The Wave of the future [Widescreen]

Episode number 5 of Series “Australia: beyond the fatal shore [Widescreen]”.
Art critic Robert Hughes reflects on his relationship to Australia, 35 years after leaving the country. Contemplative after his near fatal car accident, Hughes reflects fondly on his childhood in Australia with an appreciation that only came from questioning his mortality. Episode five explores the issue of immigration, as our population of 19 million grows each year with 80,000 people taking up Australian citizenship. Hughes attends a citizenship ceremony in Sydney, then spends time with the Chin family in Darwin which leads into a discussion of the influence of Australia’s first ethnic minority, the Chinese, as well as the White Australia Policy. He also visits Woolgoolga, home of a large Sheik community from India, spends time with three new Australians who met working on the Snowy Mountain River Scheme, and has a lively conversation with Bruce Ruxton about Asian immigration, cultural tradition and multiculturalism. Les Murray talks of the sanctuary of ethnic based soccer and how its evolution in Australia has mirrored that of assimilation. A visit to the Sydney Fish Market precedes a discussion on culinary changes. Pauline Hanson and the One Nation Party are touched on briefly.