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2SER interview

...Interview Questions Answered on 5 September 2005

Journalist Michelle Murdocca from Sydney's 2SER-FM 107.3, asks Being Australian creator, Doug Kirkpatrick, about the project.

2SER:   Why did you set up the website?

To give me and anyone else a fun way to connect to the humanity of others, learn about life through others' experiences, and hopefully become a better decision-maker and citizen.

2SER:   What kind of nationalities have contributed to the website?

So far, one Chinese, one Swiss, a handful of Australian.....not many but then we've barely begun. We're still getting it set up ahead of marketing our project.

2SER:   Do you think that Australia in 2005 is being divided into 2 categories - Australian/UnAustralian?

Perhaps some aspire to this form of "absoluteism". I don't. Besides, I wonder who can confidently declare what is "Australian" or "unAustralian" without securing near-universal agreement, unless people who use the phrases are speaking strictly about themselves and what they do? Otherwise, who does such a label apply to reliably? It's very dicey territory. The phrases strike me as an inarticulate way of 'voting' for or branding something we agree with or disagree without any regard for whether or not others see it as 'typical' when measured against their expectations. As you can see, the question gets very tricky and I think this is dangerous territory out of which there can never be universal agreement and constructive dialogue that advances us as a society. As such, it has no place on Being Australian. We're not about "declaring" things and so I find I can't answer the question.

2SER:   In reading all the submissions for the website, do you feel as though there is a definite answer to what an 'Australian' is?

Absolutely not. There never can be -- certainly not under our model for communication and sharing. And we don't presume to answer for anyone else. Again, it is not for us to say so on Being Australian. And we don't encourage people to use the space we're creating to do this since "declarations" of this type are (I feel) the genesis of the kind of argument and conflict of ideas that leads to precisely the kind of disputation and experience of suppression we want to avoid. Being Australian is a space where you can say what you experience and leave it at that knowing others may find value in learning about that, if not today, then perhaps tomorrow.

2SER:   Have you had many negative submissions to the website?

By 'negative', do you mean (a) submissions that disparage the concept, the website, the enterprise or anyone who has contributed so far, or (b) submissions that are within the spirit of the website but which, while authentic/real/factual cause a negative but not unconstructive reaction in the mind of the reader? [a rhetorical question since 'negative' can mean different things] So far, we've had neither type of negative submission although I welcome submissions of type(b) as long as they are authentic and contribute eaningfully to the project. Being Australian is not about sugar-coating and avoiding aspects of real life in Australian contexts that people may find confronting. The context is strictly what people experience. Not what it means. We are about 'warts-n-all' so long as submissions fall within the spirit of our work -- to inform, educate, inspire and entertain in ways that are good for our society.

2SER:   What do you think it is that makes an experience exclusively Australian?

Hard to say, really. We're still trying to understand it ourselves. An 'Australian experience' for me is one that I may have anywhere in the world at any time or in any form, no matter how trivial, that leaves a feeling of recognition in my mind -- a feeling that what I am experiencing wouldn't happen in quite the same way in anything other than an Australian context. (I know -- it's a mouthful!) Put another way, the experience is a personal event, a sensation imbued with familiar cues of 'Australianness' These cues may be (and often are) common to other races/nationalities. But there is 'something' about what's going on, an amalgam of subtlties perhaps, that I seemingly unconsiously identify as 'Australian' because of what I know about Australians or the 'Australian experience.' This is the genesis of the though balloon in the logo.

As you can see, I find the task of answering your question very difficult. It's a very slippery concept. It's a bit like "national identity" and "our values" -- the harder one tries to grasp it, the quicker it slips through the fingers. That's why we don't try. It's a personal thing. It's behavioural. It's contextual. What an Australian experience might be for someone might not be for someone else. That's why it is a topic perhaps best considered privately, since to try to define it can only get one into trouble with others whose equally valid life experiences lead them to disagree. So, all we're doing, starting with the Internet, is gathering people's reflections on what their experiences look like and feel like to them. And then present what people come up with in entertaining, easily digestible forms. It is not for us to do more than that. To interpret editorially would be to commit the cardinal sin of 'presuming to know', when in fact, we don't and don't pretend to.

2SER:   What's your favourite experience that has been submitted to the website?

Well, we have really had that many. The site is still a bit of a secret while we continue preparing it.  Most submissions are my own as examples to demonstrate the concept. None of them are very compelling. But perhaps the most interesting is the one about the toilet button. It was told to me by a Chinese student (although I posted it for her with my words and pictures). And the one about the surfboard on the bus is cute. They are great because they are simple and there is something amusing about each. But more than that, however, there is also something very real, factual, palpable about both. Best of all, I find myself sensing things a bit differently having read them. It's as if I'm now seeing life through the eyes of these two visitors to our land. And that's exactly what we're aiming to accomplish for people everywhere. Now, just imagine what it would be like when we get submissions by the thousands ranging from hilarious to the truly poignant and sad and everything in between. I can't wait. It will be like experiencing Australia in so many different ways that time doesn't allow me to do any other way during my lifetime. That's exciting to me. I think it would be exciting for other people too. That's why I'm involved in it.