How do Australians feel about their convict past?

Question

How do modern day Austrlians feel about their convict past and how has Australia come to be a successful and bustling city after being such a deserted place in the 1700's?

Answer 1

Not all Australians have a Convict Past, there were many free settlers who made the journey here also.

Answer 2

I'm very proud to be an Aussie,convicts and all

Aussie Aussie Aussie

how do Americans feel about their convict past?  most don't know that they had thousands of convicts transported there also!

Answer 3

Let me ask you a question who is the criminal ?

A person who steals some bread because they are starving

Or a person who sends another person to the other side of the world because they stole a some bread?

That is a question you can answer.

Answer 4

I think foreigners are more interested in our convict past than the average Australian is today.

I'm proud to be Australian but I have no convicts as ancestors. The vast majority of us don't.

Australia is not a city but a country.

What makes you think Australia was a deserted place in the 1700?

It was no more deserted than New Zealand or North America was before the Europeans arrived.

Answer 5

Australia is a multicultural country and your question is out of the ark.

Answer 6

The "convict past" is  a matter of complete and utter irrelevance to me, and to most Australians I know.  It seems absurdly important to some furriners, but you will have to ask them why.

And Australia is a country, not a city.

Answer 7

I want to be repatriated back to England so I can enjoy the miserable weather, pollution, and whingeing poms on their own turf. I am planning to launch a class action in the World Court to acheive this .

Answer 8

With a feather.

Answer 9

To be completely honest - I don't think of it at all that much - it doesn't really impact on my modern day life

Answer 10

I'm proud of it.  We all have to start off somewhere.

Answer 11

Australia wasn't deserted, there were over a million people living here for thousands of years.

Anyway, Australia is comfortable with its convict past because :

- convict colonies weren't the only communities that were established. Convicts were only settled in certain regions. So it's not like everyone is from 'convict stock'. It's part of the fabric but not the only thread.

- convict stories are those of pioneers, who worked against the odds to make a life for themselves and build towns and cities. There are stories of struggle and success, and they gave rise to some of our values.

- immigration has been fairly constant since the British arrived, from Italy, Germany, Greece, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, New Zealand , India, African countries, Pacific Island nations and elsewhere. This is a nation built on people starting afresh in a new place.

Being a colony and not being a republic, and how the first settlers and the government dealt with the Aborigines, are another thing altogether.

But there's no shame for Australians to know there were convicts sent here as punishment. We have the last laugh in that respect, because many would consider the standard of living and quality of life in Australia to be far superior to the UK.

Answer 12

mate, we feel a great pride, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oye, Oye, Oye