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7.14.4 Representations of Australia’s Federation, 1901.
When British heritages are included, it is usually in connection with legal and government
discourses, with any reference to the cultural influence Great Britain had on Australia (which
is very significant, particularly in the early stages of modern Australian history) not
mentioned. This is evident in the Primary Social Studies sourcebook year 5 (Department of
Education, 1988a) through a section in Unit 3: Decision-makers of Australia, that teaches
students about Australian Federation in 1901 and the construction of that Constitution. Here,
Great Britain is given no privilege over the influence of the following other nations’ systems
of governance in forming our national framework: Canada, Switzerland and the United
States. This stands in stark contrast to the discourses attributed to Australia’s relationship
with Great Britain as analysed in Chapter 5: Before and Immediately After WWI. There is one
minor exception to this, demonstrated in Source 7.66, whereby one of the motives for
Federation is attributed to Australians’ loyalty to Great Britain. Although it must be made
explicit, that rather than being called ‘Australians’, as occurred in textbooks in the early 20 th
century, a more detached term, “colonists” (Department of Education, 1988a, p. 116) is used.
Source 7.66. “Motives for Federation after 1950” extract from Primary Social
Studies sourcebook year 5 (Department of Education, 1988a, p. 116)
An example of how British heritages have been significantly eliminated from the curriculum,
and therefore from the national history students are exposed to are demonstrated in Source
365