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A better way of looking at our past

By Gregory Melleuish - posted Wednesday, 1 February 2006


In his Australia Day address, Prime Minister John Howard made some important statements about the nature of Australian culture and the teaching of Australian history. He argued for striking a balance between Australia's indigenous heritage and the traditions that were brought here by settlers, initially from Britain and subsequently from all parts of Europe and the world.

In particular he invoked broad influences that have moulded Australian culture: "Judeo-Christian ethics, the progressive spirit of the Enlightenment and the institutions and values of British political culture."

In its broad sweep this is reminiscent of the vision that Manning Clark enunciated at the beginning of volume one of his History of Australia.

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Much of the response to the Prime Minister's comments has failed to engage with his vision. Instead, historians, spokesmen for teachers' organisations and many journalists have reduced it to their level by prattling on about the teaching of British history in schools and the rote learning of dates.

This is a shame as there is much they could learn through a judicious appreciation of what Howard actually said. It is the case, for example, that all three influences he mentioned arrived in Australia with the First Fleet and subsequently developed in a uniquely Australian way in this country.

It is also true that the only way to understand that development is through narrative, and that to appreciate narrative it is necessary to know some facts. To downgrade facts in history is a bit like saying one can study science without doing the experiments that provide the data on which theories can be postulated. Without facts, students are at the mercy of the dogmatic views of an ideologically driven teacher.

Narrative is also an indispensable tool for the study of history because there are sequences in history and it is impossible to understand historical events without knowing what came before.

For example, Federation was not simply an issue of the 1890s. It cannot be understood without an appreciation of the sorts of political structures that had been set up in the colonies as "responsible government" from the 1850s onwards. And these, in turn, cannot be understood without reference to the British system of government and the "British constitution" from which they were derived.

What then of the three broad influences to which the Prime Minister referred? It is true to say that Australia's political and religious history have been in decline during the past 30 years. Largely this has been a consequence of the influence of postmodernism and a residual Marxism among historians.

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Former Marxists such as Stuart Macintyre have attempted to write religion out of Australian history. Postmodernists influenced by Michel Foucault see power and politics everywhere and have no time for the institutions of democracy.

The result has been that Australian history has moved in often bizarre directions: directions that do not allow us to understand the often churchgoing and civic-engaged Australians of our past.

It is highly significant that Howard used the term Enlightenment twice in his address and again in his interview on The 7.30 Report. In his speech he also appealed to the "enduring heritage of Western civilisation". The Enlightenment is a crucial part of that heritage.

David Malouf has pointed out that Australian English is the product of what he calls "late-Enlightenment English". John Gascoigne has established how important the Enlightenment and its values were during the formative period of the Australian colonies in the first half of the 19th century. The Enlightenment has been crucial in Australian history and its values have informed the growth of the Australian nation.

The Enlightenment sought to express the values of reason and rational inquiry. It was characterised by a systematic spirit of inquiry in opposition to an addiction to a dogmatic system.

In contrast to the fierce logic that marks both Marxism and postmodernism, the Enlightenment fostered a spirit of being reasonable and behaving in a civilised and humane fashion.

The great Scottish philosopher and historian David Hume embodied this spirit, combining a sceptical approach to knowledge with a calm and balanced disposition.

The Enlightenment expressed what is best in Western civilisation by its tolerance, its moderation and its desire to use reason as well as to be sceptical when approaching any set of conclusions. These are the values that are now sorely needed at a time when the world is threatened by the narrow-minded and fierce dogmatism out of which terrorism has emerged.

And, most important, these are values, as Malouf has rightly argued, that have marked Australia's inheritance from Britain.

It was most appropriate that the Prime Minister appeal to Western civilisation and its Enlightenment manifestation in his Australia Day address. The address disproves once and for all Judith Brett's argument that Howard's understanding of Australia is limited to an updated version of the old "Australian legend" and its narrow and parochial understanding of Australia.

In his few sentences the Prime Minister enunciated a vision for a new style of Australian history. In opposition to the old history, that too often has had as its main objective the indoctrination of students into a set of narrow dogmas, he has provided the outline of an Australian history that is humane and open-minded in approach, and which will enlarge the outlook of our young people.

Let us hope that a "coalition of the willing" emerges to make this vision a reality.

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First published in The Australian on January 30, 2006.



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About the Author

Gregory Melleuish is associate professor of history and politics at University of Wollongong.

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