So, it’s January 26, which is celebrated with a public holiday across the country for Kim Hughes’1 Australia Day. As seems traditional for this time of year, the media has been trying to reinvigorate that most important discussion dealing with identity and inclusion: what is Australia’s “national dish”?
birthday
I can’t be arsed talking about the flaws in the idea of a “national dish”. The idea of promoting a single dish, or ingredient, as evoking this country is ridiculous. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy talking about food. I do! Preferably while eating it. It’s just that I want to eat what I want to eat without considering whether it’s a statement of national identification or not.
No, what I really feel coming on is a short rant about the opposition of some to the fact that Kraft has recently gained Halal certification for Vegemite. In the “news” story about this, the Herald-Sun planted its flag with the headline “Vegemite becomes politically correct“, because obviously Kraft was thinking in PC terms rather than in terms of expanding its customer base. Professional prat Family Council of Victoria secretary Bill Muehlenberg is firmly in the they-done-it-to-be-PC camp:
Why do we have to keep bending over backwards to please minority groups? There are only 300,000 Muslims in Australia out of 22 million people, which is a very small percentage. Of course, there’s a case for making allowances for different cultures, but aren’t we getting a bit carried away with political correctness here? It’s ridiculous.
“Bending over backwards”? From what I can understand, Vegemite has always fitted within halal guidelines, but it hasn’t been certified as such, so conscientious muslims have had to make a judgement on whether they should eat it or not2. Kraft hasn’t changed the recipe, they’ve just had it confirmed that Vegemite is halal and have added a small icon to indicate to those interested that it is. That should fit firmly into Bill’s definition of “making allowances”, shouldn’t it? It’s not New Coke; hell, it’s not even iSnack 2.0.
Since when does allowing everyone to enjoy something have any impact on the original product-lover’s affection for it? How does enabling people’s access to something frequently touted as “a national icon” lead to Islamisation? Shouldn’t we be thrilled that people whose communities are marginally more recently settled here than “ours” are willing to embrace a product that many find challenging?
No, clearly some people are so insecure in their own identity as Australian that they can’t bear the idea of non-(what, exactly? Descendants of convicts? Ten pound Poms? Snowy Mountain scheme veterans?)AussiesTM stealing their icon. How will they stand out as just like all the other Contikitourists true blue if… everybody’s carrying a tube of the black stuff in their carry-on?
Well, they’ll probably stand out because they’ll be the ones being dickheads on a Turkish peninsula around the end of April, but just in case, there’s a petition. Yes – somebody wants the bloody gubmint to stop this creeping Islamisation “through legislation if necessary”.
Because nothing says “young and free” like demanding legislation against allowing people to make informed choices.
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2. I think this is one of the best things I’ve seen on the interwebs – a forum from last year where Australian Muslims discuss whether or not they should be eating Vegemite. I like the fact that #2 feels confident to swear a certain allegiance to the yeasty goodness, but #5 is the comment that really rocks (and gave me my post title, with an added emphasis, ‘cos the brewers’ discards don’t discriminate).
