On egalitarianism in Australia
In writing my memoirs in my recently launched book Tea, War & Crocodiles: Tales from an extraordinary life, there were may stories that did not make it into the book. As promised, I am now providing them in this Blog to my readers. My first story focuses on egalitarianism in Australia. I hope you enjoy it.
ON EGALITARIANISM IN AUSTRALIA
In the late 1930s on a family holiday from our tea plantation on Java to Australia, my father met and befriended a butcher named Les Mellon. Over a beer with Les in a typical pub, my father heard mention of the folksy saying, “Jack is as good as his master.” Part of a presumed canon in Australian culture, this saying conveyed the persistent myth that Australia is a country in which all persons are equal. But hark the five o’clock knock off time when all industry stopped work – crowds of pub patrons would arrive at their favourite ‘watering hole’ in time for the notorious six o’clock swill. And customers entered the hotel by their respective doors.
The truth about the myth of “equality for all” in the Australian society could be discovered by paying a visit to that best of all social barometers, the local hotel. In those times, patrons didn’t question – because it was a long-held custom – that a female patron entered the Australian public house through the door marked “Ladies Lounge”. The Ladies Lounge was where a man would take his wife or female friend – in the mid-twentieth century it was unthinkable that a woman would enter the Public or Saloon bars.
Next, and again without question – because it was a long-held custom – the door to the pub’s “Public Bar” gave access to men who by dress, manners or speech could be identified as persons working in the trades or similar working-class occupations. Finally, the hotel’s, “Saloon Bar” unquestioningly and without rancour – because it was a long-held custom – accommodated those whom the town considered ‘better folks’.
Inside the hotel, an island bar divided the floor space. In a smaller area behind the counter, the barman worked his trade and served the Saloon Bar customers on one side – “A scotch and dry, Barman.” On the other side, in the public bar, patrons would jostle to be heard – “Another schooner, Mate.”
Given evidence that in the mid-twentieth century in Australian public houses there was an actual, unquestioning acceptance by customers of the segregation of the sexes – because it was a long-held custom – this was proof that not everyone in the society was held to be equal to others. The question which then arises is whether the persistent “Jack is as good as his master” myth of equality is still held in our society today, or if the myth was just that – a myth and a long-held custom that was never applicable in fact.
** For more stories about my life as an immigrant to Australia, follow the link to purchase my book Tea, War & Crocodiles – Tales from an extraordinary life. Available now.