Inventing Australia: Images and Identity 1688–1980: 3 (Australian Experience)

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Biological pesticides The world' s first non-chemical biological pesticide was invented at the University of Adelaide. Attempts to sort workers into discrete categories – the 'employed', the 'unemployed', those 'not in the labour force' – are fraught, and do not always easily correspond with people's working lives. On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of Richard White's germinal text, Inventing Australia, this article presents a cultural history of the book, with particular attention to its influence on the fields of cultural history and Australian studies.

Graeme Turner, ‘“Australian Inventions”: Review of Inventing Australia and Two Other Publications’, Australian Journal of Cultural Studies 1, no. There is no point in asking whether one version of this essential Australia is truer than another because they are all intellectual constructs, neat, tidy, comprehensible—and necessarily false.

In the chapter Bohemians and the Bush, White takes a closer look at the conflict which took place in the 1890s between the two different generations of artists. Inventing Australia sets out to find the answers by tracing the images we have used to describe our land and our people - the convict hell, the workingman's paradise, the Bush legend, the 'typical' Australian from the shearer to the Bondi lifesaver, the land of opportunity, the small rich industrial country, the multicultural society. National narratives are produced, whether in media texts, landscapes, public holidays, museums, the sporting field, on the streets or in everyday backyards”. The artists were able to show a different and new side of Australia, using different artistic techniques.

Biodegradable marine degreaser The world' s first biodegradable marine degreaser, made from naturally-occurring marine oils, was developed by the CSIRO and Beku Environmental Products Ltd. Underwater computer Bruce Macdonald at the Australian Institute of Marine Science developed the world' s first underwater computer with a multi-button hand-held keypad that mimics a conventional keyboard.

Graham Wynn from Superior People Recruitment said if young workers want to develop their phone skills, they just have to start doing it. They wanted to give their country a new image, “create a distinctively national culture”, one that would represent them. Australian Department of Home Affairs data has revealed record levels of student visas being refused, with one in five applications for primary and secondary visas holders rejected in the six months to December 31. Victa Lawnmower The Victa version of the petrol lawnmower with rotary blades was developed by Mervyn Victor Richardson, and became an Aussie icon. For White, identity is a pure invention created for people to feel as part of a community and in the past Aborigines, migrants and women have always been left out.