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We have no idea who we are

Tory Maguire

by Tory Maguire

22 Nov 05:50am

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Filed under: Australia, Culture, Fashion, Identity, Miss Universe

107 comments

We’ve got a lot to be confident about being Australian. Leaving aside, for a second, all the issues each of us may think are sending this country to hell in a handbasket, (such as this, this and this) the list of what we can be proud of is pretty long.

What the b*&&^y hell are you wearing?

Most of us would think we could pin point what those things are. We talk about mate-ship, mythologise our sporty outdoorsyness, perhaps mention multi-culturalism, our startling natural wonders,  and our stable banking system.

But none of that really adds up to a national identity we can dress up in. There are so many ways we represent ourselves to the world that the annual cringe-fest that is our entry in the national dress segment of Miss Universe is by no means the most crucial. But it does serve as an annual reminder we’ve got no real idea who we are.

This year’s costume, to be worn by the lovely Renae Ayris, is by no means the worst thing we’ve sent some poor Hawko wannabe down the runway in.

But it’s up there in the race for most confusing. I can’t believe I’m writing this but the Ugg Boots Jesinta Campbell wore with her Outback inspired dress made more sense than the star-spangled Roman sandals digging in to Ayris’s calves. Yeah, we get that they represent the Southern Cross, but they look like Roman sandals.

See, we all know what Roman sandals look like.

The thing on top of Ayris’s head is more Vegas showgirl than good Aussie chick.

And the dress? Apart from the fact it is very very short, it’s kind of unremarkable.

You can’t really blame the designer. According to the Daily Telegraph:

This year’s winner, Sydney designer Jessica Bregenhoj who was once mentored by Alex Perry, was chosen from a field of 400 budding designers. Their designs were whittled down to four by 76,000 votes from viewers of the Sunrise breakfast program. Jessica says the gold costume is a symbol of Australia - with its golden sun, desert and sands and was inspired by Jorn Utzon’s Opera House.

It sounds right. But it never, ever works.

Our national identity can’t be boiled down to a building. That would be like sending the French contestant out with a mini Eiffel Tower on her head, or the Peruvian beauty in a paper mache Machu Picchu.

The French don’t need to put a baguette under someone’s arm when they’ve got Coco Chanel from whom to draw style cues.

I bet the Brazilian girl doesn’t need a depiction of a rainforest to make her presence known.

And the Russian won’t have St Basil’s Cathedral sticking out of her fur hat.

We should stop trying so hard. We should embrace our confidence and just be cool, and fresh and, well, Australian. It can’t be that hard can it?

Comments on this post will close at 8pm Eastern time.

Most commented

107 comments

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    • Peter Verde says:

      05:19am | 22/11/12

      National identity is a bourgeois affectation. Open the borders and free th refugees.

      Reply

    • Super D says:

      06:44am | 22/11/12

      Your ideas are inconsistent with our regulated labor market and universal welfare state. If you’re happy with shanty towns springing up and wages dropping to subsistence levels then sure open the borders to all.

    • A Concerned Citizen says:

      10:43am | 22/11/12

      Peter I’m curious, do you advertise your house as open to all, free to come and go, stay over, sleep where they want? Let them use anything in your house?

      Or to be fairer, are you going to greenlight your area for refugee settlement? And if necessary redevelop some parks and housing areas to make apartments for them to live (or allow independent housing development without restrictions by warrants)?

      If not, spare the rest of us from having to do it for you instead.

      Your way of life exists solely because you maintain a degree of it to yourself (among the respective stakeholders), and deny it to others. It’s a fact of life for survival that is demonstrated in areas where no restrictions are placed- aka crammed slums/shanty towns with populations in the 40 million +.

      Also, do tell me, what exactly does socialism have to do with anything? Socialist countries would treat the issue of migration exactly the same- based on how it impacts people domestically.

      Also ‘nation’ is not ‘country’- a ‘nation’ is a body of people with similar political outlooks, cultures etc, that may or may not exist as a recognized state. Communist countries are as much ‘nations’ as anything else.

      But then again, you don’t actually know what socialism is do you? Merely that it is a romantic fad with rebellious connotations.

    • Bruno says:

      11:32am | 22/11/12

      This is just another example of an illustrious journalist attempting to shape the country to their enlightened image. In all this talk of certain current Australian attitudes I am yet to hear or read a journalist put their hand up and say you know what my industry, and more specifically my predecessors are partly at fault here. They are quick to blame everyone else but themselves. That is why they are the most mistrusted group in this country. The media has a responsibility to its citizens, and while it might do a decent short term service, in the long run it has and will continue to fail us miserably.

    • nihonin says:

      05:31am | 22/11/12

      The only people who worry about an Australian identity or apparent lack thereof, are the people who are ashamed to call themselves Australians.

      Reply

    • Super D says:

      06:47am | 22/11/12

      Damn straight. Nothin says Australian more than not givin a shit.

    • BoM says:

      07:03am | 22/11/12

      + 1 Super D. Says it all really.

    • subotic says:

      08:15am | 22/11/12

      Nothin says Australian more than not givin a shit.

      Not givin a shit with beer?

    • subotic says:

      08:31am | 22/11/12

      Oh hell, there’s definitely times where I’m ashamed to self identify as an Aussie.

      Like the other day with that French chick on the bus in Melbourne.

