The ideas and images of the Australian bush portrayed through newspapers, novels, poems, paintings and legend has had a significant impact on the definition of the Australian identity. Throughout the nineteenth-century, the young British colony of New South Wales would look to the frontier and the masculine endeavors of the pioneers as a way of claiming an identity, linked, but distinct from Britain. Lacking traditional European heroes within Australia, the discovery of gold, and all of the imagery that came with it, provided a subject that was needed for a nationalistic narrative. Building on this topic with other rural ideas and images of frontier life, writers such as Henry Lawson and A. B. (Banjo) Patterson, and others from The Bulletin, contributed to the creation of the rural myth and its linking to national identity by extolling the virtues of country living and the humble heroics of the people within those communities.
Ken Taylor, in A Symbolic Australian Landscape, discussed the “values a community places on its material and social history”, stating that images of the bush are central to this history. Australian military historian, Charles Bean, stated that: “The bushman is the hero of the Australian boy,” illustrating the link between the bush, the Anzac legend and Australian national identity. Russell Ward’s, The Australian Legend, was long held as the yardstick for the origins of identity in Australia, but it has since been challenged and defended by other historians, creating great debate on the subject. Bush ideas and images still continue to contribute to the definition of the Australian identity through popular media, military legend and major events, with the largely ignored element of Indigenous people becoming a large part of the modern interpretation of national identity today.
As the people within the colony of New South Wales began to explore to the north, south and west of Sydney during the late eighteenth-century, and early to mid-nineteenth century, the idea of the frontier became a cultural focal point. Those who travelled into the rugged bushland were revered for their courage, enterprise and hard work. Russell Ward in The Australian Legend argues that the conditions of the frontier “accentuated and developed certain characteristics” that many of the former convicts already had, with group solidarity (mateship) and loyalty being two images central to ideas of rural life. While it took some time to develop into the rural mythology that contemporary people came to understand, these ideas, along with others, were forged into images that would be easily and readily recalled by the Australian populous to re-assert the notion of identity.
These early challenges to the frontier were often made by emancipists and ticket-of leave men, who would not necessarily fulfill the romantic writings of the latter part of the century, but nonetheless, played their part in the evolution of the myth. These early pioneers were tagged by men who had been given land grants, or purchased land, as illegal occupiers: squatters.
The squatters would combat these assertions by projecting themselves as men working in harsh conditions for the common good. Over time, the definition of the term squatter would change, as would the popular message put forward to the developing colony in regards to the value of rural communities and the virtues of the ‘bush’.
Ideas of honesty, reliability and hospitality were other values to rise from the constructed myth. The early frontiersman, or squatters, who were often accused of exploiting the land rather than improving it, gave way to a group who were looking at the occupation in more of a long-term proposition. These wealthy pastoralists may not fit the common notion that the Australian identity is one that revolves around a down-to earth attitude, but they certainly did promote the idea that country life was a noble life; one of honesty and integrity, and an industry that the colony could rely on. Whether individual pastoralist were that morally pure in reality is debatable, but the common perception argued by historians such as Don Aitken, was that a “countrymindedness” stems from the belief that a nation’s wealth comes from the land, and that life on the land is to be admired. The notion of the pioneer as a provider, and therefore benefiting the wider population, applies a condition to the rural myth and its impact on Australian identity that is crucial. If the values adhered to the rural life are to be admired and adhered to, then it is understandably expected that the subsequent generations of these communities would also adhere to these beliefs. The validity of the set of values, and society's willingness to comply to these traditions in the future, was made even more palatable with stories of great hospitality being ever-present, even when those giving had little to give. This bush hospitality transferred to rural hotels, with country publicans often not charging for food and a bed, just the alcohol at the bar.
By the mid-nineteenth century European settlement in rural New South Wales had been significantly established. Unlike other established western cultures, colonial Australia had very few, if any, heroes for writers to call on. The discovery of gold changed this, and the ethics of hard work that had been forged on the frontier were encapsulated in the legend of the ‘digger’, who would be among those heralded by late nineteenth century writers. Writers had used the imagery of the Australian bush since the early 1820s, but scribes such as Henry Lawson gave the ’digger’ the status of hero, and the hardworking family the equivalency of sainthood in works such as The Drovers Wife. Lawson’s famous short story interweaved romanticised images of the bush, with tales of courage and daring. Having lived his adult life in Sydney, some historians, including Graeme Davison, questioned Lawson’s credentials to write about the bush, and therefore the credentials of the bush legend itself.
Putting Lawson’s often neglected early life in the country to one side, his writings, and those of Patterson and others from publications such as The Bulletin, certainly had an impact on the Australian national identity through the promotion of the rural mythology.
