>You don't have this narrative? I kind of thought you did, but maybe
>that's a US national projection. The one where real, authentic
>Australians herd sheep and cattle and don't live in Sydney? Here the
>tourist office story gets used to sell to the locals, not just the
>foreign tourists.
That national myth is a bit out of date now. By the 70's the quintessential Australian was no longer from the bush, but the urban ocker. Paul Hogan was a classic. (Then he went and revived the Australian bushman with the Mick Dundee character, but that was probably more to exploit overseas expectations than for the local market.) Recall that his first international foray was doing tourist ads as himself, the Sydney bloke in a singlet and thongs tending the barbeque in his backyard.
Back in the 50's and before the bloke from the bush popularised by Henry Lawson, Banjo Patterson and (my favourite) Jolliffe's Fun on the Farm with Saltbush Bill and so on was still a popular self-image of the Real Australia. But we became a lot more sophisticated in the 60's. Think Bazza Mackenzie, Dame Edna Everedge, Sir Les Paterson ;-) and then Hoges.
The bushman image is even getting a bit sinister these days, Ivan Milat, Bradley John Murdock. The bloke from the bush is more likely to be seen through Wolf Creek filters as Saltbush Bill ones.
To some extent that reflects actual changes. Blokes like Saltbush Bill used to abound. My uncle was telling me a few weeks ago about the first time he met his wife's family. Out in the back-blocks of rural Western Australia. He said it was like stepping into a Jolliffe Comic, shack, furniture made of old kero tins, the bullock carcass hanging in the porch. He said the only thing missing was an entire tree sticking out of the fireplace, being slowly pushed further into the fire as it burned away. ;-)
That would have been 40-50 years ago. They were a dying breed even then. I've met a few over the years, interesting characters. But no-one considers them typical Australians anymore.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas