I usually pass Anzac Day quietly, as befits remembrance. I try to avoid the flag waving and the speeches and the politicians – difficult as that is during an election. However, the day touches on so many issues that affect the future of Australia, that it always makes me think about where we have come from and where we are going. Lest we forget – or be doomed to repeat.
As Anzac day comes to an end for another year, I was thrilled to see the way communities have been reclaiming what has increasingly become a huge remembrance industry, beloved by politicians – especially in the middle of an election. Driveway Dawn Services, a short-term response to the global pandemic, could easily have slipped into history, once the pandemic changed shape. Fortunately they seem to have become part of a continuing history, taking the heart of remembrance back to families, friends and communities, where it all began.
Family connections
Anzac Day always makes me remember my five uncles, who all went to war to fight for a democratic way of life they believed in. They all served in World War 2 – on convoys to Russia, aboard motor torpedo boats in the Adriatic and in the air above Germany. Copying his big brothers, my father tried to join up too, but he was too young and his father refused to sign the papers – thankfully, or I might not be here.
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| The red poppies of Flanders |
‘One uncle was a navigator on the Lancaster bombers that fire-bombed Dresden. My mother-in-law was staying with relatives on the outskirts of Dresden that night and watched as the city burned.’
After the war, as they all returned home – both those who had gone to fight and those who had seen enough of fighting over there to make them also come to Australia, as far away as they could manage. They all came or came back to build a better country. Dam busters turned into dam builders as they laboured to construct the Australia we live in today – for better and for worse. Former enemies turned into fellow Australians.
Back in 2015 I wrote an article about my uncle, ‘A navigator on a Lancaster bomber’, because he seemed to be a symbol of our loss of direction as a nation. As I said at the time, ‘Sometimes I think Australia has lost its way. It’s like a ship that has sailed into the vast Pacific Ocean in search of gaudy treasure, glimpsed the beckoning coast of Asia and then lost its bearings, all its charts blown overboard in squalls and tempests. It seems to have turned from the great nation-building vision of the period after World War 2, with its sense of optimism and fairness, towards something much more pinched and narrow. It’s time to rediscover the Australian dream. We need a navigator – or perhaps many, one in every community – who can help us find our way, encourage us as we navigate from greed and complacency to a calmer shining ocean of generosity and optimism’.
Friends and neighbours
The other thing Anzac Day makes me think of is the very idea that makes up the name – the long and close association we have with New Zealand. When I was in Wellington in 2016 I was struck by how companies like Weita, the animation company that produced ‘Lord of the Rings’, were applying their storytelling skills to telling the New Zealand Anzac story.
Black diggers
The day also makes me think about all the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island diggers who were part of this history. As I commented back in March 2015, reviewing Wesley Enoch's play ‘Black Diggers’, ‘If you are convinced you have heard all of Australia’s great stories, think again. If you consider you know something about Indigenous Australia, you probably need to start from scratch.’
‘Why they would bother when they were not even recognised as Australian citizens in their own land is a story all their own – but a story relevant to every Australian’
Why over a thousand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians left their communities in remote Australia or our regional cities or the big state capitals to travel overseas to fight and die in the European trenches far from home is part of a larger Australian story. Why they would bother when they were not even recognised as Australian citizens in their own land is a story all their own – but a story relevant to every Australian’.
The last Anzac
Growing older you find yourself attending more funerals. In fact I realised that the suits I used to wear to work are now only pressed into service for weddings or funerals – or the odd meeting with politicians. I vividly remembered when the last of the Anzacs who had been at Gallipoli died, an admirable fellow-Tasmanian, Alec Campbell, who became a trade unionists and pacifist after his war years. He was given a State Funeral in Hobart.
‘In a break with tradition, ten of the Campbell women; great-granddaughters, granddaughters, and a daughter, five on either side of the flag-draped coffin, flanked the guard of honour on Private Campbell's final journey.’
However, in another gesture of people reclaiming ownership of their own history, he was escorted out by the women of his family. ‘In a break with tradition, ten of the Campbell women; great-granddaughters, granddaughters, and a daughter, five on either side of the flag-draped coffin, flanked the guard of honour on Private Campbell's final journey.’ The image of the procession in the media coverage at the time is powerful and direct.
The simplicity and directness of remembrance
I hope the new over-blown War Memorial doesn’t lose what has always been best about it – the simplicity and directness of remembrance. There are two elements of the institution that for me were always most moving and evocative. The first was the simple, bullet-damaged landing boat from the Gallipoli landings that sat in the entrance on its own, without embellishment.
