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Source 7.3. Indigenous representations encapsulated through “Truganini” extract
from Two hundred years (O’Brien et al., 1988, p. 325)
It is worthwhile pointing out, that selecting 1788 as an important historical marker is also not
without contention. For example, Cochrane and Goodman write the following of the
establishment of the largest celebration of the year, the 1988 World Expo held in Brisbane,
Queensland (Australia’s third largest city):
The makers of the Exhibition faced a dilemma: how to put together a program which
spoke to the 200 years of white Australia history, which was in some way
celebratory, and yet which took seriously the contemporary circumstances which
have rendered unequivocal nationalism problematic...The Bicentenary was not a
naturally occurring event. A decision had to be made that 200 years since the arrival
of the First Fleet was an event worth celebrating. And then the event itself had to be
invented...What, exactly, was the Bicentenary about? That had always been open to
contestation. (1992, p. 176)
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