Australian political thought has often been scrutinised with some commentators questioning its substance and originality.

A Charles Sturt academic highlights the continuing importance of recording advances made in Australia for its international standing.

By Charles Sturt University Research Professor at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Wayne Hudson.  

The image of Australia as down-to-earth non-intellectual people is misleading and has been harmful to our nation’s advancement.

When we think of Western culture, the United States and Great Britain steal the limelight as major players in history, leaving Australia to live in their shadow with some commentators arguing we are easily influenced and largely unoriginal. This is seriously misleading.

I argue Australians have been original in many areas, including in political thought. To date, however, historians have significantly underestimated not just the extent of Australian political thought, but just how much of it was original – in some instances, even ahead of the rest of the world.

International impacts

Australian political thought was no doubt indebted to British, American and European sources. However, it is how Australia has taken, adapted and made these sources its own which needs to be better captured and understood.

It is also important to note that Australian political thought played the reverse role, having great impact on other countries, including the United States, Korea, China, Africa and Britain.

A diverse political landscape

In my current research I’ve identified between 20 and 40 strands of Australian political thought, from Marxism to environmentalism to feminism.

In several cases, one strand has been confused with another. For example, liberalism has often been confused with conservatism. As a result, some liberal thinkers, including Bert Evatt, have been misrepresented, while leading conservative thinkers, such as Kenneth Minogue and John Passmore, have been largely ignored, even though they were influential internationally.

The left has not fared any better, and original political thinking by First Nations people, women, or those whose first language is not English and those in the broader multicultural space have been largely neglected by scholars until recently.

I argue this must change.

Moving forward in history

In some cases, scholars have recognised original political thought in Australia, but played down its significance, even though Australian political thought was often, in my view, ahead of political thought in the United States. Thus Jethro Brown argued for a new doctrine of the rights of man. Contemporary First Nations work on sovereignty also has original features.

All this may sound dry and academic, however, recognising the agency and originality of Australians will be crucial to the survival of our country in the Chinese century.

ENDS