      It wasn’t the fact that she got called out for being French. Or singing in French. I mean, hey, the only worse thing on the planet than those arrogant French people, are arrogant French-speaking Canadians. And hey, the French banned the burka, so y’really can’t complain about the buggers that much.

      No, that I can forgive.

      But when you quote Storm Troopers of Death’s “Speak English or Die” and are more than likely listening to Cold bloody Chisel’s “Khe Sahn” on your sister’s ipod - that, that shit is THE most unforgivable crime in that unfortunate event.

      That, plus the fact every time this crap happens Mrs subotic’s American family phone up to ask “Are all Australians really like that?”.

      The only saving grace in all of this is hopefully the Victorian police force will do what they do best in situations like this – shoot that Khe Sahn listening cousin-kissing in-bred between the eyeballs, and ask questions later….

    • Joel M-J says:

      10:38am | 22/11/12

      @subotic - With a Taser. That way there is some element of legitimacy. Sort of.

    • A Concerned Citizen says:

      11:01am | 22/11/12

      I’d say ‘insecure’ people in general worry about ‘Australian Identity’. Considering so many Australians keep entertaining notions of ‘fairness, mateship, egalitarianism, laid back and strong’ when we have James Packer getting special treatment for a high-roller Casino on public land, the lowest number of referendums in the Western world but high government nanny-statism, angry motorists, high assault rates, and our country bends over backwards for USA (Iraq, Assange), and WE bend over for some of the most inflated prices in the world (we pay 3x more for the same products than Americans do).

      It seems our ‘identity’ is more about alcohol, footy, fear of change, superficial vanity, cognitive dissonance, ignorance of other countries and denial. Don’t believe me? Look at the Republic debate- so many people want a Republic simply because having a British Queen makes them insecure- but if shown a model that implements any slight change they get upset and don’t want to know. Only a few Republicans seem to want a better system.

    • PJ says:

      11:14am | 22/11/12

      Ashamed of your country.

      Are you Gillardites going to Ban the flag?

      Maybe have another go at Anzac Day?

      You do these things for yourselves, not for migrants.

      Migrants want to belong to something. But you think destroying what they have chosen to belong too aids their re-settlement?

      If migrants come here and do not find the Australia they bought into, they’re going to look back to their home cultures to belong to something. This sets up apartheid within Australia on nationalistic cultural grounds. No cohesion there.

    • BAN subotic NOW! says:

      11:55am | 22/11/12

      Are you Gillardites going to Ban the flag? Maybe have another go at Anzac Day?

      Only thing I’d like to see banned are stupid people. Banned, and possibly tazered by Victorian police (thanks Joel M-J).

      But, well, y’know, The Punch would kinda be a pretty lonely place to hang out on then, rite?

    • Citizen says:

      01:47pm | 22/11/12

      So what if she was singing in French? Do we not go to other countries and speak in English? I’m not for opening borders but if someone is speaking another language that’s a whole different story… How would we feel if we went someplace and they told us speak in German, I don’t like English.

      And keep in mind, France did pass the anti burka law so let’s not laugh at them because we’re too “accepting” to foreigners and they’re apparently not. They’ve had foreigners in their country for much longer than us. An innocent question: Australia is a country, is it a nation?

    • Gregg says:

      05:43am | 22/11/12

      I hope that two this and this links being DD&R is not meaningful whereas the fact that we used Sunrise viewers to vote on something could be.

      Cool and fresh is certainly the way to go, far better than attempting to make a building or the southern cross into something.

      As for the image, I was thinking ” Another Bingle! “

      At the risk of creating a Melbourne Sydney war and it does not need to be because it was more the Spring Carnival fashions that came to mind and Sydney has its Autumn carnival is it, Golden Slipper Stakes etc. and regardless of where races are held, there are always some smart cool and fresh fashions and horse racing is one of those sporty type events too.

      And yes, I agree about stopping to try too hard for national dress as associated with lederhosen or fur hats is something that stems from the stone age eras and Australia with its diversity influence has never really been into developing anything like that, the nearest you could go being in fact the early style dresses worn by pioneers, probably much the same as what the Brits were wearing back over there until they realised they did not need as many petticoats etc.

      And then of course, do we forget our indigenous Australians again?

      Reply

    • ronny jonny says:

      06:48am | 22/11/12

      The indigenous idea is great. Trackie dacks, old stained jumper and a Hawks beanie. Gorgeous!

    • Jeremy says:

      09:54am | 22/11/12

      Last time we dressed people up with Aboriginal get-up it was deemed to be culturally offensive, so we don’t want to do that again. Also, I doubt many Australians feel that our indigenous people represent them. There aren’t many of them, and they generally poorly engage in mainstream culture. I reckon we should just get some hot chick wearing hard yakka stubbies, rubber thongs and a flanny and call it done.

    • acotrel says:

      05:59am | 22/11/12

      Is that what the women engineers will be wearing ? Looks good to me, it would go well with a hard hat.

      Reply

    • Anubis says:

      08:58am | 22/11/12

      The misogynist speaks again - are these the same female engineers that you referred to as useless just last week acotrel ?

    • Kate says:

      05:59am | 22/11/12

      We do not have a ‘National Dress’ so for goodness sake stop trying to create one.  If the young woman just dresses in a beautiful gown created from fine pure wool and designed by an Australian Designer this should be enough.  We will be the laughing stock of the world yet again.

