Daley’s case for a gentler patriotism: Multiculturalism as the antidote to Hanson’s nationalism

Guardian Australia columnist Paul Daley has published an opinion piece arguing that Pauline Hanson’s “cheap nationalism” has prompted him to embrace a gentler form of patriotism rooted in multiculturalism. The piece challenges One Nation’s assertion that the Socceroos represent an Australian monoculture, a claim Daley describes as exposing the “blind racism and profound illogicality” of the party’s policies on immigration and social cohesion.

Daley contrasts his personal indifference to official commemorative days, such as Australia Day and Anzac Day, with the pride he feels regarding Australia’s multi-ethnic sporting and cultural achievements. He cites the racial diversity of the Socceroos as evidence of a modern nation built on the rejection of the White Australia policy. The columnist notes that it was reassuring to see senior federal government figure Penny Wong recently rebut Hanson’s views, which Daley characterised as “fever-dream jingoistic bunkum”.

The article highlights the story of Vietnamese boat people Tuyet Lu and Tan Than Lu, who arrived in Darwin in November 1977 with few personal possessions, including a single battered metal fry-pan. Daley recounts how Tuyet Lu used the pan to cook for her family on the boat, during their six-month stay at Brisbane’s Wacol migrant hostel, and later in restaurants the couple owned in Australia. The pan is now displayed at the Australian National Maritime Museum, which Daley visited recently.

Daley places this migration story in the context of the heated debate surrounding the influx of Vietnamese asylum seekers following the fall of Saigon. He notes that the last vestiges of the White Australia policy, the first act of the Australian Commonwealth Parliament in 1901, had only recently been removed at the time. While some viewed the “boat people” as a threat to social cohesion, Daley points to the widespread integration of Vietnamese cuisine into Australian suburban and country high streets as a testament to the success of the migration experiment.

The piece also references One Nation’s historical attacks on First Nations peoples, who the party promoted as having it “too good”. Daley argues that Indigenous antiquity, described as 60,000 years of unbroken connection to the land, has long been a bedrock of his quiet, reflective form of Australian patriotism. He concludes that this form of pride resonates more meaningfully than what he terms “boisterous we-grew-here-you-flew-here brands of jingoistic, exclusionary nationalism”.