Tony Abbott recalls a whiter Australia than I do. Menzies rejected his version, as do many Liberals
The author reflects on their childhood in a diverse 1960s Sydney suburb, contrasting their experience with Tony Abbott's perspective on Australia's history. The piece discusses the evolution of the 'White Australia' policy and the shift toward multiculturalism.
Why it matters
It provides a historical and personal perspective on Australian identity and the political evolution of immigration policies.
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Share A A A When I was growing up there in the 1960s, Petersham was not the neighbourhood of well-to-do Greens and Bollinger socialists it has since become. It was then an unfashionable suburb, relatively poor, much favoured by migrants who had fled war-ravaged Europe to seek a new life in Australia. Many of the families on my street were from Greece and Italy. Our next-door neighbours were Chinese.
At the local convent school, St Thomas’s Lewisham (where one of my classmates was Greg Sheridan, who would become the prominent journalist), the kids came from the same diverse mix of migrant families. The nuns taught us that all souls are equal in the sight of God.
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