The Fuss on Australia Day

The Australia Day fiasco when Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott were made to flee a pro-Aboriginal demonstration in Canberra deserves more insight than the simple and outraged response it has received in the mass media.

Threatening behaviour is wrong and nobody should be fearful for their safety. In my experience a protest can turn nasty when the group anger is not held or channelled by proper organisation or leadership. But the events outside the Canberra restaurant were significant for reasons other than just rowdiness. They forced into public consciousness Australia’s Shadow – the unresolved grievances of indigenous people and the stark divide between black and white in this country.

Many indigenous people continue to live in third-world conditions with third-world diseases and life expectancy in one of the richest countries on the planet. Their marginalisation is a result of the history of Australia – which was founded on the destruction of Aboriginal society and the physical annihilation of Aboriginal people. The present is haunted by the ghosts of the past, but as a nation we are still unable to come to terms with this and act meaningfully. Why?

One reason has to be our relationship to the past and how we relate to time itself. The deep cultural penetration of advertising and public relations since the second half of the 20^th century means we live with a largely cheerful, saccharine world view. “Buy this product and your life will be good” or “Listen to this advice and all will be well.” Whether it’s selling soap or a policy on asylum seekers, simple messages are the norm and self-interest is paramount: the self-interest of the company, organisation or political party conveying the message and the self-interest of the individual consuming it. The truth, which is often complex and requires a perspective beyond the ego, is nowhere in sight.

The effect of advertising and public relations is to create a culture of the “ever-present” where the past does not exist. All that exists is this present opportunity to consume, this golden moment where you can make your life complete with x product. The full roundedness of life with its gamut of emotions and relationships disrupts and interrupts this world view. Why would anybody be angry on Australia Day? What is there to complain about?

We are not merely shaped in the present by our past, but the past actually lives in the present. We see this in a multitude of ways – in our genetic makeup, which comes down from our ancestors, or in the way our evolutionary history can still be seen in our body and mind if we investigate closely. Psychology has long known about the ways in which the mind can be triggered by events that occurred in the past as if they were happening in the present. We humans evolve with our own past, piling the new on the old heap of history. If we mature enough, that heap can be fertiliser for our own good; if we don’t, we become captive to its worst aspects.

Time, I believe, is not really linear, more a progressive spiral or series of circles. The point is that we must first admit, take responsibility for and reclaim where relevant the past. It can’t simply be erased or denied. To deny it would mean, as the Australia Day fracas showed, potentially destructive consequences. This is not to say that opening to the past may not be difficult or challenging, but the rewards are usually great.

We can start by acknowledging all the ways we act in our everyday lives that enhance and enliven connection and relationship: from cooking and gardening, to looking after children and helping a colleague at work; from walking in the sunshine to smelling a rose and being thankful for its perfume. We don’t live in a bubble; we are in a world of connections which we have the power to change.