A colourful and gripping narrative portrait of 'the Australian spirit', from the days of the First Fleet to the present day. It is a people's history - the story of our ethos of independence, our deep sense of who we are, and pride in being Australian.
Early radicals - many of them convicts - brought with them the passions and beliefs of the French and American revolutions, the Irish fight for freedom and independence, and the powerful arguments of English reformers and democrats.
A passionate belief in independence and equality for all has been a constant in our history; to stand by the underdog and fight for 'a fair go' for everybody, touching our caps to no one.
There were the fights for workers' rights: starting with the Eight Hour Day movement in Victoria in 1856, the Eureka Stockade, to the fights by the trade unions for the right to safe work places and fair treatment by employers. Even in the 1850s most of the colonies of Australia introduced the secret ballot and universal male suffrage, with universal women's suffrage following in the 1890s.
Despite the White Australia policy being in force for so long, it did succumb to the winds of change. And despite our harsh treatment of asylum seekers in the present day, Australians can be proud of our record in accepting many thousands of Vietnamese refugees following the end of the Vietnam War. Our multicultural and peaceful society is the envy of all.
Peter FitzSimons argues that it is more than time for us to be entirely self-governing - a logical development of so much of our history. The time has come for Australia to have an Australian as head of state - not the King or Queen of the United Kingdom