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      06:35am | 22/11/12

      Of course we have a national dress !  Didn’t you see our athletes wearing the Dri-rider coats and Blundstone booties and Akubra hats? What is wrong with you people - are you trying to deny our national heritage ?  What do you think the ANZACs wore at Gallipoli ?

    • Rebecca says:

      12:36pm | 22/11/12

      The only problem I have with this outfit is that it looks like the designer went down the the newsagent and got some gold cardboard, cut it out into shapes and glued it to the nearest white dress/shoes she could find. It looks like a high school art project. Nice concept with the gold and white, but it just turned out tacky and cheap. I liked the 2011 dress.

    • Tator says:

      03:08pm | 22/11/12

      Alcotrel,
      it’s more like blue singlet, stubbies and thongs as a national dress smile

    • gobsmack says:

      06:10am | 22/11/12

      “Their designs were whittled down to four by 76,000 votes from viewers of the Sunrise breakfast program. “

      Say no more.

      “the gold costume is a symbol of Australia - with its golden sun”

      As opposed to the red dwarfs and blue giants that rise and set over other parts of the world.  We are the lucky country.

      Reply

    • Sickemrex says:

      06:52am | 22/11/12

      Solid gold, gobsmack.

    • Tubesteak says:

      06:57am | 22/11/12

      Or how many countries see the Southern Cross?

    • dancan says:

      08:22am | 22/11/12

      Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, the southern tip of Brazil, southern South Africa, southern Australia and New Zealand/Aotearoa.

    • AdamC says:

      08:49am | 22/11/12

      I guffawed at the Sunrise reference as well. Anyone who subjects themselves to the inanities of Mel and Kochie (and Nat, assuming she is still around) is prima facie not of sound mind to start with. And when you consider Sunrise viewers also have to get up early to get their brekky TV fix ... well, I wouldn’t put them in charge of choosing anything!

    • George says:

      06:32am | 22/11/12

      Short shorts, thongs, and a tight t-shirt. Yum.

      I’m not trying hard. I don’t say “mate” every second word, and thankfully most people don’t.

      The thing about identities is that it can lead to annoying caricatures.

      Reply

    • robin says:

      08:10am | 22/11/12

      Yeah mate, you are spot on.  Fair dinkum these try hards get on my goat.

    • Haxton Waag says:

      09:14am | 22/11/12

      I am not sure how mate-ship distinguishes itself from the friendship or sense of community I am sure exists in every other nation in some form. Can anyone enlighten me?

    • Mahhrat says:

      06:37am | 22/11/12

      Do we actually need a “national identity”?  I’m sure the Israeli and Palestinian combatants have strong national identities, and it doesn’t seem to do them much good.

      I’m cherry picking of course, but the question remains: what use to us is it?

      Reply

    • subotic says:

      08:18am | 22/11/12

      So that people know who to blame for Cold Chisel’s “Khe Sahn”?

    • ronny jonny says:

      06:56am | 22/11/12

      We don’t have a national identity a such because we are a very young nation in the scheme of things and have developed mostly in the modern era where people move around a lot instead of staying in one isolated geographical area developing weird ways of acting and dressing. This will become more pronounced as time goes on and further waves of immigrants enter our society, blending with and changing it. We should have national aspirations like the great “fair go for all” ethic but national dress and identity are a bit old world in my opinion.

      Reply

    • dweezy2176 says:

      07:00am | 22/11/12

      The bit on the head. I thought when I saw it,it was based on the galahs’ plume but then on channel 10 news they stated it was Opera House themed.
      Still, as the whole outfit looks awful to me I don’t suppose it matters!

      Reply

    • Mouse says:

      07:01am | 22/11/12

      Capt Cook found Australia in 1770, the first convicts came in 1788, we became our own nation in 1901. We are still a baby nation, we don’t have a long history to draw from.  National dress?  I’m pretty sure that a loin cloth, bare feet and body paint wouldn’t go down too well in the Miss World pageant, but you never know, it could certainly be done better than the current entry!  lol :o)

      Reply

    • reneel says:

      11:15am | 22/11/12

      If our baby nation was built by convicts, whats wrong with a costume featuring leg irons and hand cuffs?
      Its also pretty relevant to our culture today haha

    • lingo says:

      11:19am | 22/11/12

      Dunno… Raquel Welch looked ok in her animal skin/fur outfit:)

    • Mouse says:

      01:18pm | 22/11/12

      hey lingo…the fur outfit gets a tick!  :o)

      reneel, now, I’m likin’ the leg irons and handcuffs idea….but what I’m thinking would probably be a different party, not entirely applicable to a Miss World pageant, if ya get my drift!...  lol ;o)

    • reneel says:

      02:50pm | 22/11/12

      Haha @Mouse…
      If the costume channels Fifty Shades of Grey instead of our British ancestors is may be more popular….

    • Mouse says:

      03:11pm | 22/11/12

      reneel, God forbid!! LOL I have heard that they can now do some pretty amazing stuff with gladwrap and body paint…...    hahahaha the mind boggles!! LOL :oD

    • wakeuppls says:

      07:07am | 22/11/12

      We don’t know who we are precisely because we have been force fed by the media that we are a “multicultural” country from our beginnings when this is a blatant lie. This country was founded by White Christian men bringing Common Law from its homeland in Britain. Those who came here after colonisation were essentially the same in culture (with some relatively short periods of unrest) and near identical ethnicity.

