E X T E N S I O N AUSTRALIAN IDENTITY: THE BUSH AND THE ABORIGINES The bush has iconic1 status in Australian life and identity. With reference to the landscape, it describes an area of dry soil, mostly grassless and covered by shrubs2 and/or taller plants, usually eucalyptuses. It is something uniquely Australian and very different from the green landscapes familiar to British immigrants. From a social perspective, the bush refers to any scarcely populated region or populated districts outside metropolitan areas (such as mining or agricultural areas). It is often a synonym for wilderness. The bush was regarded as a source of national identity by Australian writers, such as Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson. Many Australian myths and legends have arisen from the bush. It has evoked the themes of struggle and survival, narrated in tales of drovers, outback3 women and lost children. It has also meant freedom and rebellion for convicts, and bushranging , living off the land in the bush, was considered preferable to being in chains. Bush songs composed by ordinary people constitute a record4 of the experience of living, working and dying in the bush.The most famous one is Waltzing Matilda, Australia s unofficial national anthem. Bush music was handed down as part of an oral tradition, in a similar way to folk music. Although by early 1900 most Australians lived in coastal cities, the bush has been absorbed into Australian life through literature, clothing, slang, arts, architecture and pop music.Typically Australian traits, such as egalitarianism, hard drinking, and mateship5 came from the frontier experiences of real bush workers. 1. iconic: acting as a symbol. 2. shrub: small plant with several wood stems coming from the ground. 3. outback: the area of Australia that is a long way from the coast and towns. 4. record: information written down or stored. 5. mateship: friendship and solidarity especially among workers in isolated areas. 61