No matter which country I could've been born in, I would always have been me: Irish me, American me, Spanish me.... I hope people are getting the point. Nationality is just tribalism but expanded to a degree where some people believe by draping themselves in items such as flags makes them deeply patriotic. When all such apparel means nothing more than human in human made fabric.

It is how you treat others that matters, not which nationality you are.

That said, I love the smell of eucalyptus, the jeering of kookaburras and Aussie Rules football. Whenever I saw a stand of eucalyptus in California and Arizona I would become homesick, however I have no doubt that a field of heather would bring a tear to the eye of many a Scot.

Dear Lexi

your quoting of McKellar's poem is most applicable.

Do you by any chance notice the stark contrast between the first "Scotland is my home" stanza...to the "But now Australia is" in the 2nd?

It stands out like a country loo on a sunburnt plain to me.

She did not begin her new life as a'Scot' in Australia...but as an Aussie.

If all ethnicities can reach that point we have truly arrived at a harmonious country.

"Creed" is more the problem but in the interests of being uber predictable..I won't go there :)

Suffice to say "any" creed is welcome....except those which hate us.

Albie Manton in Darwin:>> A wonderful yarn from one of my Corporals when he was the lead scout in the Vietnam War. He spotted a large linked chain used for pulling trees over (prior to the deployment of Agent Orange to defoliate vegetated areas). Giving the signal, he called up the battalion command group to observe first hand what he had found. By this time over 300 men were on high alert in an area full of VietCong. When the very worried Lt/Colonel had settled in beside the Cpl he calmly turned his head back around, saying to him : “Just imagine the size of the dog on the end of the chain there… hey Boss…!” The Cpl telling me this yarn over 30 yrs ago, had the most wonderful Cunnamulla drawl.<<

Albie many thanks, it made me laugh and it made me proud of that wild colonial boy in Viet.

G'day SonofGloin.

All these years later, & I too am as proud as, of the guys n gals going over to the 'Sand Pit'. Don't necessarily agree though with the idea that we are fighting (yet again) for Uncle Sam's vested interests.

We could be better utilised in our own region.

Come wars, civil strife, cyclones, floods, droughts and always there will be that colonial spirit in abundance. My sprogs are Eurasian, and as proud of their Green & Gold and Cootamundra Wattle as their old man.

Interesting post J Parker.

In a way you tapped into the deeper part of 'us' with your final words.

You say it matters only how we treat people.

But let's contextualize this. We have an Island nation, most of 'us' are Anglo etc /white, and we developed a kind of hybrid racial identity which includes our color. In the same way, people of different color or eye shape etc.. have a sense of identity related to those things.

Such things only dissappear over a number of generations. As people intermarry, and time passes, I think the sense of consciousness of who we are will see the divisions which are natural based on race or origin or language blurr.. and a new sense of more homogenous identity will emerge. It won't reflect just one of the component parts, but all of them.

But to be truly honest.. I don't have my identity in my nation as much as in my Savior. Being "in Christ" surpasses and overcomes all the usual human barriers as Paul wrote "In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but we are all one in Him." (Gal 3:28) I find that one of the most appropriate verses of scripture for a modern multi ethnic society.

Thank You for taking the time to contribute to this thread. I'm thoroughly enjoying reading all of the posts. However, I am slowly coming to the conclusion that many people have different views of what our identity is. Which is fair enough - as it's changed throughout history (and by contact with the global community). I guess it is questionable whether there is a single identity or not.
I have to agree that our identity has been constructed from popular images and myths. Australian artists and poets helped to create the Australian Budh Legend. Then there's painters like Tom Roberts, Charles Condor, Hans Heysen, Arthur Streeton - who made famous Australian images, there's poets like Banjo Patterson's "The Man From Snowy River," who further fulfilled this image of Australia. I came across the following website that might be of interest:

http://www.convictcreations.com/research/australianstereotypes.html