      Now we are flooded with any and all cultures and are told under the strictest of terms from our media commissars that all these cultures deserve respect and tolerance.

      Reply

    • Nathan Explosion says:

      07:21am | 22/11/12

      Oh no! Damn those ‘other’ people wanting respect and tolerance and to be treated like everyone else! How dare they! *clutches my pearls*

    • Joel M-J says:

      07:38am | 22/11/12

      “This country was founded by White Christian men bringing Common Law from its homeland in Britain”

      The United States was founded with slavery being a norm of society. Doesn’t mean the United States should have continued that tradition into modernity. The same is true with us.

      Just because we were founded as a White Christian country, does not mean we have to remain that way. In fact, I would argue, in an ever increasing world of globalization, we SHOULD not remain what we were.

      I think maybe you need to wake up.

    • wakeuppls says:

      08:09am | 22/11/12

      The thing is, Nathan brain Explosion, that I actually said their culture is the thing that is being accepted, not the people.

      There is something to be said for some people on this website and their comprehension. It’s a recurring theme.

    • wakeuppls says:

      08:13am | 22/11/12

      Joel

      Rome became multiculti too in the latter days. Did well for them. History and reality are against you.

    • Joel M-J says:

      08:23am | 22/11/12

      Yep, Ancient Rome and the Barbarian Invasions is very much comparable to the Modern World.

      Try going back to school.

    • Nathan Explosion says:

      08:37am | 22/11/12

      @wakeuppls

      “There is something to be said for some people on this website and their comprehension. It’s a recurring theme.”

      Oh, the irony.

      You’re welcome to live in your happy little Christian land of white anglo people only, meanwhile the rest of us will be out experiencing new things and broadening our outlooks.

      Seriously, why do you dislike anyone who isn’t exactly the same as you?

    • wakeuppls says:

      09:34am | 22/11/12

      If I wanted to experience Chinese culture, I could easily go to China. Apparently this common sense approach that has been used for thousands of years is suddenly incomprehensible.

    • Nathan Explosion says:

      09:57am | 22/11/12

      @wakeuppls

      But you wouldn’t, would you?

      Because other cultures and people who aren’t exactly like you are worthless to people like you. And by people like you, I mean close minded fools who don’t believe that cultures and countries and people evolve and grow.

      I feel sorry for you.

    • SydneyGirl says:

      10:02am | 22/11/12

      wakeuppls is so much comprehension fail (and probably also posting as Zac) that even marley gave up. The best way to respond is to leave the posts unattended and forlorn and never responded to.

      However. Its true, when I want to see White Christian Culture I go to…..Northern Europe.

      While you are at it, stop being Christian! Its a Middle East religion! Bring back the Druids, religion of lily white people!

      PS: This dress is awful.  A national costume need not be a travesty.

    • wakeuppls says:

      10:10am | 22/11/12

      No I just happen to have some pride in my own culture and think it’s worth protecting. Multi-culti lefties like you wouldn’t blink if you saw Australia turn into the third world that you claim has such great cultural value. Hell, you commies probably welcome it as fairness for the terrible colonial atrocities.

    • Levi says:

      10:15am | 22/11/12

      Nathan explosion, Japan and South Korea are highly restrictive of immigration. Because they apparently don’t want their blood lines “sullied”, and their demographics are extremely homogenous as a result, why aren’t you having a go at them??

      You simply don’t get it do you? I am with wakeuppls, why have a country which is a mish mash of ethnic enclaves when you can just keep it the way it is, and if you want to experience a different culture just go overseas?

      Can you tell me what exactly it is that you hate so much about White people who may or may not be Christian?

      “And by people like you, I mean close minded fools who don’t believe that cultures and countries and people evolve and grow.”

      - What exactly do you mean by evolve and grow? it’s wishy washy language like this that makes people think that multikulti proponents like you have some hidden agenda.

      If you can give me one good reason why the 2000+ year history of European achievement, which culminated in putting a human being on the moon and giving you the standard of living you enjoy today so you can post on the Punch from your Ivory Tower of moral superiority is unworthy of preservation from multicultural politcal correctness, please let me know.

    • Nathan Explosion says:

      10:26am | 22/11/12

      @Levi

      Because Japan and North Korea are extremley racist.

      Just like you and @wakeuppls!

    • Joel M-J says:

      10:35am | 22/11/12

      Wow, that escalated quickly. I mean it really got out of hand.

      wakeuppls - Protecting your culture and enjoying/partaking in other cultures is not mutually exclusive. No body is going to make you dress up like a dragon, so relax. People like yourself seem to get so worked up when other peoples cultures make an appearance here… and for what? Did it some how rob you of something? No… it really didn’t.

      Reading your comments, I’m somehow reminded of that bogan on the Frankston bus recently… furious because a French girl was singing in French. Wow. Just wow. You people are the plague of this world.

      Levi, just because the Koreans and Japanese do it, doesn’t mean it is right. The rhetoric of “oh but they do it, what about them?” is you clutching at straws.

      Some people seem to get so defensive when we make talk of other cultures, and the positive influence they can bring to Australia’s overall culture. I get why. It’s irrational and unreasonable, but I really do get why. You’re resistant to change, and genuinely believe that your way of life is under threat. Wake up. It isn’t. As long as Australia is democratic and embraces Civic Nationalism, you will be free to live the way you want, within the bounds of the law, as will Chinese people, Muslims, Zoroastrians and anyone else who is curious enough to explore the benefits of diversity.

