The Search for Identity 1788-1900 [convict legacy, the bush legend, Larrikins, the bulletin, H. Lawson, A. B. Paterson]

By the late nineteenth century, nationalism in Australia was on the rise. The idea of the nation emerged with the means for its realization. By the 1880s native- born Australians had begun to outnumber the immigrants, and the momentum for a full- born Australian nationalism increased. Three-quarters of the population had been born in Australia and the camaraderie and defiance of the diggers on the goldfields became a huge source of national pride, just as …

…vision is charged with an emotional investment in the idea of Australia. It appears that these images were crucial to the traditional construction of Australia - a construction of place that earlier Australians called home and to which they evidently felt a sense of affection and belonging. In nearly all his poems he offers a view of Australia and Australians which is nationalistic, independent, and which was very popular with those who read the Bulletin.