Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians, provoked a storm when she said she wanted to ‘make Australia great again’.
Standing next to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in the Perth seat of Tangney, she spoke passionately about her love of Australia. The media present damned her comment as an ode to Donald Trump. ‘If I said that,’ she replied, ‘I don’t even realise I said that.’ Did they want her to hope for Australia to become cactus?
This episode got me thinking about what makes a nation great.
First, what is a nation? Dictionary definitions generally mention a large group of people sharing such things as territory, language, religion, culture and government. A simple definition I find helpful is a group of people united by land, language, and law, where ‘law’ includes government enacting and enforcing the law.
Land is crucial for a nation because it provides territory with defined physical boundaries within which the nation can exercise sovereignty and control. Land also provides natural resources, such as minerals, water, and fertile soil, that are foundational for a nation’s economy.
A common language is important for a nation because it fosters a sense of national identity. It also facilitates business, education and government services, which strengthen a nation’s economy.
Laws and governments are essential for maintaining public order and protecting citizens from harm and chaos. They can also enable democratic government, protect fundamental freedoms, and provide peaceful ways to settle disputes and avoid violence and unrest.
What then makes a nation great? An interesting case history of a large group of people who transitioned from a rabble to a successful nation is the ancient people of Israel.
Their story began with a nomad named Abraham who lived in ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) about 2000 BC. God promised to bless Abraham with many descendants and a land where they could live and become a great nation.
Centuries later, his descendants, called Israelites after Abraham’s grandson, found themselves living as slaves in Egypt under the oppressive rule of a Pharaoh, possibly Ramesses II (c. 1279–1213 BC). At that stage the Israelites were united by a language, Hebrew, but they had neither land nor law.
After many extraordinary events, God inspired an Israelite named Moses to lead perhaps 2 million people (estimates vary) out of Egypt into the Sinai Peninsula. How could this ragtag mob of slaves become a cohesive, functioning nation? Under the thumb of harsh taskmasters, they never thought of thinking for themselves.
Under God, Moses gave them a basic law for their future nation – the Ten Commandments – short enough to memorise and comprehensive enough to guide the nation’s community life. After a turbulent and traumatic few centuries, ancient Israel became a thriving nation under King David and King Solomon – united by land, language and law.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (1948–2020), former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, argued that Jewish thought and tradition have contributed profoundly to the ideals underpinning democracy:
Liberal democracy is not Athenian democracy. In ancient Greece, the people existed to serve the state. In Judaism and liberal democracy, the state exists to serve the people. Liberal democracy respects one of Judaism’s most fundamental values: the priority of the personal over the political. It is limited government … there to keep the peace, establish the rule of law, and ensure non-violent transitions of power.
What about Australia? During the late 1800s, those living in the six Australian colonies were anxious about the presence of hostile French and Russian militaries in the region. In the Tenterfield Oration, Henry Parkes argued that the time had come to unite as one nation with a great federal army for the better security of all. The campaign for the federation of the Australian colonies into the Commonwealth of Australia had begun.
Parkes saw the imperative for the six British colonies, already united by language, to become also united by land and law. This is seen in the slogans used by the Federation Movement: ‘One People, One Destiny, One Flag’. And Edmund Barton, who later became the first Prime Minister of Australia, coined the catchcry ‘a nation for a continent and a continent for a nation’.
What about Australia today? We are steadily unravelling the precious unity achieved through Federation.
The land of Australia is being fragmented under the native title awards, now covering nearly 50 per cent of the continent and that could grow to 60 per cent within 15 years. While the rights of Indigenous landowners are limited to those tied to traditional laws and customs, a recent High Court case declared those rights to be a form of property, with huge financial implications. Moreover, in 2023 the federal government appointed an ‘Ambassador for First Nations People’, as if Indigenous Australians belong to a different country.
The language of Australia is commonly assumed to be English, but there is no official language. At federation, the language spoken at home was overwhelmingly English (estimated at 98 per cent). By 2001, English had fallen to 80 per cent, and following the post-war immigration of Southern Europeans, the main non-English languages were Italian (1.9 per cent) and Greek (1.4 per cent). In 2021, English had fallen further to 72 per cent, with Mandarin (2.7 per cent) and Arabic (1.4 per cent) being the main alternatives. As the predominance of English declines, its role in building relationships and creating community is undermined.
The laws of Australia have a profound Judaeo-Christian foundation derived from the English common law, which those who established the Australian colonies brought with them. Law professor Augusto Zimmermann writes:
The English common law has an incredibly rich Christian heritage. England’s most celebrated jurists – including the likes of Blackstone, Coke and Fortescue – often drew heavily from their Christian faith when expounding and developing what are now well-established principles and doctrines of the common law.
Australian law sometimes conflicts with law derived from other religious foundations, such as Indigenous customary lore and Islamic sharia law. The traditional Aboriginal obligation of sharing makes sense in a hunter-gatherer tribe where food is scarce, but can become a humbugging nuisance, or even illegal theft, in our modern society. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says many Aboriginal Australians in Alice Springs often encounter the problem of relatives ‘humbugging’ money. Under Australian law, child marriage and forced marriage are illegal but, as ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali explains, they are features which characterise marriage in the Islamic world. We are becoming legally conflicted.
As a result of these developments, Australia has become divided by land, divided by language, and divided by law. Our country is developing in the direction opposite to that needed to build a successful nation. Are we intent on making Australia cactus?
Dr David Phillips is a former research scientist and founder of FamilyVoice Australia.