A. B. (Banjo) Patterson, was famous for his emblematic writing on bush themes, but he also played the vice of the city against the virtuousness of the bush in works like Clancy of the Overflow. As the drover, Clancy’s life “…has pleasures townsfolk will never know”, while city people “…shoulder each other in their rush and nervous haste.” This pitting of city versus country was not designed to divide the emerging nation; to the contrary, it was aimed to unite it through a common bond of values; namely the aforementioned legend of the pioneer, the ‘digger’, and the man Russell Ward described as the tough and fearless native-born white.
The heralded tough and fearless Australian-born white man, who forged a path through the Australian bush for the betterment of a developing nation, played into the overarching bush theme of masculinity. The frontier was seen as a male-dominated place. This idea most likely had its earliest origins with the shepherd, who endured a life of great solitude. In the early frontier period, many settlers preferred employing single men over married men.
Writers such as Lawson and Patterson promoted the masculine images through their work. Drinking and gambling was prevalent amongst shepherds, and it became an element of the masculine bush ideal in the late nineteenth century, with those practices and an overall importance in projecting masculinity still prevalent in today’s rural society. Mateship was an idea that fitted neatly into the virtuousness of the bush legend, while the promotion of a sense of egalitarianism gave the bush worker the belief that he could overcome the constraints usually placed on society. In contrast, the idea of womanhood, encapsulated domesticity. Marilyn Lake argued that The Bulletin circulated the notion through its articles that marriage and domesticity robbed men of their masculinity. Henry Lawson was of the opinion that all women who lived in the bush were heroines, because the ‘bush was no place for a woman’, yet one of Lawson’s most proclaimed works, The Drovers Wife, uses vivid bush imagery to display the resourcefulness of women in the nineteenth century rural environment.
The woman, as a narrative source and nationalistic element, would force her way into the rural myth by way of the same characteristics attributed to the men, but in order to keep the Australian identity capsulised, their profile had to be specific. The native-born white woman would be proclaimed by late nineteenth century writers to be different from the others; she was tough and resourceful, who took a hands-on role. It is a peculiarity of the masculine ideal of the bush legend that women were for the most part pushed to the background in favour of the deeds of men, when their exploits as nurse, farm labourer, educator and more were eventually crucial to how rural society functioned.
A nationalistic movement, particularly from the 1890s, used ideas and images of the bush to promote its cause. Once again, publications of the time promoted this theme, with those players at the centre of the mythology gradually moving in and out of favour. The squatter went through another transformation, evolving from pioneer to monopolist. They were now seen to be enemies of the worker; absentee farmers, who neglected their social responsibility to the region that provided them with wealth. They (the pioneer) had done it for us, but in line with the ‘us’, the ideas and images of the bush and its mythology would need to undergo further transformation in order to conform to nationalistic ideals and an emerging national identity. This came through the so-called native-born Australian. This term does not mean the Indigenous Australian who had lived on the continent for approximately 60,000 years, but specifically white men and women born in the colony; people who could be distinguished from all others, including European immigrants.
Ward cited nineteenth century sources to describe the attributes of the native-born, and their role in the bush legend. The native-born white; who needed little in terms of shelter, was strong and fearless and a hard-working silent type that offers help but doesn’t interfere. These attributes, that could be seen as admirable in any society, where in the case of nineteenth century Australia, aimed at a very specific group of people, with the ultimate aim to have others follow in their example.
The Anzac legend was created after the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) landed alongside other allied forces on the shores of Gallipoli. Rural values and the Anzac legend are closely linked, and in-turn are fundamentals of the Australian national identity. Rural qualities of toughness, mateship, initiative and independence were extolled in the soldier; also known as the ‘digger’: a link to the legend from the goldfields.
Prior to the creation of the Anzac legend, the bush myth was used to promote the Australian as a good fighter. As a war correspondent, Banjo Patterson reported that the British were eager to obtain more Australian soldiers during the Boer War (1899-1902) because of their fighting qualities, with the first colonial contingent to return to Australian shores receiving a rousing reception from a public enthusiastic to build its own on identity. Moreover, historian Jeffrey Grey argued in his Military History of Australia that Charles Bean’s constant references to the bush and rural imagery in his Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18 indicates how important that style of life was seen in regards to being a soldier.
This connection from rural life to soldier, to national identity continues today. A study of data by Catherin Austin and Farida Fozdar from 1998 onwards showed that 90 per cent of modern-day Australians thought that the Anzac legend, largely born from rural virtues, had an influence on Australian national identity. Over two-thirds of those people support the continuation of the Anzac legend in contemporary culture, while over one-third would like to see its use in national imagery increase.
Rural images and ideas still prevail in modern times, whether that be through the Anzac legend, television programmes, the response by citizens to calls for drought relief and the valued inclusion of Indigenous imagery and ideas. Iconic Australian activities and occupations, such as stockmen and farmers, hold a valued place in modern society, while the ‘un-Australian’ is seen as selfish and arrogant; a direct contrast to the traditional rural values of honesty, humility and hospitality.
