Backbencher

The lecture presented by Dr. Troy Whitford was a very interesting lecture. The lecture gave us a background on the national identity of Australia, and how that identity, or mentality, came about. Throughout the lecture Dr. Whitford hammers home the theme that Australia's identity and their values come from "middle class" values. He explains that Australia was formed by the middle class in the beginning and that no aristocratic class ever really took hold in Australia. This allowed Australia to grow and develop on a more fair level than the old European countries.
Early Australians looked to develop an economy that included exports. The country wanted to be self-sufficient and not have to depend on Britain for survival. Most of the early leaders were either military leaders or church leaders, and most of these did not want to be a "colony" of Britain.
Dr. Whitford describes the first major event in Australian history as being the Eureka stockade, which was a revolt by the working class against the ruling class. He compared it to the Boston Tea Party here. This was a reaction against big government, and this attitude has stayed with Australians.
The next big development was when Australia became a Federation and all the colonies on the continent were united. Each colony wanted to make sure that each local state kept the majority control and the central government was weaker than them. This again points out the dislike of a big government.
In more recent years the big Australian concern has been home ownership. Australians believe that owning a home is a persons biggest goal in life and this ideal is universal throughout the whole country. The idea of owning a home goes hand-in-hand with the materialistic attitude of Australians. In that aspect, Australia is very much like the United States.