A country swimming with diversity, Australia certainly seems fit
Australia has taken significant steps to erode the outmoded laws and politicians it was formerly beholden to. From the severe subjugation of its Aboriginal communities to the “White Australia” policy that outlined who entered the country and who didn’t through racial bias. Although a racist and far-right sympathising underbelly still exists, it is clearly not omnipresent with the multicultural and diversifying climate that now permeates.
I recently travelled across Australia within a four-week time frame. I explored 5 states and 2 coastlines, absorbing all what the country had to offer. I have been previously twice before and had already gave Australia my personal title of my “favourite place to visit”. The third trip seemed more informative and appropriate given I was not a preteen now. I was dubious to travel to a country I loved years ago, now I understood the complexities with its history and why it was still trailing behind a progressive Europe both culturally and politically. Although filled with scepticism but mostly excitement, I knew I was destined to return to a place where I had made fond memories beforehand.
Now my trip has concluded, I can safely and explicitly say I was pleasantly surprised. Within the urban centres of Australia’s famous cities, multiculturalism was certainly the norm. I was lucky enough to witness the preparations of the Mardi Gras festival in Sydney, an international annual phenomenon that commemorates the LGBT+ community. I visited a bar in the fabulous gay area of Kings Cross, where drag queens were the majority and the rainbow flags were prevalent. The Mardi Gras was celebrated across the country, which seemed like a timely celebration for a country that only 2 years earlier voted in their overriding support for gay marriage in a referendum.
I traipsed through wine regions, saw marsupials in their habitat and was witness to an excess of the most unimaginably spectacular views across a rugged but sprawling landscape. These surely make the country mesmerising. What stood out to me this time, though, as a nuanced and highly-political individual, was the sheer accepting atmosphere that was felt for people from a wide range of backgrounds.
One moment I vividly recall was during the last leg of my 28 day-long tour. As I strolled across the bustling esplanade of Cottesloe beach in Perth, I took note of the vast array of languages I heard around me. From people of colour to dialects I had never listened to before, no one amongst the crowd batted an eyelid to the pool of diversity surrounding them. Yes, Australia has a past and yes, some of its leading politicians have spouted racist tropes even today. That seems to be an issue almost everywhere in today’s climate, but it is undeniable at what great lengths Australia has come from its stiff-upper-lip history. A certain level of atonement is now spreading through the colonial nation’s relationship with their indigenous bedfellows. The Aboriginal population has garnered equal rights and self-determination, with a number of up and coming Aboriginal figures having a platform in politics. There’s a long way to go still, but the progress that has been made doesn’t go unnoticed.
Once I returned home, I have eyed another future visit or even a chance to move there indefinitely. For someone who espouses a multicultural society through their networking, I admire Australia’s sense of pride in accepting their inhabitants who are from all walks of life. A journey once perilous across seas for convicts set to embark for an unknown continent has become a journey worthwhile for people seeking a better lifestyle. Australia, you have shown your ugly side before, but now continuing on this quest of acceptance would leave that side in the past.
