Geoffrey Blainey on Australia

“[At the time of Federation] Most Australians were still strangers in a new land. The land was only half won.”

“Flax was the first conqueror – a hollow conqueror – of the distance which so often shaped Australia's destiny.”

“The continent had to be discovered emotionally. It had to become a homeland and feel like home. The sense of overpowering space, the isolation, the warmth of summer, the garish light, the shiny-leafed trees, the birds and insects, the smell of air filled with dust, the strange silences, and the landscapes in all their oddness had to become familiar. Nearly every immigrant arrived with strong north European preferences in landscape, sunlight, colour, temperatures and vegetation preferences which Australia could rarely meet [...]. The physical mastering of Australia was swift and often dramatic, but the emotional conquest was slow.”