THE AUSTRALIAN MODERN FAMILY
My little family of four was born in Australia.
Me, my husband and two kids – our all-native-born outfit is now in the minority in the nation’s most populous state of New South Wales.
The latest census figures for the state show that just 48 per cent of families have two Australian-born parents. (In 2006, the figure was 50 per cent.)
Not only that, more than a third of children living in NSW have two foreign-born parents, and they’re most likely to be English, Chinese or Indian.
Yes, the face of Australia is changing before our eyes.
Winner 2008 City of Sydney Multicultural Art Competition “Sydney” by Carl Milton.
“It’s really a cultural turning point for us,” Brad Argent from Ancestry.com told The Daily Telegraph. “What we’re seeing now is this huge cultural difference where you’re seeing culturally blended families. But they’re Australian and that’s the wonderful thing.”
Not that everyone agrees.
The comments on this story are eye-opening.
“The Beautifull Australia that some of us grew up in, is fading very fast…. It will soon be a country of refugees, barbarians and gypsies…. Very sad indeed.”
“Multiculturalism is when nobody feels like it’s their country. Welcome to today’s Australia.”
“You just wait. Give Australia another 50 years and it’ll be just like any other uncivilised country in the world. Poverty, over populated and riddled with crime and violence. Australia is becoming another 3rd world country.”
“I don’t particularly like this as it doesn’t seem like my country any more. On the other hand, as long as people come here and obey our laws it’s okay, but foreigners are over-represented in the criminal population and that makes me angry.”
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22 Responses to this article
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Janet Georgouras September 10, 2012
I am married to a man of Greek descent and all of his brothers and sisters have married anglo-Australians. Out of our parent’s, only my husband’s father was not born in Australia. He came to Australia in 1924 as a sixteen year old boy. Some Anglo-Australians still tell my husband to go back to where he came from. Since he was born in Surry Hills he says that he would like to but it has become far to expensive for him.
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The Huntress September 10, 2012
Excellent topic! I am adopted, so biologically I am Portuguese and German, born in Australia, raised by Welsh and English migrants. I have an older brother (who is my parents natural son) who is Australian. Culturally we are very Welsh.
My current family consists of myself (mongrol of the EU), my husband (3rd generation Australian) and our son (although my son is not biologically related to my husband). I tend to see us as quite an average Australian family.
My son is an interesting representation of what it is to be Australian, I believe. With myself and his biological father being adopted, we were never quite sure what our baby would turn out like. My now 8 year old baby has dark red hair, big almond shaped grey eyes and smooth, olive skin. Quite an arrangement of features, which are very striking and obviously multicultural. Which I find very Australian.
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Ann-Maree September 10, 2012
I am a 6th generation Australian with convicts as forebears on both sides. I am also aware of an extremely wealthy side of the family who later lost it all in the early 1920′s. My family is a mixture, to start off, with German, French, English & Irish (I know there is Jewish there but as that is a religion not sure which country was the origin.)
My sister-in-law is Sicilian: another sis-in-law part Italian; a brother-in-law who is part Finnish and my partner has 2 cousins married to Chinese women and both have children; and I have aboriginal cousins. We certainly are a mixed mob. -
Wendy Green September 10, 2012
Australians generally have to grow up I think and accept that the only true Australians are our indigenous peoples. But hey, I can’t see that happening in my lifetime, sadly!
My eldest son lives in Japan with his Japanese wife and their 4 month old baby (who is, of course, adorable!). My daughter lives in Melbourne with her Colombian husband (that’s Colombia, South America). My third child lives in Buenos Aires with his Argentinian girlfriend. My fourth child lives in Sydney with his French fiance.
How’s that for multicultural?! Everyone gets along famously and we have an open door policy to all of them and their families.
Australia really isn’t old enough to have an age-old established culture and traditions of its own; any traditions we do hang on to, are generally English traditions anyway. We need to accept that our culture is still evolving and it looks like its going to be a melting pot of peoples from all around this global village so lets just get on with it and stop being so parochial.
We have just returned from meeting our new Grandson in Japan and I must say, when you see structures, customs and traditions that have been observed since the 8th Century it soon makes you realise that we have nothing to compare with that here! I think our isolation from the rest of the world has also made us, the older generations, a bit backwards in our ability to come forwards and meet our new immigrants with an open handshake and a welcoming ‘G’day mate!’
Let’s hope our children will be able to change these ‘red-neck’ attitudes.
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Matt September 10, 2012
You need to travel a bit more to appreciate what a truly welcoming and friendly country Australia already is today. We are not perfect but we are miles in front of many other so called progressive nations. Why do you feel the need to denigrate what we have?
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Wendy Green September 18, 2012
Perhaps, Matt, its because my Japanese daughter-in-law was made to feel so unwelcome by Australians that she had to return to Japan and took my son with her?
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Marnie September 10, 2012
One thing the preceding comments should tell you is – we are not alone. Every country in the world is a lovely mixture these days. It just like that old song from the 60′s about the melting pot and coffee coloured children by the score. The mixture is a positive sign that racial intolerance is well on it’s way out. Children of these mixed heritage families will make sure of that. Yes, perhaps it is sad that the old country is disappearing but it is progress and more and more, countries will not be inhabited by an indigenous race but a world race. After listening to program about how global warming will mean that world travel will all but cease due to fuel bans/costs, I have a vision in my head that having now been mixed up and spread out, the population will once again settle down where it is and things will return to segregation but with a new mix of the gene pool and new non racial view. Oh well, I can dream can’t I?
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jane September 10, 2012
Janet
Thats Gold!!!
