A familiar question for Australians is how much we are a product of our circumstances, and how much we are what we have made ourselves to be. In truth, by the act of migration the country was made: by that voluntary act and by the emigrants' ambitions it was built.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Keating argues Australia's identity was forged by the voluntary choice and ambition of migrants rather than just circumstance.
- In plain terms
- Migrants built Australia through their choices and dreams.
- What can you take from it?
- National identity is built by voluntary action.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How is a nation truly made?
- Who is the foundation of a country?
Another view
It ignores Indigenous peoples who were not migrants.
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