    • Levi says:

      10:56am | 22/11/12

      “Because Japan and North Korea are extremley racist.

      Just like you and @wakeuppls!”

      - I said South Korea, your comprehension is sub-standard. Anyhow, the standard left wing response when losing an argument = cry raaaaaaacist!!

      Nathan, point out one exact line in my comment where I said something racist….hmm no you can’t.

      If enforced balkanisation is what you want, just state it. Because multiculturalism has worked so very well in every country which has tried it. pfff

      Case in point. 2012 US election.
      47% of white people vote for Obama = a reasonable split.

      92% of people who identify as black vote for Obama = voting for the guy who is the same colour as you——> defeats the purpose of democracy.

    • Levi says:

      11:36am | 22/11/12

      Not clutching at anything Joel, though you will notice they don’t have Muslims running around threatening to behead anyone in Japan. That’s one benefit.

      Name one positive influence of having a multicultural society, which has brought POSITIVE and lasting impacts to Australia’s standard of living over the past 20 years, other than being able to eat different styles of food.

      Now seeing as you are on the opposite side of the argument, you must play the devil’s advocate and name some NEGATIVE impacts. I have a few:

      - Lifesavers being bashed doing their job
      - Increased expenditure on social welfare
      - Creation of a Middle Eastern and Asian crime unit specifically to deal with crime perpetuated by minorites.
      - Numerous foiled home grown terror plots
      - Sydney siders threatened with beheading
      - Bilal Skaf

    • simonfromlakemba says:

      11:40am | 22/11/12

      Clinton got 80% of the black vote previously, whats your point?

      Previously whites have gotten 100% of the black vote, didn’t see you whinging then.

      I guess white people have no dramas with basically only white suburbs, just those nasty coloured people.

    • Economist says:

      11:58am | 22/11/12

      SydneyGirl I love the dress. It’s a simple white dress. White always looks great. Better than some of the carnival dresses of the past.
      Hmmmm wakeuppls you invest to much time in people difference. Genetically we’re effectively the same.  The focus on cultural differences is absurd. The difference people should focus on is are you an arsehat or are you not? Do you use your culture to justify abhorrent behaviour, then you are an areshat?

      I’d hate to see our national costume being an arsehat!

    • Nathan Explosion says:

      12:00pm | 22/11/12

      @Levi

      “You simply don’t get it do you? I am with wakeuppls, why have a country which is a mish mash of ethnic enclaves when you can just keep it the way it is, and if you want to experience a different culture just go overseas?”

      There’s your racist comment, you racist.

      And maybe, just maybe, 92% of black people who voted, voted for Obama because Romney admits he doesn’t care about poor people and wants to remove universal health care?

      If I was poor, I’d damn well wanna keep my universal health care.

    • Joel M-J says:

      12:00pm | 22/11/12

      So Levi… you are saying African Americans are racist? 92% of them?

      Nice one. Maybe Mitt Romney only really appealed to affluent god fearing Americans. Statistically that means mostly white males, but also a smaller percentage of non-white Americans.

      The voting result reflects this perfectly. A ridiculous argument on your part.

      It’s true, multiculturalism has failed in a lot of places. Why? Because it wasn’t implemented correctly. A friend of mine has brainstormed some fantastic ways to deal with this… like for example hosting Refugee families (once they have been processed) in regional areas of Australia where there isn’t much ethnic diversity. Really expose people to different cultures. Create a bit of empathy as a result, between ALL involved.

      At the end of the day, it is about the hierarchy of human rights.

      You have the right to embrace your own, or other peoples cultures… but not at the expense of it breaking the law, or infringing on some one else’s freedoms.

      If you don’t want to have anything to do with Chinese New Year, then don’t. I won’t mind. No one will. Just don’t sit their like an idiot and infringe on mine or anybody else’s freedom to do so.

      This form of Ethnic Nationalism with Isolationist tendencies is really irrational. I think there is a lot to be said for people who subscribe to this thinking, and their clear insecurity with their own culture and identity.

      I know who I am. No amount of immigrants is going to change that for me. If your cultural way of life is so frail as to not be able to withstand multiculturalism, then maybe you should be insecure. Or maybe you just need to have a good hard think about where you stand in this world.

    • Peter says:

      12:21pm | 22/11/12

      @wakeuppls - mate, we all know what this is really about and I’m here to tell you that it’s probably not really as small as you think it is.  Most men think theirs is small only to find out (when they check with their Doctor) that it’s actually pretty average.  So cheer up and love life a little.  You can’t do anything about your perceived shortcomings anyways.

    • wakeuppls says:

      12:21pm | 22/11/12

      Levi

      I am glad there are still some people that haven’t bought the Commissar rhetoric in this country. You won’t reach common sense here though, as you can see.

    • Tbird left right and in the middle says:

      12:27pm | 22/11/12

      You have to love The Punch and comments here ! lol

      You have ppl claiming that they are progressive and tolerant to all, then next sentence dismiss other contributors opinions and call them nasty names.
      Ha only reason I come to work is to read the Punch and laugh…....

    • SydneyGirl says:

      12:47pm | 22/11/12

      Economist, I don’t know….....There is a lot to like in the Australian aesthetic, surely we can have a white dress that is relaxed and simple and unpretentious (qualities you would like to think reflect the country!),  without dragging in the Opera House and gladiator sandals and that feather atop her head.