While their still appears to be a strong connection to rural themes in modern society, the period of the 1970s, which coincided with Davison’s work, saw a group of writers that were hostile towards the idea of the bush tradition; the noble bushman and the pioneer. The Sydney Olympic Games were held in the year 2000, and while Jess Berry argued that it was an opportunity for Australia to “rebrand” its identity, there was still a heavy influence of bush ideas and images at the opening and closing ceremonies, with images of bush flora and fauna being used alongside athletes clad in Akubra hats and Driza-Bone coats.
The period of the 1970s and onto the twenty-first century has seen a more concerted effort to link the perceived national identity with the original Indigenous people of Australia. The contribution of Indigenous culture is not completely absent from nineteenth century literature, but certainly not prominent in the way European bush folklore is. Examples of Indigenous and European people working together are common, but so too is the violence. Moreover, while still being included in certain texts, the tone of many nineteenth century writers towards Indigenous people leaves a mark of condescension, and an exclusion from the national narrative. The examination of nineteenth century culture and the origins of rural mythology and its links to national identity has led to vigorous debate, and the somewhat obvious, but intricate, question of what the definition of Australian is; if indeed, it needs to be defined.
Further Reading
Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Alcohol consumption’, ABS, 2022, https://www.abs.gov.au/statisitics/health/health-conditions-and-risks/alcohol-consumption/latest-release.
Bean, C. E. W., Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18, 11th edn, Canberra, 1941.
Cootamundra Herald.
Lawson, Henry, ‘The Drovers Wife’, in The Penguin Henry Lawson Short Stories, kindle edn, John Barnes (ed.), Camberwell, Penguin, 1986.
Leader, Melbourne.
Renmark Pioneer.
The Bulletin, Sydney.
The West Australian, Perth.
Weekly Times, Melbourne.
Aitken, D. “’Countryminded”-The spread of an idea’, Australian Cultural History, vol. 4, 1985, pp. 34-41.
Alford, K. ‘Women’s employment’, in Production or reproduction? An economic history of women in Australia, 1788-1850, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1984, pp. 185-195.
Austin, Catherine and Farida Fozdar, ‘Australian National Identity: Empirical Research since 1998’, National Identities, vol. 20, iss. 3, 2018, pp. 277-298. doi: 10. 1080/14608944. 2016. 1244520.
Barrett, J. ‘A defence of the Ward thesis, and one investigation of it’, Historian, vol. 25, 1973, pp. 1-5.
Berry, H, L. Botterill, G. Cockfield and N. Ding, ‘Identifying and measuring agrarian sentiment in regional Australia’, Agriculture and Human Values, vol. 33, iss. 4, 2016, pp. 929-941.
Berry, Jess. ‘A Uniform Approach? Designing Australian National Identity at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games’, Journal of Design History, vol. 26, iss. 1, 2013, pp. 86-113. http: //www.jstor.org/stable/23353733.
Carrington, Kerry and John Scott, ‘Masculinity, Rurality and Violence’, The British Journal of Criminology, vol. 48, iss. 5, 2008, pp. 641-666. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23639503, accessed 17 January 2024.
Davison, G. ‘Sydney and the bush: An urban context for the Australian legend’, Historical Studies: Australia and New Zealand, vol. 18, iss. 71, 1978, pp. 191-209.
Garner, Bill. ‘Bushmen of the Bulletin: Re-Examining Lawson’s Bush Credibility in Graeme Davison’s ‘Sydney and the Bush’”, Australian Historical Studies, vol. 43, iss. 3, pp. 452-465. doi: 10. 1080/1031461X. 2012. 706626.
Grey, Jeffrey. A Military History of Australia, Cambridge, 2008, pp. 55-63.
Hirst, J. B. ‘The Pioneer Legend’, Historical Studies: Australia and New Zealand, vol. 18, iss. 71, 1978, pp. 316-337.
Jackson, Simon. ‘The “Stump Jumpers”, National Identity and the mythology of the Australian Industrial Design in the period 1930-1973’, Design Issues, vol. 18, iss. 4, pp. 14-23, doi: 10. 1162/074793602320827398.
Kingston, B, ‘Women in nineteenth century Australian history’, Labour History, 1994, vol. 67, pp. 84-96.
Matthews, Brian. ‘Lawson, Henry (1867-1922)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, 1986, u/p, https://adb.anu.edu/biography/lawson-henry-7118/text12279,
McGrath, A. ‘Travels to a Distant Past: The Mythology of the Outback’, Australian Cultural History, vol. 10, 1991, pp. 113-124.
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Waterhouse, R. ‘Australian Legends: Representation of the Bush, 1813-1913’, Australian Historical Studies, vol. 31, iss. 115, 2000, pp. 2012-222.
Waterhouse, R. ‘The culture of work’, in The vision splendid: A social and cultural history of rural Australia, Curtin University Books, Freemantle, 2005, pp. 98-112.
Weaver, J. C. ‘Beyond the Fatal Shore: Pastoral Squatting and the European Occupation of Australia, 1820-1850’, American Historical Review, vol. 101, iss. 104, 1996, pp. 981-1007.
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