Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This black-and-white clip is from a feature film promoting a future for Australia based upon the pioneering mythology of the country’s early settlement. The clip opens with an argument between an engaged couple, Frank (Franklyn Bennett) and Biddy (Peggy Maquire), about where they will live. The scene dissolves to one showing Frank in the Australian Parliament, making a speech on the unlimited prospects of Australia based on its British heritage, the courage of the early settlers, the ‘white gold’ of Australia (wool), and the role of women. Biddy, who is sitting in the public gallery, approves. Frank finishes his speech to great applause as rousing music begins.

Educational value points

• The clip shows Frank as a Member of the Australian Parliament (MP), speaking in favour of an Imperial Bill. In his speech he outlines a view of the past based upon the pastoral life of the pioneers and a vision of the future that continues this heritage. The future of Australia is still to be based upon white British males farming the land, with women at their side as ‘homemakers and civilisers’ for future generations.

• In his speech in Parliament, Frank is talking only about the people responsible for the original settlement of land and the growth of the wool industry in Australia in the early 19th century, the squatters. This was a very narrow but widely accepted point of view in 1935 when the film was made. It did not acknowledge the contribution of other sectors of Australian society to the growth of the country.

• In 1935 Australians still saw themselves as part of the British Empire. The common ‘race’ mentioned in this clip refers to the British race, which Frank claims has ‘done the adventurous and outdoor tasks of the world’. He goes on to describe all Australians as having common interests and traditions.

• In this clip Frank does not mention Indigenous peoples or people from any other background or culture apart from the British as being part of Australia’s heritage or future. At the time, the British ‘race’ and British culture remained dominant in Australia, a status maintained by a restrictive immigration system known as the White Australia Policy.

• At the time that the film Heritage was made, Australia identified with and was proud to be part of the British Empire and depended on Britain as its major market for the export of its primary resources such as wool and meat. The ‘white gold of Australia’ mentioned in this clip is wool, which was the cornerstone of Australia’s economy until the mid-1950s.

• The relationship between men and women portrayed in this clip is conservative and traditional. The clip begins with an attempt at female independence and ends, after Frank’s speech, with Biddy’s unspoken but enthusiastic acknowledgement that he, as a man, is the leader and that she will follow him in the traditional and subservient role of wife and presumably the mother of his children. In 1935, this would have been the accepted role for a woman of her class.

• The film from which this clip is taken, Heritage, was not a success. Much of this clip shows Frank giving a lengthy speech that at times sounds as though he is preaching or even berating his fellow parliamentarians. The acting in the film was also criticised for being wooden.

• Charles Chauvel (1897–1959), an Australian film director, wrote and directed Heritage. He and his wife Elsa Chauvel (1898–1983) were pioneer Australian filmmakers who produced feature films from the 1930s through to the 1950s.

This clip starts approximately 1 hour 24 minutes into the feature.

A young couple are having a heated discussion in their lounge room.
Biddy Parry What about me? Why should I have to live where you want me to live, rather than where I want to live?
Frank Morrison My dear, are you trying to upset the fundamental law between man and woman? That a woman’s life is her husband’s life, that his home is her home, no matter where it is? But of course, that’s much too primeval for you, I suppose.
Biddy Yes, and too prehistoric.
Frank Very well. If you can’t stick it here, then I release you from your promise to me. You’ll find many eager to accept your father’s money, and your promise of security, but I stay here …

The scene quickly changes to Frank addressing parliament.
Frank ... because I have faith in our soil, gentlemen, in the unlimited possibilities of this great country. We have come of a race which, through a thousand years, has done the adventurous and outdoor tasks of the world. Australia had her birth through the suffering and indomitable courage of brave men and women. Upon every hand we can see the fruits of their labours. The conquering of great forests. Flocks that move in their millions across endless acres. The white gold of Australia. Rich crops that have sprung from a soil that was believed to be cursed. Our pioneers moved out through the remote interior. They gave the land to the people. And they sacrificed time and life. But, gentlemen, those men were one in thoughts and in action and their women were homemakers and civilisers.
Other Members of Parliament Hear, hear.
Frank Every Australian is bound together by the bonds of a common race. We have the same interests, traditions and affections, and we are one people. Fear neither prosperity nor adversity. Gentlemen, the bonds that bind us to the empire should be bonds of steel! This Empire Bill must go through as it stands! The whole policies of our government, and of our people, must be uplifted by constructive work, not only within Australia but within the empire.

There is general applause. We see the outside of the parliament. As Frank walks out the doors and down the stairs he is congratulated by other Members of Parliament and his wife. He speaks briefly to some young journalists.