What could be Aussier than draping yourself in the flag, cracking open a boutique small-batch brew, and biting into a 100% organic vegan soy-protein mock-meat snag wrapped in a quinoa bun while listening to your favourite US rapper win the Hottest 100 with a song about shopping?
Just make sure that your beer, vegan snag, quinoa bun and most importantly, that your flag was made overseas – preferably in a developing country like Bangladesh, but China or Taiwan is acceptable too.
Ah that delightful day in late January, Australia Day – the one time of the year when confected outrage about Australian products made overseas will fill a thousand opinion columns, launch a thousand current affairs broadcasts, prompt a thousand phone calls to talkback radio, as with one voice Australians cry out, united in agony at the shame of buying into cheap unAustralian patriotism.
The one day of the year that the “Made in Australia” argument raises its strange and ugly head, after being ignored for the remaining 364 days. We’re very happy to enjoy the benefits of globalisation until it comes around to January 26, when novelty flags and cheap ‘I <3 Australia’ t-shirts that are manufactured in China make us irrationally cross. Yet we ignore the fact that our iPhones don’t cost triple the price for the same reason.
“In our increasingly globalised society, the classic ‘True-Blue’ Aussie spirit is not as pervasive or influential as it once was, particularly among the younger generations who’ve grown up accustomed to a marketplace where Australian-made is just one of many options,” claims Roy Morgan researcher Warren Reid. How terrible for Australians, to have so many options.
The idea of Australia as a manufacturing nation is an antiquated notion. To regard “making stuff” as an important Australian ideal indicates an ignorance of the past 50 years of Australian history and values.
Currently Australian manufacturing accounts for less than 10% of our GDP. A range of government policies and trade union demands that have made it prohibitively expensive for business to manufacture goods in Australia have also enhanced our standard of living. Australia has both one of the highest average wages, and one of the best welfare systems in the world. Surely this is the true spirit of Australia Day – a fair go for all?
Rather than instituting mercantilist policies, suppressing the wages of workers and using domestic manufacturing firms to enforce nationalistic idealism, Australia has worked towards the happiness and security of the population rather than nation-building through protectionism.
Outraged by the “Made in China” tag on your Australian Flag Cape? Photograph it with your iPhone (made in China), rant about it on social media and send angry emails about it from your laptop (definitely made in China) while taking a break at a white-collar office job in an office with air-conditioning (also very probably made in China) and a decent hourly rate.
Buying products made by factory workers in China, Bangladesh and Taiwan benefits both the manufacturing country and Australia. Manufacturing has historically been one of the main engines of growth in developing countries, and has allowed countries like China and India to become economically efficient participants in global interactions. This leads to greater focus on the wellbeing of the citizenry and important progress towards adopting safer working conditions. It may be that the people of these countries do not and should not aspire to a middle class the way western nations think they should, but they should at least be afforded the choice.
If you do happen to be looking for something to satisfy your moral outrage requirements this year, however, try this one on for size. Retailer Ice Design has been selling a t-shirt emblazoned with the text “Property of an Aussie Boy” around an Australian flag, for that special patriotic indentured servant in your life. A t-shirt describing a person as property is far more deserving of our ire than disposable nationalistic merchandise made offshore, and far less in keeping with the true ‘spirit’ of Australia Day.
Supporting Australia and Australian jobs isn’t about buying products that are Australian-made. Consumerism masquerading as patriotism is not in keeping with the Australian spirit. Surely something closer to allowing everyone a chance to earn a living wage and have a decent quality of life (ie, a “fair go”) is closer to what it truly means to be a patriotic Australian?
Anne Treasure works in communications, is a recent survivor of the book industry, and exists mainly on the Internet.
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