Mes chères antipodes

In November 1999, Australians will vote on whether to cut the constitutional cord with Britain and become a Republic. The referendum, the new millennium, the Sydney Olympics are the watersheds for a society which over the past thirty years has undergone a radical revision of its history. As Australia prepares to give the Royals a shove and cut its albeit symbolic links with England, I want to return and make a road movie revealing the mindshift undertaken by Australians and the society since I was a child through the personal tales of people that I first knew 25 years ago. Australians themselves, these past thirty years, have begun to discover their continent and in doing this have begun reinterpreting their past, their culture and their image of themselves. This fascination, almost obsession, with what is an Australian identity will no doubt lead to a final peace and reconciliation with the continent's original inhabitants, the Aborigines. Australia used to look to Britain or America for everything from politics to music to fashion. This is no longer the case. Far from being a pale copy of England or America, the Australian continent is well and truly immersed in the waters of the Asian-Pacific rim