As Britain started to right its historic wrong in Ireland in the past week, the word “”Taoiseach” appeared fleetingly in the news.
It is the Gaelic name for prime minister and is used in the Irish Constitution. The great majority of Irish people speak and use English in their everyday lives and English predominates in the media, but they rarely if ever refer to the “”prime minister”. They refer to the Taoiseach and the word stands out as a title in its own right, distinctively Irish as the Dali Lama is Tibetan.
The use of the word is a cultural statement and one affirming national identity.
And closer to home, Papua New Guinea started correcting an historic wrong in Bougainville.
It takes enormous courage and a change in mindset, but both events were quite inspirational.
This association of correcting historic wrongs, titles and Papua New Guinea gave me an idea. It is an idea I want to be ripped off and used by other people, indeed by all Australians. And it starts with Bob Menzies.
In 1965, Bob “”British to his bootstraps” Menzies proposed the ridiculous name “”Royal” for the Australian currency.
Even then, it was appropriately scoffed at. For a few months various Australian names were suggested such as Australs, Kangas and Roos, but none found currency (so to speak) because Australians have a peculiar reluctance to embrace things Australian unless they are related to sport.
Papua New Guinea, on the other hand, called its currency the kina and put the bird of paradise on its flag, but somehow the kangaroo is not good enough in Australia for either flag or currency.
So having stood up to Menzies’ cultural cringe we engaged in another by slavishly embracing the name the United States of America gives its currency, the dollar.
Ironically, the Americans themselves give the Australian currency a more identifiable and intrinsically Australian name. They call it the Aussie. And we hear American foreign exchange dealers in the broad accents on early-morning radio tell us that the “”Aussie” is holding up well or is on a banana skid downwards, and they seem to be making loot either way.
I mention this now, some 28 years later, because Australia is about to do the same thing.
Just as we sensibly told Menzies that the Royal was plainly unAustralian as a name of currency, we are now sensibly questioning whether we want a royal as a head of state.
But is there a hint of having an Australian name for the position. Oh no. We slavishly appear to be following the Americans again with the name “”president”.
Senator Baden Teague, the only Liberal to say in Parliament that Australia should be a republic has suggested the name Governor-General be retained. It conjures a picture of a British colonial chap in breeches and a silly hat with a lot of feathers.
Why cannot we have something uniquely Australian. A word from one of the Aboriginal languages meaning leader or something similar would be preferable to “”President”. A quick browse through a book on Aboriginal words reveals some evocative-sounding possibilities.
We would have news items saying things like: “”The Wrendu of Australia, Cathy Freeman, opened a fete in Canberra yesterday . . . .”
Or, “”The Yultun of Australia, Barry Jones, handed a cheque to the new science centre yesterday . . . ”
Or, “”The Australian Kokora, Malcolm Fraser, visited South Africa yesterday . . . .”
Or, “”The Rupulle of Australia, Thomas Keneally, opened a book fair in Queanbeyan yesterday . . . “”
Need I go on? I’m sure the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, Aboriginal linguists could find better examples.
“”President” is not only American and boring, but also inappropriate. The Australian Head of State is to be a figurehead, not a source of power (scare-mongering conspiracy theories aside). The Head of State is not to preside over anything.
In 1966, Australia did the sensible thing in moving to decimal currency, but messed up the naming. Australia is moving towards the sensible thing before 2000 on getting an Australian Head of State. (Honestly now, do you really want the Queen or King Charles to open the Olympics? I thought Manchester missed out?) If we do get an Australian Head of State, surely it is not to much to give the office a uniquely Australian name. And let’s change the currency’s name while we’re at it.