The other is the tradition of the artificial red poppies that adorn the panels of the War Memorial's Roll of Honour. As the Memorial notes these are ‘placed beside names as a small personal tribute to the memory of a particular person, or to any of the thousands of individuals commemorated there. This practice began at the interment of the Unknown Australian Soldier on 11 November 1993. As people waited to lay a single flower by his tomb in the Hall of Memory, they had to queue along the cloisters, beside the Roll of Honour. By the end of the day, hundreds of…poppies had been pushed into the cracks between the panels bearing the names of the fallen. A simple gesture spontaneously arising without artifice led to a long-running tradition that continues today.
Our cultural institutions, our history and our future
I went back to reread an article I wrote in November 2018, ‘Who owns Australia’s ‘soul’? Our cultural institutions, our history and our future’. It’s from the time when the vast expansion of the Australian war memorial was announced – work now well underway. The article rings even more true now, post-pandemic, ‘The announcement of a substantial sum from the Government for expansion of The Australian War Memorial has highlighted some crucial issues around shrinking support for our cultural institutions, recognition of our history and heritage, and sponsorship in a time of diminishing budgets. The Director of the War Memorial has commented that “the Australian War Memorial is…a place that reveals our character as a people, our soul.” In the end though, Australia's soul might turn out to be larger, longer and wider than our history of wars’, https://cassarticle.blogspot.com/2018/11/who-owns-australias-soul-our-cultural.html. Lest we forget – or be doomed to repeat.
© Stephen Cassidy 2022
See also
‘My blog “indefinite article” is irreverent writing about contemporary Australian society, popular culture, the creative economy and the digital and online world – life in the trenches and on the beaches of the information age. Over the last ten years I have published 166 articles about creativity and culture on the blog. This is a list of all the articles I have published there, broken down into categories, with a brief summary of each article. They range from the national cultural landscape to popular culture, from artists and arts organisations to cultural institutions, cultural policy and arts funding, the cultural economy and creative industries, First Nations culture, cultural diversity, cities and regions, Australia society, government, Canberra and international issues – the whole range of contemporary Australian creativity and culture’, An everyday life worth living – indefinite articles for a clean, clever and creative future.
‘We live in troubled times – but then can anyone ever say that they lived in times that weren’t troubled? For most of my life Australia has suffered mediocre politicians and politics – with the odd brief exceptions – and it seems our current times are no different. Australia has never really managed to realise its potential. As a nation it seems to be two different countries going in opposite directions – one into the future and the other into the past. It looks as though we’ll be mired in this latest stretch of mediocrity for some time and the only consolation will be creativity, gardening and humour’, Beyond a joke – surviving troubled times.
‘indefinite article’ on Facebook – short arts updates and commentary
‘Short arts updates and irreverent cultural commentary about contemporary Australian society, popular culture, the creative economy and the digital and online world – life in the trenches and on the beaches of the information age’, 'indefinite article' on Facebook.
‘The endless attrition of the ‘efficiency dividend’, with its long-term debilitating impact on our major national cultural institutions, continues to do harm. With the periodic announcement of job losses, more and more valuable expertise is increasingly lost and important programs affected. This will undermine the ability of these institutions to care for our heritage and to provide access to their collections for Australians across the country. The long term impact of these cumulative changes will be major and unexpected, magnifying over time as each small change reinforces the others. At some point Australians will ask where valued and important programs have gone and how critical institutions have managed to diminish to the point where return will not be possible,’ Endless attrition at major collections institutions undermines our cultural future.
‘The announcement of a substantial sum from the Government for expansion of The Australian War Memorial has highlighted some crucial issues around shrinking support for our cultural institutions, recognition of our history and heritage, and sponsorship in a time of diminishing budgets. The Director of the War Memorial has commented that “the Australian War Memorial is…a place that reveals our character as a people, our soul.” In the end though, Australia's ‘soul’ might turn out to be larger, longer and wider than our history of wars’, Who owns Australia’s ‘soul’? Our cultural institutions, our history and our future.
‘I always thought that long after all else has gone, after government has pruned and prioritised and slashed and bashed arts and cultural support, the national cultural institutions would still remain. They are one of the largest single items of Australian Government cultural funding and one of the longest supported and they would be likely to be the last to go, even with the most miserly and mean-spirited and short sighted of governments. However, in a finale to a series of cumulative cuts over recent years, they have seen their capabilities to carry out their essential core roles eroded beyond repair. The long term impact of these cumulative changes will be major and unexpected, magnifying over time as each small change reinforces the others. The likelihood is that this will lead to irreversible damage to the contemporary culture and cultural heritage of the nation at a crucial crossroads in its history’, Cut to the bone – the accelerating decline of our major cultural institutions and its impact on Australia’s national heritage and economy.
