The Australian Ethnic Reporter, 1988 (1. évfolyam, 1-10. szám)

1988-03-01 / 1. szám

The Australian ETHNIC REPORTER THE VOICE OF ETHNIC AUSTRALIA Registered by Australia Post - Publication No. VBQ8632 Price $1 Vol. 1, No. 1 Published monthly March 1988 THE LOST CONTINENT This article is not about a continent that has never been found or one that was found once but has been lost again. It is about a continent that has lost itself. It is about Australia. When a late wave of the Great Migration of Peoples reached Australia forty years ago, the new settlers streaming into this country found a people that was basically honest and upright, with strong moral principles and a healthy family life. The average Australian may have been somewhat rough and always ready for a beer but his fundamentals were right. Because of this, he had a quality that endured and enabled him to face his future with confidence. This was a great country indeed — not merely because of the vastness of its spaces but because of the integrity of the men and women who lived in it. If one looks back now at what this island continent was forty years ago and what has happened to it during the ensuing four decades, one must conclude with sadness that Australia has not used these years to her best advantage. Certainly, there has been great advance in material goods, technical expertise and the cheaper pleasures of life but much of what made this country truly great in the past, has been lost. When the first waves of post-war immigrants reached these shores, there lived a nation here which for all its lack of refinement, offered certain standards of private and public life which appealed to the newcomers and to which they could conform. These standards were basically rooted in Christian traditions and whilst many of the details appeared strange to the new arrivals who brought a diversity of cultures and national traditions with them, the general rules of conduct inherent in them were sound and attractive. At least, it was reasonably clear what Australians stood for and what being an Australian meant. Forty years later, through a misguided interpretation of the pluralist society and the deliberate promotion of non-conformist attitudes - many of which are weird and unhealthy -, there is virtually nothing to which one can conform. The Australian identity has been lost. This was not due to the influx of many different peoples and races and the traditions they brought with them. The blame for the loss of the Australian heritage cannot be laid at the door of the multicultural society. The loss has been in the Australian framework within which these many group-cultures were supposed to find their own place. It is the 'Old Australians' who have lost their identity to the point where they can no longer be recognised. What has become of the Australian vision? What is the purpose in life of this society? What do Australians really live for? All one can see is one big hedonistic rush to pleasures and material wealth. But what of the treasures of the spirit? What of God Who has become so unmentionable? What of our Christian heritage? Some may perhaps think it strange that the first article of the first issue of an ethnic paper should start by looking for the Australian identity. Perhaps. But flowers cannot be planted where all the soil has been washed away, a house cannot be built in the air. No human endeavour can succeed if the fundamentals are unhealthy or even worse, completely lacking. And this is the condition of Australian society today. Certainly, there are still many good people left in this country, men and women of sound vision and principles. But these have been pushed aside and their voices are lost in the cacophony of aggressive cults and false doctrines which now dominate the Australian scene. We have reached the stage where the majority of our Government Ministers and a large proportion of members of Parliament, both Feredal and State, refuse to take the oath on the ground that they have no religious beliefs. What then do they believe in? What kind of leadership are they offering us - what are their directions, if any? Or are we going to accept it meekly that this country is just drifting on the waves, like a rudderless ship? Our family life has been degraded to marriage vows which are not worth the paper the marriage certificate is written on, ever increasing numbers of Australian children are growing up in single parent 'families' whilst even more are being slaughtered in the womb so that only constant immigration saves us from becoming a (Continued on page 2)

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