      “Tbird left right and in the middle says”, normally everyone is fairly tolerant but wakeuppls is in a special category of his/her own. I think people are less nasty and more snarky and amused at the logic free posts!

    • Joel M-J says:

      01:04pm | 22/11/12

      @wakeuppls

      One positive influence? Hmmm… okay… how about this:

      According to Access Economics, migrants who entered the country during the 2006-07 financial year, broadened the economy by $707 million in the first year. Based on current growth rates, those migrants (from just that year) will grow the economy by $1.4 billion by 2026-27.

      I’d say that’s a pretty awesome contribution, just quietly.

    • andye says:

      01:15pm | 22/11/12

      @wakeuppls - “Multi-culti lefties like you wouldn’t blink if you saw Australia turn into the third world that you claim has such great cultural value. Hell, you commies probably welcome it as fairness for the terrible colonial atrocities.”

      And then we would eat babies. Because leftists. Also, communism.

    • wakeuppls says:

      01:26pm | 22/11/12

      Economist

      Your economics knowledge is on par with your biology knowledge, I see. Men and women are near genetically identical, but you wouldn’t see any sane person claiming their mannerisms and personalities are anywhere near comparable. Dog breeds also share ~90% of their genes but you see vast differences in behaviours and reactions to environments.

      To be a true leftist, you really have to deny all reality, don’t you?

    • Joel M-J says:

      01:45pm | 22/11/12

      They say you make your own reality. Wakeuppls seems to be a very good example of that.

    • lingo says:

      01:49pm | 22/11/12

      @Levi, that’s a nice Jewish name you have there, whoops!  They don’t believe in Christ, you know that dude who Christians cling to, and OMG it is doubtful he was white!
      I think his image may have been white washed so he’d fit the ideal Christian myth of blue eyes and long flowing fair hair and beard!
      It’s a worry:)

    • wakeuppls says:

      01:57pm | 22/11/12

      I missed this doozy from you, Joel. I do apologise.

      “Yep, Ancient Rome and the Barbarian Invasions is very much comparable to the Modern World.

      Try going back to school.”

      That is about as basic and ill informed an analysis of the latter days of the Roman Empire as you can get.

      For the misinformed, uninformed, or ignorant, the Romans, to appease their far reaching Middle Eastern and African arms, allowed locals to sit in seats on the Senate. By the end of the Empire, less than half the Senate were of original Roman blood. You can’t get much more multicultural than that.

    • Joel M-J says:

      02:22pm | 22/11/12

      No wakeuppls, that is not correct. I studied a great deal of Ancient History, the fall of the Roman Empire being part of it.

      The Romans were forced to give seats in their senate to the Visigoths and the Vandals who physically invaded Rome. They literally rocked up at the city of Rome with an entire army and said something not too dissimilar to “All your base are belong to us”. That was the start of the end really. For the Western Empire any way. The Eastern half of the Empire (later renamed the Byzantine Empire) lasted until the 15th century, when Constantinople was captured by the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

      Oh, worthy of pointing out, the Turkish Ottoman empire was ridiculously cosmopolitan. With an empire that covers North Africa, Asia Minor, Greece and the Balkans, I suppose Multi-Culturalism is unavoidable. Remarkably, despite being ‘crippled’ by this ‘inconvenience’ of cultural diversity, they lasted until 1918. It was only after their defeat during a World War, that their empire crumbled.

      Speaking of crumbling, their goes your argument for historical precedence.

    • Economist says:

      03:18pm | 22/11/12

      walkeuppls ... .what the ...?. The very definition of culture is a way of life of a group of people that have similar behaviours, beliefs, values, and symbols… so they are comparable.

      By your rationale there are 7 billion cultures in the world, because we’re all so different. My sanity isn’t in question. I’ll restate. You focus on these differences for the purpose of denigration. I do not. I focus on our collective similiarities to form a cohesive society . If that’s is the definition of a lefty than happy to be categorised as such. Reality is that the vast majority of people want to earn a dollar, go home to their families, raise their kids, share their experiences regardless of race, colour, culture or gender.

    • iansand says:

      07:10am | 22/11/12

      Boardies and a bikini top.

      Reply

    • ronny jonny says:

      07:38am | 22/11/12

      Yes! and for the ladies?

    • pete says:

      07:14am | 22/11/12

      Groundhog day.

      Reply

    • Tork says:

      07:55am | 22/11/12

      Australia’s identity on a world stage isn’t known.  You’d have a bunch of girls dressed up as the country of their nation and you’d find it hard to define where the Aussie girl came from looking at her clothes.

      The defining look for a girl would be a simple, long bright summer patterned looking dress.

      The look for the guys would be stubby shorts, a sporting apparell top and a pair of sunnies.

      Problem solved! grin

      Reply

    • ronny jonny says:

      08:16am | 22/11/12

      I think it is almost impossible to wear national dress for any country without sliding into cliche and costumery. Germany? Lederhosen. The Dutch? Clogs. USA? Cowboy hat. England? Bowler hat. New Zealand? Gumboots. Muslim countries? Burka. It’s all a bit silly.
      It’s ok to be inspired by features of the nation but if you start plonking Statues of Liberty on hats, you’ve crossed the line.

