The mythology underpinning modern Australia is as vast as our continent; incorporating various influences through a contested, often violent and surprisingly turbulent history. From the burnt orange sands of the red centre to the wiry brown grass of the northern savannahs; from Queensland’s blacksoil plains to the diverse hubbub of Sydney and its turquoise harbour — the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves are unendingly interesting and intensely complex.
In semester one, week six of your student newspaper, we’re diving into these narratives and unpacking what our country is all about. Within these pages you can find a figurative map of our history, from the violence of Cabramatta’s heroin boom and what that meant for the immigrant experience to the scandalous 1944 Archibald Prize. Read on to delve into the history of NSW’s unique Selective School system. Engage with perspectives on the complicated nature of family history in the settler-colony, or a fresh approach to a non-anthropocentric Sydney. We also have more on trains, if that tickles your fancy.
Our feature this week investigates a central narrative in the Australian political landscape — the rural-urban divide, and what it really means for our country. Is there really a gulf between the attitudes of urban and rural students? Are the regions suffering from extreme disadvantage, neglected by a selfish metropole? Is Barnaby Joyce right? Turn to page 10 to find out!
Of course, any self-respecting radical paper would be remiss not to acknowledge the violent history of our settler-colony. Our University sits on Gadigal land, and is embroiled in this colonial history — a history that began in this part of Australia in 1770, with the encounter of James Cook with Kurnell, and intensified with the invasion of the First Fleet in 1788. But since the 1600s, Australian history has been marred by a seemingly endless cavalcade of atrocity and suffering perpetrated against the oldest continuing culture on earth, and the original custodians of the land we live on.
Only by fully examining the history and legacy of the Frontier Wars, of dispossession and genocide, of attempts at communication and understanding, of First Nations resistance, can we achieve our full potential as a country.
I hope the frank and inclusive discussion of our national narratives comes through in this wonderful edition of our paper. Turn each page and be inspired to wonder about, interrogate, and reflect upon our complicated, boundless, and shared country.
