Week 4 Blog: Who is an Australian

Australia. This fine place that approximately 25 million people call home. Of those 25 million people, not one person’s story and heritage is the same as someone else. We all have our own stories about how we ended up here. Some people’s ancestors have lived here for hundreds of thousands of years, others migrated here recently, this makes Australia unique.

My personal story I would imagine is a fairly common one, but still unique. I had a relative on my Mother’s side who was a part of the First Fleet and made that first journey over from England to Australia. Frederick Meredith was aboard the ship Scarborough and was on the 5th highest pay rate of all the members onboard. He came over to Australia, married, fathered children, and then ultimately died here in 1833 (Swinfield). My Father’s side is, and will remain, a mystery, but from what I remember, I believe his family came over from England also. That makes me British, as is the case for many people. While I am technically British, I consider myself Australian. I was born here, I grew up here, I still live here now. I am an Australian. 

Some people define Australians as people with Australian Citizenship, if you have a citizenship you are Australian, if you don’t have a citizenship, then you aren’t Australian. This is an easy to understand concept of which I disagree with. I believe that if you identify with Australia and its values, and feel at home here, then you are Australian. Race, gender, and religious beliefs should not matter. Being Australian, or a part of any country for that matter, all comes down who you identify with. As the song says; I am, you are, we are Australian. 

Reference List
Swinfield, David. “Fellowship Of First Fleeters”. Fellowshipfirstfleeters.Org.Au, 2019, http://www.fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au/frederick_meredith.htm.