    • Bear says:

      09:18am | 22/11/12

      Lara Bingle in a foam map of Australia al a Lisa Simpson when Homer made ‘Floreda’ costume. That would have been better than the real ad they did.

    • bella starkey says:

      08:13am | 22/11/12

      Perhaps sunrise viewers have a better sense of humour than one might give them credit for.

      Reply

    • robin says:

      08:13am | 22/11/12

      Come to my neck of the woods; beer belly and plumbers crack shorts are the norm.  Now, as for the guys apparel ...........

      Reply

    • Haxton Waag says:

      08:30am | 22/11/12

      Saints preserve us! smile

    • acotrel says:

      08:52am | 22/11/12

      Talking about crack shorts. I was at Apollo Bay a few days ago.  While I was having breakfast in a shop in town, there was a young father sitting outside, and I am certain he was winking at me.

    • Joan Bennett says:

      08:13am | 22/11/12

      A coalmine would sum it up nicely :-D

      Reply

    • Tony of Poorakistan says:

      08:19am | 22/11/12

      Stick them in a burqa - we’ll be there soon enough the way the boats are arriving and the rate at which they breed when they get here and start sucking on the welfare teat.

      Reply

    • Blind Freddy says:

      08:26am | 22/11/12

      She looks like a circus horse.

      Reply

    • expat says:

      08:54am | 22/11/12

      The bogan is probably the largest example of Australian identity. It is really the only point of difference from the uk and us input.

      Reply

    • Anubis says:

      08:55am | 22/11/12

      This comment in the original story sums it all up - “Their designs were whittled down to four by 76,000 votes from viewers of the Sunrise breakfast program.”

      FFS - using Sunrise viewers to make a decision on a visual representation of our national identity. I’m surprised we didn’t also get a F**k off we’re full bumper sticker plastered to her arse.  They should just have gone and consulted the bogans of Frankston, Woodridge or Bankstown ... ooh wait they did.

      Reply

    • Kika says:

      09:03am | 22/11/12

      She looks like a really lame attempt at looking like She-Ra.

      I don’t get it. Yes, we don’t have a national costume but there are ways and means to get Australiana into a beautiful dress. Aboriginal designs, wattle, the southern cross. How hard is it?

      I’m sick of this navel gazing. After spending the weekend with some Norwegians we actually DO have an international identity. They seem to know more about who we are than we do.

      Reply

    • ronny jonny says:

      12:26pm | 22/11/12

      Yeah, I thought it was quite super hero, a little bit Wonder Woman.
      Please, no wattle.
      Norwegians are fun, they love to drink, is that a national trait?

    • AdamC says:

      09:04am | 22/11/12

      Some Punchers would already be aware that I am not as opposed to traditional gender and family roles as my expensive, ultra-PC private education should probably have made me. (It’s true, private education is a waste of money!) And, while it would be wrong to claim that I am a gayer, more attractive, less Catholic version of Archbishop Pell, I certainly wouldn’t get a gig over at Fairfax’s Daily Life either.

      However, I really, really do not like these beauty contests. Are they really what womanhood is about in the twenty-first century: looking pretty in silly costumes and bikinis, flashing a white, toothy grin on cue and compliantly declaring that world peace would be better than double chocolate cookies dipped in fudge? Haven’t we all moved on from this crap, especially given that some South American human plastic surgerey advertisement will probably win the thing anyway? (Seriously, the industry sponsors many Latin American pageant entrants.)

      I am not saying we should ban beauty pageants, of course, or boycott Honey Boo Boo. But, really, do we all have to make such a big deal of such a deeply silly novelty event as Miss Universe?

      Reply

    • subotic Boo Boo says:

      11:50am | 22/11/12

      I am a gayer, more attractive, less Catholic version of Archbishop Pell

      Which is why I thought it would be compulsory for you to make such a big deal of such a deeply silly novelty event as Miss Universe.

      Rite?

      AdamC, stop trying to mess with deeply entrenched self-inflicted stereotypes FFS.

    • Upnorff says:

      09:08am | 22/11/12

      National identity? When we toured the US they thought we were ‘Brits’ (sic) because we didn’t speak like Steve Irwin. I told a couple of them they couldn’t be American because they didn’t sound like Huckleberry Hound but it went straight over their heads.
      National dress? If we base it on the garb of our Indigenous people pre-colonisation the costumes wouldn’t cost much and be no fun at all in cooler climes. However they would be certain to raise an eyebrow or twelve.

      Reply

    • lower_case_andrew says:

      09:12am | 22/11/12

      It’s amazing just how preoccupied Australians are with our national “identity” and questions like “who we are”.

      It DOESN’T MATTER.

      Nothing you can do change (or maintain) this supposed “identity”.

      Cultural identity is an ever-shifting thing.  There’s no way to control it, mandate it or wish it in to existence.

      It’s just navel-gazing.

      Reply

    • Rosie says:

      09:40am | 22/11/12

      Yes as soon as I saw the outfit that was to represent us as belonging to the land down under I burst out laughing before I started thinking and then feeling rather sad. I thought gosh we are a nation of people that haven’t a clue who we are?