‘If you are convinced you have heard all of Australia’s great stories, think again. If you consider you know something about Indigenous Australia you probably need to start from scratch. Black Diggers, “the untold story of WW1’s black diggers remembered” is a great Australian story. Why over a thousand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians left their communities in remote Australia or our regional cities or the big state capitals to travel overseas to fight and die in the European trenches far from home is part of a larger Australian story. Why they would bother when they were not even recognised as Australian citizens in their own land is a story all their own – but a story relevant to every Australian’, Black diggers - telling war stories.
Flight of the wild geese – Australia’s place in the world of global talent
‘As the global pandemic has unfolded, I have been struck by how out of touch a large number of Australians are with Australia’s place in the world. Before the pandemic many Australians had become used to travelling overseas regularly – and spending large amounts of money while there – but we seem to think that our interaction with the global world is all about discretionary leisure travel. In contrast, increasingly many Australians were travelling – and living – overseas because their jobs required it. Whether working for multinational companies that have branches in Australia or Australian companies trying to break into global markets, Australian talent often needs to be somewhere else than here to make the most of opportunities for Australia. Not only technology, but even more importantly, talent, will be crucial to the economy of the future’, Flight of the wild geese – Australia’s place in the world of global talent.
Shutting down Australian creativity and culture – timeline of a trainwreck
‘In
its response to the pandemic the current Government came a long way in
terms of its narrow economic views about minimising the role of
Government. However the longer history of neglect of the creative sector
shows how severe the Government's economic limitations are and how its
grasp of the economy (without even mentioning the social sphere) is too
narrow and out of date. It has missed a whole sector of the economy that
was large, fast growing and included many of the jobs of the future.
It's most recent actions have merely compounded a seven year history of
neglect and damage,’ Shutting down Australian creativity and culture – timeline of a trainwreck.
Out of the ashes – art and bushfires
‘While the current bushfires raging across much of Australia are unprecedented in their scale and severity, they are a reminder of how people have responded after previous fires, rebuilding communities and lives in the affected areas. They have also focused attention on the impact of the fires on creative practices and business and on how those in the arts and culture sector can use their skills to contribute to bushfire recovery into the future’, Out of the ashes – art and bushfires.
‘Understanding, assessing and communicating the broad value of arts and culture is a major and ongoing task. There has been an immense amount of work already carried out. The challenge is to understand some of the pitfalls of research and the mechanisms and motivations that underpin it. Research and evaluation is invaluable for all organisations but it is particularly important for Government. The experience of researching arts and culture in Government is of much broader relevance, as the arts and culture sector navigates the tricky task of building a comprehensive understanding in each locality of the broader benefits of arts and culture. The latest Arts restructure makes this even more urgent.’, Better than sport? The tricky business of valuing Australia’s arts and culture.
What is art good for? Understanding the value of our arts and culture
‘With arts and cultural support increasingly under pressure, arts and cultural organisations and artists are trying to find ways in their own localities to respond and to help build a popular understanding of the broader social and economic benefits of arts and culture. Much work has been done in Australia and internationally to understand, assess and communicate the broad value of arts and culture. The challenge is to share and to apply what already exists – and to take it further’, What is art good for? Understanding the value of our arts and culture.
Crossing boundaries – the unlimited landscape of creativity
‘When I was visiting Paris last year, there was one thing I wanted to do before I returned home – visit the renowned French bakery that had trained a Melbourne woman who had abandoned the high stakes of Formula One racing to become a top croissant maker. She had decided that being an engineer in the world of elite car racing was not for her, but rather that her future lay in the malleable universe of pastry. Crossing boundaries of many kinds and traversing the borders of differing countries and cultures, she built a radically different future to the one she first envisaged’, Crossing boundaries – the unlimited landscape of creativity.
Creating the future for Australia's arts and culture
‘Australia’s arts and culture is at a critical stage. One of the issues confronting it is lack of any kind of shared sense of what the role of government is in encouraging our arts and culture. The whole set of interlinked problems with the relationship between government and Australia’s arts and culture can be reduced to a lack of strategic vision and a long-term plan for the future. This deficiency is most apparent in the lack of any guiding policy, like trying to navigate a dark and dangerous tunnel without a torch or flying at night without lights or a map’, Creating the future for Australia's arts and culture.
Arts and culture part of everyday life and on the main agenda
‘There’s an election in the air and I was thinking about what would be a good list of positive improvements that would benefit Australia’s arts and culture, so I jotted down some ideas. They are about recognising arts and culture as a central part of everyday life and an essential component of the big agenda for Australia. They are about where the knowledge economy, creative industries and arts and culture fit, how arts and culture explain what it means to be Australian and how they are a valuable means of addressing pressing social challenges’, Arts and culture part of everyday life and on the main agenda.
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