Australia and its struggling identity

I am 39 years old and I am still coming to terms with what I call Australia's struggling identity. I argue that Australia is a country confused by its identity and place in the geographic world. For anyone reading this comment they probably think I am making a very sweeping comment and observation about Australia's struggling identity. Australia has a system of government largely borrowed from three different governments. The Westminster model largely from the United Kingdom, Preferential voting from the Scandinavian countries and the Senate borrowed from the American system originally Greek of course meaning (House of Elders). For Australia to become a republic this would be a mammoth undertaking. Not only would the current system need to change but also the state governments. Merely swapping a ceremonial role of the current Governor General to a President would require significant and important change over and accrual of powers. It is very dangerous to just remove the Governor General and replace this person with a President. Mainly because what powers would the President have and would they be party aligned even if chosen by the parliament? The only real proposal that seems to have any merit is the one devised by Malcolm Turnbull but again a lot more work needs to be done.

Australia seems to be overwhelmed by its size and affected by its remoteness. There seems to be the government versus the people but no authority figure with the prime minister seeming to have more power. Despite it being a model that still relies on a foreign head of state, there is a certain level of stability and protection within the role of the Governor General. The Governor General should not be a political and represents the monarch within some capacities but also represents Australia also. I think the Governor General's position is an important but yet unknown one by most Australians.

When I have been overseas, the distances between travel is much less. Whereas in Australia we have very large distances and often large areas of nothingness. I think we are subconsciously aware of these factors and this has become entrenched in our psyche. We see ourselves as not part of the rest of the world as we are too far from it and those of us who have not traveled may not really understand what I mean exactly. When you land and return to Australia it is virtually like being on a foreign landscape and planet. The trees are different, the houses are different, the climate different etc. I have also noticed how much slower people are in talking, thinking, acting and walking. You really have to notice it.

Australia is losing a lot of its identity as I think Australians saw themselves as settlers and not innovators. They did what they best could to survive and had not time to look into the arts, poetry or creativity etc. I mean what can you largely do when you are surrounded or witness desert in the centre. The desert goes on and on and Europeans Australians struggle to live in it. It is a no go zone for us and we prefer to remain in the cities. I think our mindset is perhaps still largely European but my thoughts are probably different as I think more in abstract like an Aspie. I question things a lot and I am constantly processing information in my mind. I work out why things are the way they are here and why Australia thinks and acts differently to the rest of the world. Australia is a very large island and if you see the centre of it you realise just how vast it is as a country. Ask yourself does Australia have a struggling identity? Are Australians really a true reflection of a land foreign to them or are we really misplaced Europeans trying to make sense of the place?