I've got one more point to make about Aussie Identity.. in an overseas context.

When I moved to Singapore in the mid 70s to do an orientation course prior to service with a mission, there were about 3 Aussies, and the rest (about 25) were from all over the world. The Aussies were married so had their own company and social thing.. I was single and had 'me'.

After a month or 2, I started to feel rather isolated and out on a limb.
One day I went down to a place called 'Change alley' and in the midst of the dense crowd of Chinese, Malays, Indians and various tourists....Suddenly I HEARD IT.... "A broad aussie accent"! and surprise surprise it was a genuine aussie and not the nearest Indian bunging on a fake tryhard accent to make a sale.(That happened in Penang)

Oh my.. only then did I realize just how very very much it mean't to me. I suddenly felt at home.. not out on a limb.. I had 'someone' who shared the same things I did.

Pericles:

Cultures, images, people, and perceptions - of course these vary.
However, I was more interested in how you saw us as a nation, how you saw our national identity. But perhaps that's rather difficult to define?

Of all the PM's you listed - I would say Bob Hawke comes close to the Australian Identity. At least for me.

Individual:

Australians are different, at least in my opinion. Our version of English is rather unique - I remember times when I worked overseas and used expressions like, "Full as a goog," "Let's catch the lift,"
"He's going flat chat," or "It's my shout," "Don't get your knickers in a knot," "Bob's your uncle!" these expressions had my colleagues confused - and needed explaining.

AGIR:

Your story struck a cord with me. I remember a similar experience whilst working overseas and feeling very homesick one Christmas - when I spotted the add for the movie, "Crocodile Dundee," and I can't
tell you the feeling of nostalgia that came over me. I knew I'd be going home, and soon.

I too lived away from Australia for nine months, when I married my Irish-born husband and we lived in Ireland and England.
I was terribly homesick after a few months- though mainly for my Australian family members.

Strangely enough Lexi, it was every time I heard "Land Downunder" on the radio in Ireland at the time, I cried!
Strangely enough, my Irish husband missed Australia even more than I did.

The only Aussie accent I heard in those nine months was the Aussie air-hostesses on the Qantus plane on our way home.
I almost cried then as well!

So, I would say that it is the Aussie accent, and any Australian Aboriginal person of course, that mostly identifies a 'real' Aussie.

As a Belgian refugee with impeccable taste and magnificent moustaches, I often ask myself what I can do to embrace a more Australian identity.
I've often thought to adopt a more appropriate surname - one with a more "Aussie" resonance - so I'm considering Hercule Rudd...what do you think?

I think the notion of "mateship" being something uniquely Australian is well past it's use-by date. I think we should have grown out of the need for that sort of personal reassurance by now.

Friendship is a universal concept and to claim that we are the only ones in the world who practice it is somewhat bizarre. We've grown up now.

Claiming that we have a "larrikin spirit" is also something we should put aside.

Sadly, the only thing we can really claim as our own is probably the "tall poppy syndrome" and how we hate to see somebody getting something that we aren't personally entitled to.

Other than that, our culture is more an amalgam of what we see and aspire to on imported television programmes plus what is brought in by immigrants - not that it's such a bad thing overall.

Wobbles,
I think you summed it up with a clear & sober view.