irish and Scots were drawn to these shores because of these values or because they wanted to forge a new life in a freer society and, because of their backgrounds, moulded the new Australian society in a way which lived these values.

Certainly the masses of migrants post World War II came to Australia because Australia was a free country and willing to accept them.

We now have an official statement of what the Australian values are: The brochure Becoming an Australian Citizen. Citizenship. Your Commitment to Australia, lists and explains them and I have no problem with them, as they are shared, as the brochure also admits, “to some extent by all liberal democracies”.

I want to relate to our topic by drawing on my own experience.

I came to Australia in 1966, having married as an undergraduate an Australian postgrad student in Germany.

The Australia of forty years ago was a very different place to what it is now.

In 1966,

• Australian Indigenous people were not full citizens nor could they vote in federal elections.
• Women in the public service had to resign when they got married.
• There was very little childcare available to assist women to get and stay employed.
• Women wearing slacks were not admitted to restaurants.
• Women were treated as dependents by banks even if they earned money.

As late as 1966, the tradition of calling newcomers from other countries names, was still alive:

• Wogs, Dagos, Krauts, Fritz, Huns, Whingeing Poms, Japs, Jids, and the post-war Balts and Reffos
• and all of us from non British backgrounds were ‘aliens’.

I hasten to say that when I came as a very young woman I experienced no discrimination among the people we socialised with and I worked with – in the university. When I was referred to as Hun or Kraut, it was done affectionately. But to this day people imitate my accent, copying from such TV series as Hogan’s Heroes. Everyone seems to be able to say ‘Achtung’, ‘Dummkopf’, ‘Donnerwetter’ with the appropriate accent. I can live with it. But it can grate. Because it stereotypes.

And I am aware of the tendency of Australians to say to those who are critical of any aspect of Australian society: ‘Why don’t you go back to where you came from”.

Arthur Caldwell in 1949 introduced the more neutral term ‘New Australians’ which soon also became derogatory, followed by Ethnics, Minority Groups. NESBs – people from Non English Speaking Backgrounds. And this has just changed again to something I can’t remember. But no doubt, it will take on a derogatory connotation sooner or later and we will invent another term. I have watched with dismay the way the term ‘Multiculturalism’ has been debased and become unfashionable.

And for the Indigenous Australians there was a host of derogatory terms, which I do not even want to mention.

Australia certainly was more egalitarian than many other countries; Australia was less class conscious than many other countries, but by no means classless; Australians endured hardship through drought, floods, fires, wars and depression with stoicism and helped each other. They appreciated the underdog and often were anti-authoritarian. They lopped the tall poppies and had a fine ear for ‘bullshit’.

But I do not believe that Australia used to give a ‘fair go’ to everyone – there were too many groups in society excluded – Indigenous people, women, some immigrant groups. Others were not even allowed in. You may remember the language tests.

This does not mean that it was not a good country to settle. People from acceptable countries came, assimilated, prospered and brought over their families – and became citizens. The post-war mass migration from Europe was a great success and showed exemplary political leadership. Many migrants intermarried in the second and third generation and made friends with the Australians who had grown up in Australia. It was the first generation normally which suffered – accents were often ridiculed, so was foreign food and dress. And experience and qualifications from Non-British countries mostly were not recognised.

From an expectation of assimilation and the White Australia policy Australia moved, in stages, via ‘integration’  to a multi-cultural society in the 70s, more tolerant, fairer to all its citizens, notably women, and more open. And when I speak of a ‘multicultural society’ I mean a society that values and respects the different cultural backgrounds of its citizens within the common legal framework. And there is blending –  a recent report notes “in the past two decades, the proportion of people marrying outside their ancestry group has increased between the first and third generations in every racial and language group in Australia other than the English.” (www.spinneypress.com.au/214_book_desc.html)

And this intermarrying surely is conducive to social harmony. Our grandchildren epitomise this modern Australia. They have German, Scottish, Lebanese, English, Irish, Austrian Jewish blood. And they are unselfconsciously Australian.

The Commonwealth of Australia had been founded as a white nation, though it was an immigrant nation. In 1901, 23 % of Australia’s population was born overseas – virtually the same level as today ( 24 % - 2006 census)! (www.about-australia.com/facts/demographics) But it is a very different composition, though even now the two largest migrant groups are British and New Zealanders.

Today we have more than 21 million people in Australia.

• Nearly a quarter of Australians were born overseas (2006 census),
• 3.1 million or 16% of the population speak a language other than English at home  (2006 census).

The most common ones are Italian, Greek, Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin and  Vietnamese – a total of 7% of the population speak these languages. (2006 census)

• Those who identify as Christians have declined from being 88 %  of the population in 1966 the year I come to Australia, to 64% (2006 census).

From all accounts, Australia is a fairer society now, at least for the people who are citizens and permanent residents.

There is concern for social justice; the egalitarian spirit is still cherished. Generosity to newcomers is evident; there is greater acceptance of differences.

Australian values are western values, derived from Judaeo Christian and Enlightenment principles. But we in Australia express them in different ways, as the context we live in is very different. A harsh continent, a population concentrated in coastal fringes and a minority dispersed over thousands of kilometres; a settler society with pioneer stories of conquest, discoveries, hardship and overcoming of adversities.

And an Indigenous history which is not yet reconciled with that of the immigrant society.

We live in a modern liberal democracy steeped in British parliamentary and political culture, with a commitment to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion; we live in a democracy which has been changing, adapting to modern times.

We live in a civic society and cherish civic values – community engagement, voluntary work, equal opportunity for all.

