Inheritance’s author, Hannie Rayson, extensively researched her play, including ten trips into the Mallee region in order to talk with farmers, gather stories and come to an understanding about life in these rural communities. Allendale, the family farm at the heart of the play, in many ways serves as a microcosm of Australian society and the issues facing rural Australia in particular.
In order to fully appreciate the events and characters in Inheritance, it is important to understand this wider context. Below are some brief introductions to some of these key aspects of the text. Your task it to find three additional pieces of information about each of the following aspects of Australia’s history and society:
1. The Mallee
The Mallee is an ill-defined remote rural area of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia whose sparse population is heavily dependent on farming. The area is hot, dry and quite arid, including areas of desert, making it particularly susceptible to drought. The area is relatively sparsely populated with few sizable towns, making efficient and effective delivery of basic government services such as education and healthcare very difficult, particularly outside of major centres such as Mildura, Echuca and Swan Hill.
Find three facts about the Mallee region…
2. Demographics of Rural Australia
Demographics in Australia have changed dramatically over the past century. We have gone from a predominantly rural country dependent upon agriculture to one of the most heavily urbanised societies in the world. While farmers still have an important place in Australia’s culture and self-identity, their importance to the economy has been supplanted by the cities. A declining population, which is growing older, has led to many new problems.
Find three facts about the demographics of rural Australia…
3. The 1982-1983 Drought and its effect on Rural Australia
Cycles of drought has been a constant aspect of life in Australia, particularly in rural areas. A particularly devastating drought occurred in 1982-1983. After decades of record growth and production in agriculture, fuelled by high prices for produce, the rural economy collapsed, suffering billions of dollars of losses. A collapse in global food prices further hurt farmers. Faced with loss of income, increasing debt, record inflation rates and little prospect for improvement, many farmers were pushed past breaking point.
Find three facts about the 1982 Drought and its impact on Rural Australia in particular…
4. Economic Rationalism and the Deregulation of the Australian Banking System
The Hawke-Keating government of the 1980s and early 1990s made many important economic reforms. Amongst these was the embracing of a policy of ‘economic rationalism’ (a belief in the free market’s ability to solve problems) and, with this, the deregulation of the banking system, which created increased competition between banks. This resulted in banks offering more loans, taking less, often to riskier borrowers (banks, after all, are about making money for their shareholders, and are not necessarily concerned with the wellbeing of their debtors). This had many positive effects, but also resulted in many more people took out loans than they could not afford to repay.
Find three facts about Economic Rationalism and Deregulation in this period…
5. The Mabo Decision and Indigenous Land Rights
For much of Australia’s history, a doctrine of ‘terra nullius’ applied. This doctrine said that Australia was uninhabited before British settlement, and therefore Britain could claim all land in Australia. This doctrine ignored the fact that approximately one million indigenous Australians inhabited Australia before white colonisation, and ignored any native claim to land. This all changed with the historic 1993 Mabo decision in the High Court, which ruled that Australia was not terra nullius and, in some circumstances, native title (i.e. claims by indigenous groups to unused land in Australia) still applied. The Keating government enshrined the High Court’s decision in the Native Title Act, which allowed indigenous people to make native title claims. However, a large (and largely untrue) fear campaign followed this, and there was much resentment in rural areas in particular.
Find three facts about the Mabo decision and native title…
6. The Stolen Generations
The Stolen Generations is the term given to official Australian government policy between 1909 and 1970 of removing half-caste indigenous children from their families and placing them in white, state-run care. There were various motivations, from child protection to a desire to breed-out the aboriginal race. Many of these children were abused, used essentially as slave labour, and were deprived of their native culture, community and family connections. However, many people thought they were doing the good, ‘Christian’ thing by taking in these children, removing them from their ‘backward’ native culture and instead bringing them to ‘real’ civilised society.
Find three facts about the Stolen Generations…
7. Pauline Hanson and One Nation
Pauline Hanson came to political prominence in 1996 when she won a seat in the House of Representatives. Her maiden speech decried ‘political correctness’, attacked ‘multiculturalism’ and expressed a fear that Australia was ‘being swamped by Asians’. Her views were polarising, with some people violently opposing her, particularly in the cities and southern states, and some people strongly supporting her, particularly in Queensland and rural areas.
Find three facts about the rise of Pauline Hanson and One Nation…
A Useful Resource
The following document provides some useful background information about the setting and context of the play Inheritance. You may want to use it to help complete the above tasks. However, you will need to do some of your own research as well.
