The Pom influence
As suspected, Daryl Melham, the Labor MP who wants to stop Britons living in Australia from being allowed to vote in federal elections, has set a rather frisky cat among the pigeons.
It has produced a really strong thread of comments, as these kind of national identity questions always seem to do.
Many have obviously remarked on the constitutional links with Britain but pazzarooney raises the question of the cultural inheritance, as well.
As anyone who lives here knows, modern Australia is a rich and vibrant amalgam of all sorts of cultures, ancient and more recent, which are expressed in all manner of ways: from the art that hangs on peoples' walls to the varied menu of food that they sit down to eat; from the sports and hobbies they participate in to the places of worship they attend on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
But the cultural influence of Britain remains surprisingly strong, especially given that the proportion of UK-born residents has been declining steadily over the past 25 years.
The broadcast media provides some of the most obvious examples. You can watch British programmes here from dawn until dusk and from dusk until dawn. The Bill, Spooks, Are you Being Served? and The Antiques Roadshow. On cable, there's a channel entirely devoted to British programming called UKTV (which is owned by the ´óÏó´«Ã½). I have yet to meet anyone who prefers the Australian version of Top Gear broadcast on SBS to the Clarkson original, and Channel Nine's cricket coverage is presented by a Pom, the former Hampshire cricketer Mark Nicholas.
ABC, the Australian national broadcaster, is modelled on the ´óÏó´«Ã½, and has a similar feel, culture and mission. At five-o'clock on the Australian east coast, you can tune into the PM programme, just as you can in Britain. It is presented by Mark Colvin, a graduate of Oxford, whose voice would not sound out of place on Radio Four in Britain.
I'm always surprised at the time devoted during ABC news bulletins to results from the English premier league, but then sport is another aspect of popular culture where the British influence remains strong.
State cricket teams compete still for a trophy purchased with a donation from the Earl of Sheffield. In rugby, the Wallabies and All Blacks fight for a cup named after the first Viscount of Bledisloe.
As the cricket writer Gideon Haigh has noted, the dominant sports here are British: cricket, the two codes of rugby, golf, tennis, boxing, horseracing, and more recently, soccer (although the southern European influence was also strong in its development on Australian soil).
One of the key figures in the development of Australian Rules Football was Tom Wills, who was educated at Rugby school. Donald Bradman used to describe tours to Britain as going home.
The media baron Frank Packer predicated once that baseball was the coming thing, but Australia stuck with cricket. Basketball, that other American invention, is struggling, and no longer has a professional presence in Sydney or Brisbane.
Just about the best thing I've read on this cultural inheritance is , which focuses on the ideas and the values that were imported from Britain, and which remain cultural touchstones to this day.
In his estimation, they include the sense of fair play, the protestant work ethic, low church puritanism, drunkenism, and "British pragmatism and distrust of theory". He also talks about "British philistinism and dislike of anything showy, theatrical, arty or 'too serious'; British good sense and the British sense of humour".
Unquestionably, there's a strong cross-current of cultural influences. Some of Britain's leading public intellectuals are Aussies, like Clive James, Germaine Greer and the democracy guru Professor John Keane. So, too, are some of Britain's best-loved entertainers, like Kylie Minogue, Rolf Harris and The Wiggles. Neighbours is more popular in Britain than Eastenders will ever be in Australia.
In the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster, Australian television executives played a central role in rethinking and repacking English football. And English cricketers have borrowed a lot from their Australian rivals, from the coloured clothing first used in Kerry Packer's World Series to their more aggressive style of play.
As we approach that ritualistic period of mutual sporting antagonism, the Ashes will not only revive our long-standing rivalry but remind us how much we have in common.
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