A review of “Australia: The Story of Us”

“It shall be lawful for the Queen, with the advice of the Privy Council, to declare by proclamation that, on and after a day therein appointed, not being later than one year after the passing of this Act, the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, and also, if Her Majesty is satisfied that the people of Western Australia have agreed thereto, of Western Australia, shall be united in a Federal Commonwealth under the name of the Commonwealth of Australia. But the Queen may, at any time after the proclamation, appoint a Governor-General for the Commonwealth.”

– “Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900,” an act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which helped to establish the “Commonwealth of Australia”

It’s much easier to get English-language documentaries about the histories of English-speaking countries, as you might expect. This, to be sure, is part of why I got this documentary. But that’s not the only reason – I’m also very interested in the history of the British Commonwealth to boot, of which Australia is still a part. Australia also has a fascinating history in its own right. This is a good documentary about it, to be sure, but its style and focus are not really my favorites. Their focus does have its advantages, because they talk about other things besides the traditional focus on “politics and the military.” If you like the history of sports and music, of science and technology, or of business and the private sector, you will probably enjoy this documentary. But if you’d rather hear more about Australian involvement in World War Two than the origins of Australian football, you’d be better off going elsewhere.

To be sure, this documentary has some excellent re-enactments, and the early episodes cover the kinds of things that we associate with a traditional history. For example, they cover the history of Australia as a penal colony, in which it was used to imprison some of the convicted criminals of the broader British Empire. They cover the Rum Rebellion of 1808, which was the only armed takeover of the government in Australian history. They also cover the Eureka Rebellion of 1854, in which gold miners rebelled against the authority of the British Empire. And they have an entire episode on Australian involvement in World War One, which was covered in another famous documentary – namely, the BBC’s “The Great War” from 1964. But Australian involvement in World War Two receives only a tiny fraction of an episode, which dramatizes just one single battle within the jungle (whose location I can’t seem to remember at this time). It’s interesting enough, but their coverage is reminiscent of that of journalists, focusing on single events to a large degree. They focus so much on these “single events” that the big picture of Australian history seems to be lost here. I realize that World War Two was not as important for the Australians as World War One was (since they lost more of their people in the earlier war), but it seemed that it deserved more coverage than it got here. Their coverage of World War One may also have overstated their own role in the Allied victory, making it sound like the Australians won it for the Allies “more or less by themselves.” In fairness, American histories of World War One have sometimes done the same thing - overstating our own role in it, and making it sound like the contributions of our Allies were more or less “negligible.” Obviously, they were not, since the victory in World War One was a team effort. (But that's a subject for another post.)

The arrest of Governor Bligh during the Rum Rebellion of 1808

They also cover some other important things – such as the 1956 Summer Olympics in the Australian city of Melbourne. They cover the rise of television, and the invention of the cochlear implant. They cover the building of the Sydney Opera House, and the iconic surfer culture of the 1960’s. And there’s a memorable scene covering Australian involvement in the Vietnam War, in which children were rescued by Australians flying in helicopters. This show follows the model of “America: The Story of Us” (made by the History Channel), which also inspired “Canada: The Story of Us” (made by the CBC). I have not seen either of these other two documentaries, because other documentaries on America and Canada seemed to me to be more promising. (Such as Alistair Cooke’s “America” series made by the BBC, or “Canada: A People’s History” made by the CBC.) If another series of this kind had been available for studying Australia, I probably would have invested in that series instead. But until something of this kind comes along, this documentary is probably the only thing that exists on the subject. It’s good for what it’s worth, but it doesn’t have the epic power of Simon Schama’s “A History of Britain.” Some may actually like this kind of documentary better, but I generally prefer the traditional focus on “politics and the military,” and find this documentary to be something of a disappointment as a result (although I did like it nonetheless).

“No Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the commencement of this Act shall extend, or be deemed to extend, to the Commonwealth [of Australia], to a State or to a Territory as part of the law of the Commonwealth, of the State or of the Territory.”

– “Australia Act 1986,” which was adopted – with nearly identical text – by both the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Parliament of Australia (this section's text was exactly identical)

DVD at eBay (which cannot be played on most North American DVD players)

If you liked this post, you might also like:

A review of Simon Schama's “A History of Britain” (BBC)

A review of Fergal Keane's “The Story of Ireland” (BBC Northern Ireland)

A review of Alistair Cooke's “America: A Personal History of the United States” (BBC)

A review of the CBC's “Canada: A People's History”

A review of Melvyn Bragg's “The Adventure of English”

A review of “The Boer War” (a conflict that involved Australia)

A review of “The Great War” (1964 BBC miniseries that also covers the Australians)

A review of “ANZAC: Australians at War in World War II”

A review of “Korea: The Forgotten War” (a conflict that involved Australia)

A review of Ken Burns' “The Vietnam War” (another conflict that involved Australia)