Its too expensive to return..,
I live in an affluent and conservative area where there are middle class famillies who have never seen Greeks before!!
Disgusting and true in this day and age!!
Snots to the extreme
lol!!
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sami September 10, 2012
I am the whitest person on earth and have always wanted a more interesting heritage! The boyfriend has an italian/english background, I have anglo-indian friends, south african friends, asian friends, islander friends, aboriginal friends, friends from all kinds of backgrounds… So I feel pretty boring in comparison
oh well!Thankfully I don’t know anyone racist or against our multiculturalism, I’m pretty sure the majority don’t give it a second thought. People are individuals, race doesn’t really factor into anything. Bring on diversity I reckon.
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jane September 10, 2012
Identiy is fluid and organic
Sadly some subsequent generations adopt the worst from both cultures and they are bastardized
Lets hope we dont have people like Snooki fró Jershey Shore become the norm here
yuck
BE PROUD OF YOUR HERITAGE!!
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Glenn September 10, 2012
As I`m currently in the 42nd year of my Masters in S/W Sydney I`m happy to say i`ve been fortunate to reep the spoils of immigration & our changing face. If it wasn`t by way of learning and growing with friends from various backgrounds it has to be the amazing variety of authenticly run restaraunts around the area . Chinese , Greek , Italian , Vietnamese , Lebanese etc etc etc by the truck loads .
I would say though as 5th Generation Australian , we have always struggled to acheive an identity of our own . As charming as the term Bogan is , I do sometimes feel that there is a whole bunch of quality people out there that have to go digging for ancestrial routes in other country`s to really feel like they have a history when really there`s plenty enough history in this beautiful place and the smart and beautiful generational people in it.
Aussie pride has unfortunately become the badge of honour for young blokes on the piss between the ages of 18-25 albeit a great time of your life but probably not the most sensible, when real Aussie pride should be encouraged . When we can be proud of our car , house , street whatever is being proud to be an Aussie first and formost a thing we shouldn`t be.
There was nothing I enjoyed more at school than learning about the aborigianals that preceeded us where as now we tend to only talk of the negitive side of that, while at the same time spending much of our cultural talk celebrating other nationality`s history.I`m so proud of being an Aussie and always will be , at the same time keep enjoying the beautiful cultural diversity and the definate changing face of Australia , I think it`s OK to do both isn`t it.
Glenn
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Fred September 10, 2012
@Sami, instead of complaining about how boring your heritage is, study it, trace your family history. You’ll find it’s a lot more rich and interesting than you think.
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sami September 10, 2012
@Fred- the family tree has already been traced by my nanna. The book is at dads house. I assure you, it’s not very exciting
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Rose September 10, 2012
I have three boys. One is a red headed Anglo, one is indigenous and the other from northern Africa. Before you start casting nasturtiums – I am a foster carer. They are brothers in every sense of the word except blood. We are family. We are Australian.
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Aeron Winters September 10, 2012
We are a blended family…although many would not know it to look at us. Many don’t even pick it up when they speak to us. although the ones with the keen ears always do. My husband is a 5th generation Australian, but the daughter and I are Canadian ex-pats (now naturalised Australians). I have lost a lot of my accent so only those with a keen ear pick that up…the daughter was only six months old when we emigrated, so she sounds Australian of course. The rest of hubby’s family is all Australian (married to Aussies as well), but on my side we are multicultural. I have cousins who are married to Japanese, Scottish, Welsh and New Zealand partners. (Not sure if that counts as my cousins are all Canadian…although many, like myself, do not live there any more).
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Ro. Watson September 10, 2012
Slip,slop,slap or cover yourself~Australians have a pre-occupation with skin~hence the notion of “skinfull”..I am being silly as I think there is no proper summary of “culture” and “country” available,which does us all, alright.
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Rhoda September 10, 2012
I am of convict descent. My daughter has married the quintessential Australian outback country bloke. My eldest son has married a descendant of Ned Kelly – I kid you not. My second son is marrying a German girl with a master’s degree and who loves our country as much as we do.
The convicts in my family made good. They were from the poorest of the poor from Pommyland who stole bits and pieces – a handkerchief, a shovel. Got transported from a land that was up itself. Let’s never go there again.
My husband’s family were Irish and most were killed off in the potato famine. One made it to Australia and a descendant fell at Gallipoli. Another is buried in Belgium.
This is a country of immigrants seeking a future and I wish every one of them well.
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Ro. Watson September 10, 2012
“family” and “culture”has changed as adults,from once a year meet with sisters, who are dispersed across continent known as “australia” and who met at Christmas day while parents were still alive, to rare~ like formal and weird acknowledgement at birthdays with little other communication~ sparse grand continent with little interconncection?!.
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Rusty J September 11, 2012
There are now 7 different nationalities in our family. There is Australian, Belgian, Dutch, English, Italian, Assyrian and the family is still growing! We love it.
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Ella September 29, 2012
I was born in Poland, my husband is Australian born and his mothers family were First Fleeters. So our children are botth First Generation and First Fleeters, And we all consider ourselves “Australian” and proud of it.
Yes Australia is changing, as is the rest od the world.
As long as we dont follow America and their mean ways, Australia will continue to be the best place in the world to live and bring up a family.
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Narelle Matheson January 25, 2013
Our family originated from Ireland, England and Scotland, with pathways through Germany and heaven knows where else. We are all white, country bred, and there is the odd convict thrown in. I truly believe that Australia belongs to our first Australians first and the rest of us are now privileged to share this amazing country with them. We are all immigrants, and I love this country of ours to bits! I never take it for granted.