      Many years ago when I first arrived in Australia, I knew I had arrived in a different country, the Australia I had imagined but found that patriotism wasn’t what it should be. I settled in South Australia and it wasn’t until the late Don Dunstan’s reign as our Labor Premier that I began to feel patriotism. Don Dunstan loved South Australia and what he tried to do for his State came from the heart and with fearless gusto. This shone through and brought everyone together. I later realized Dunstan was born in Fiji, being a Fiji born myself I understood where he was coming from. There, I was very happy to have a Labor Govt here led by the late Don Dunstan.

      Today Australia is a multiracial country with our indigenous people having an identity but the rest of us I feel do not know who we are? Even here in South Australia we have gone missing somewhere along the line. This I feel is because we are trying so hard to make every person that arrive here to fit in that we forget to let them know that we want them here to live in the Australia that we love and belong to.

      For the republicans out there, the first thing you guys must do is design a national costume that says; ‘Australia’ here we come!

      Reply

    • Sir Viv says:

      10:13am | 22/11/12

      “We’ve got a lot to be confident about being Australian.”

      If you have to even discuss it your massively insecure. The endless loop of self-aggrandising hype that the Australian media churns out daily to the moronic cheer squad is utterly comedic.

      Best place to live!!!
      Most multicultural!!
      Best food!!!
      Best beaches!!!
      Best sportspeople!!!
      Best sport in the world!!!
      Miranda Kerr!!!
      Most Friendly people!!!
      Bravest soldiers!!!

      Like as has been proved at almost every school in the world, the guy talking about how much sex he’s getting and how awesome he is at it was always the insecure overweight one addicted to masturbation.

      Like most of us non-Aussie types we chuckle at the absurdity of it all and carry on with enjoying our day.

      Reply

    • Bazza says:

      10:44am | 22/11/12

      Don’t forget how we’re “laid back” but lose our minds the moment that interest rates go up by 0.25 percent.

      yes. Australia doth protest too much.

    • PJ says:

      11:19am | 22/11/12

      Mate, if you’ve got it, shouldn’t you be allowed to flaunt it?

    • simonfromlakemba says:

      11:46am | 22/11/12

      It’s mainly the media that drum it all up. But that list is nearly all correct.

      The most laid back people who work some of the longest hours in the world!

    • Ross says:

      10:30am | 22/11/12

      I recon that costume is spot on for the next woman’s prison uniform ,

      Reply

    • Jay2 says:

      10:36am | 22/11/12

      @subtopic, I would say to the Missus’s American family, ” Golly gee, Yes, OF COURSE, ALL Australians are really racist rednecks” (see J.Hildebrand’s opinion ‘piece’ for confirmation of this ‘fact’).

      Then you reference a photo of the latest mass shooting by a nutty white guy in the US of A, and ask “Are ALL Americans like this?” . Maybe then you can follow it up with some gang photographs and ask “Is this what America is really like?”
      Because we all know that Americans are, from all the media portrayal,  Gang bangers; rednecks; religious freaks; rappers; cowboys and just plain gun crazy.  grin

      @Tory, I think most Australian’s know who they are, but there are some who just seem to hand wring and worry so much about being liked or approved of by the international community.
      I really can’t see the USA or the French sitting around pondering about Australia and if we like them.

      Reply

    • Kat Karvess says:

      11:10am | 22/11/12

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgbntWU7pG8

      This is a great piece that has definitely got people going.. tahnks for writing it, Tory

      I tend to agree with lower_case_andrew when he says “it doesn’t matter” because our country is a combo of different cultures which are ever-changing the colour/texture of the fabric of our nation. Which is great!

      I think in order to define who we are, we must first figure out who we aren’t.
      We aren’t as laid back as we think we are.
      We have a lot of rules and regulations that don’t allow us the freedom we think we have.

      Obviously, compared to other less fortunate countries that are under dictatorships etc, we are lucky and free; but compare us to somewhere like Germany where personal responsibility is paramount.

      We are not trusted to be left to our own devices and this affects the way we see ourselves as a whole.

      Cheers!

      Reply

    • Kat Karvess says:

      11:31am | 22/11/12

      watch the vid at 2:56..

    • NikRaf of Victoria says:

      11:59am | 22/11/12

      instead of trolling the costume

      why don’t you come up with some thing better if you can

      then Australia can comment on it

      Reply

    • Kassandra says:

      12:27pm | 22/11/12

      This is such a stupid topic. There’s no such thing as a “national dress”.

      There are traditional costumes, which may or may not have anything to do with the people who live in the countries possessing them today, and there are curiosities of historical fashion associated with some countries. If you travel the world much today you find most people dress more or less the same everywhere allowing for differences in climate and in some places religion.

      Australia as a nation is a little over a century old, and you expect it to have a “national dress”? And when you can’t identify one you think this means we don’t know who we are?  Au contraire, I think most of us have a pretty good idea who we are, and we don’t need a “national dress” to prove it.

      As to the international IQ contest called Miss Universe, who cares what our girl from Oz wears in it? Like our olympic athletes’ clothes it is a good bet that whatever they come up with the next time will probably be worse than the last time.

      Reply

    • jimbo says:

      12:47pm | 22/11/12

      Tanya Verstak had it right. The latest creation looks like a cross between a cocky, a roman dress and wonder woman.

      Reply

    • InSilence says:

      12:52pm | 22/11/12

      Mateship! *vomit* yes, friendship only exists in Australia. In every other country in the world people don’t help each other out, no one is friends with anyone and no groups of people come together in times of crisis. Do people honestly believe this bollocks?

      Reply
 
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