Mateship - the Australian Identity

Mate ship is an integral part of the Australian identity, without Mateship Australians just wouldn’t be the same. Australians particularly rely on the unwritten rules of Mateship in times of hardship, whether it be supporting individual who needs a hand or a supporting each other when facing adversity together. It’s a part of the national identity found nowhere else in the world. Mateship is evident throughout Australia’s social structure, from mateship within families, to mateship with friends and mateship in times of war. A Mate in Australian terminology is bond between two friends. Mateship is a form of transaction among Australian citizens that refers to equality, friendship, and solidarity/teamwork.

Mate ship in families helps bring families closer together, by supporting each other through difficult times. There is often no closer mate than a family member, they know who you really are and what you dreams and weaknesses are. Hardships are faced by many families in Australia and through determination and the support of other family members they can work together as a team to overcome their problems. The two brothers, Cameron and Ruben, in the Australian novel ‘Fighting Ruben Wolfe’ are a perfect example of mateship within a family. In the book Ruben says to Cameron (Pg 34) ‘See, Cameron. The only things I care about in this life are me, you, Mum, Dad, Steve and Sarah. And maybe Miffy. The rest of the world means nothing to me. The rest of the world can rot.' This quote is a good example of how tightly bound Ruben’s family is by mateship.

Another example in fighting Ruben Wolfe if when Cameron mentions how he feels when he and his brother box in the back yard (pg. 121)’ It’s funny – when we fight when we fight one handed in our back yard, that’s when I feel closed to my brother. That’s when it feels strongest that we are brothers, and always will be’ By Cameron mentioning this it demonstrates how close the brothers really are. Even though in the book they do not mention it much, they do show it through their actions and how they will take on their families consequences and will keep fighting till the end and always having each other’s backs (pg. 176) ‘ I collapse. My brother catches me and holds me up.’ As you can see the brothers are mates and fighting for each other and their family rather than for the money.

In the Australian novel “Tomorrow when the war began” there are many examples of mate ship between friends. When a friend Lee is being rescued after he was shot in the leg by a soldier. He was left alone wounded, not knowing if he would survive. But his friends risked injury and even their own lives to rescue him. By driving a garbage truck though enemy territory Ellie and Robyn, although scared, still came to rescue their friend. They could have easily left Lee to try and survive on his own, and not put themselves in danger. In typical Australian fashion they worked together to save their friend or so called mate.

Mate ship is also evident when the group of friends are looking after Ellie because she was stressed and scared after killing a female soldier that was nearly the same age as her. It was a hard decision for Ellie to make, but she knew if she didn’t blow up the lawn mower she may have been killed. Ellie’s friends could have criticized her for her actions that resulted in harming another person. Instead they supported her and reassured her that she had done the right thing, By Jessica Lee

they demonstrated their mateship. Her friends also allowed Ellie time to come to terms with her actions by giving her the less stressful tasks until she gained her confidence again. In the book tomorrow when the war began it shows true mate ship through the groups care and selflessness acts to help each other out.

Gallipoli tells the tale of two young soldiers, (Archie Hamilton and Frank Dunne). The boys that were originally rivals soon become work colleagues and join the army to fight in World War I. Throughout their time at war, the boys form a very strong mateship. Even though many of our soldiers were dying, the boys were still sticking together and helping each other out, and standing up for human rights and fighting for our country, Australia. At the end of the movie, Archy runs into the fire of the Turkish army knowing that he isn’t going to survive in an act of benevolence for his colleagues and so called mates. Archie demonstrates a true act of mateship as Archie is cut down by Turkish gunfire sprinting towards the enemy’s trenches. By dying for his mates as he sacrificed his life for a true purpose, Mateship. Gallipoli is a perfect example of the Australian mateship and what the impact is on other people through mateship. Through this movie the soldiers have now taught us right from wrong and have taught us to show courage and mate ship towards others in the Australian society or workplace.

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