What other ‘shared values’ do we have? The Business Council of Australia commissioned a research paper on Australian Cultural Norms and Values for its scenario planning project ‘Aspire Australia 2025’. They thought shared values might include: “respect for democracy, a strong sense of justice, a sense of fairness, of tolerance, a caring for others, a powerful sense of egalitarianism, a less selfish society, loyalty and freedom of self-determination.” I agree with these as espoused values.

What does citizenship mean for us in 2008? First we must acknowledge that, again, Australia has changed over the past decades: under the 1948 Nationality and Citizenship Act Europeans had to wait five years until they could become Australian citizens, and they had to give two years notice, and hand over their passport well in advance. The pledge had been to ‘forsake all other allegiances’ and instead to pledge allegiance to the British Queen.

This was changed in the 80‘s and ‘90s when there was concern about many permanent residents not taking out citizenship. (Even according to the 2006 census only 73% of people born overseas who had been resident in Australia for two years or more, were Australian citizens.)

When I became an Australian citizen finally in 1995 I pledged:

From this time forward, under God,

I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people,

Whose democratic beliefs I share,

Whose rights and liberties I respect, and

Whose laws I will uphold and obey.

This is still the current pledge and prospective citizens are asked to “make an overriding commitment to Australia – its laws, its values and its people.” And this to me is the essence of Australia: Australian people living in a democracy under the rule of law, respecting each other’s rights and liberties (that is true tolerance). And I would commit to them whether a permanent resident or a citizen.

Privileges of Australian Citizens are [and note our previous speaker who said they used to be called ‘rights’]

• I can live in Australia
• I can apply for an Australian passport and leave and re-enter Australia
• I can seek assistance from Australian diplomatic representatives while overseas – and you will remember how very important this recently was for Australian in Lebanon who were evacuated through Australian government efforts
• I can vote to help elect Australia’s governments
• I can stand for Parliament
• I can work in the public service
• I can serve in the armed forces
• I can register my children born overseas as Australian citizens.

And I have responsibilities:

• I must obey Australian laws
• I must enrol on electoral registers
• I must vote
• I must defend Australia should the need arise
• I must serve on a jury if called to do so.

This is not onerous. I believe that citizenship in 2008 means that citizens can engage in civic society, can perform their duties and responsibilities as citizens and can inform themselves. For me, citizenship, includes command of English – how else could you serve on a jury. [I realise that this may disadvantage some refugees. But I am a strong advocate of government financed literacy and English classes for all who need it.]

My son, an historian, reminded me of the Russian empire and the difference between nationality and citizenship. The Russian empire was constituted of nations: you would be a Ukrainian national, but have Russian citizenship.

Australia is not a multi-national state. It is a state which has people from many different cultural backgrounds all proclaiming to be committed to the Australian democracy. The glue is not only sharing the democratic and liberal values, it is English.

I have read the Citizenship booklet and wonder whether all Australian-born citizens know the answers in the areas of Australian social, sporting, cultural, settlement history in which applicants for citizenship can be tested: Who was the first Prime Minister of Australia? Who are the Australian Nobel Laureates? How many do we have? Who was Walter Lindrum? Does it matter if we know these answers? I do not think so.

In the last quarter of last year, over 9,000 people sat the Australian citizenship test and nearly 93 % passed the test on their first or subsequent attempt (60% of the questions must be answered correctly). The lowest pass rate was among those who came to Australia under the Humanitarian Program – 80 %. They comprise only 17 % of all test participants and the majority of those who failed were from Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan. Does it really matter whether they know details of Australian history as yet? I do not think so.

What matters, however, is understanding how Australia is governed, as voting is a citizen’s responsibility.

For me, living in Australia for 29 years as a Permanent Resident, there was no difference between being an Australian citizen or a German citizen, as I shared the values.

The only time where I felt I needed the protection of citizenship was under Bjelke-Petersen in Queensland. There were many reasons to demonstrate and I did and my husband warned me of the black list and my precarious status as a permanent resident who could be refused re-entry to the country.

Why did I not take out citizenship earlier? This has to do with the inability to have dual citizenship, and with identity.

I am an Australian citizen, but am I Australian? Am I recognised as an Australian? In Australia, when you have an accent, people do not see you as Australian. They always want to know where you come from. And it is asked with curiosity, no ill intent.

When you say from Brisbane, Armidale, Canberra, they say – where do you really come from? Only last months I was asked after a meeting where all but me where from British background or native English speakers, whether I was a visitor to Canberra. Well meaning, but why?

Even now there are movements, Australian nativism, which regards as ‘truly Australian’ only those who were born here, have Australian ancestors (and they do not mean Indigenous Australian ancestry), have lived here most of their lives and who, less importantly, are Christian. Yet Indigenous people, about 2.5 % of our population have lived in Australia for 50,000 years or so, the rest have come as immigrants or are their descendants.

Most would not reject my claim that I am an Australian, as they are not Australian nativists in a political or ideological sense. What they acknowledge is that I was not born or raised here, that my roots, my national background, are part of me and is different to theirs.

As an Australian citizen of German background, born during the war, I am part of Germany’s history and have to live with the atrocities committed in the Nazi time.

As an Australian citizen I also accept the Australian history, the highs and the lows.

What matters to me, what mattes to my friends, what matters to the taxi drivers, the household helpers, the workers, and also my academic colleagues born abroad is this – we are Australian citizens and that commitment to Australian democratic values and liberties and to a future Australia matters - where people live free, can share in the resources equitably and contribute to their family, their community, their country and its place in the world.