Page 1162 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 24 June 1992
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NATIONAL WATTLE DAY
MRS GRASSBY (11.24): I move:
That, to celebrate Australia's floral heritage, the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory supports the observance of 1 September each year as National Wattle Day.
Madam Speaker, we do not have a national flower. I understand that the golden wattle, which in many States is regarded as the national flower, was first included as a decoration surrounding the Commonwealth coat of arms in 1912 on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, Andrew Fisher. Andrew Fisher, whose birthplace was Scotland, had obviously been a great lover of the Scottish thistle emblem and understood the importance of a floral emblem. As a young child, he suffered the hardships of poverty and would have recognised the beauty of the golden wattle, which was free to be picked in all parts of Australia. It would brighten up an otherwise dreary existence at the time of Andrew Fisher's youth.
The wattle has been in continuous use as Australia's floral emblem since the days of Andrew Fisher, or even early Canberra. The wattle has appeared in the design of many Australian stamps and awards. Indeed, the emblem on the Order of Australia is a single wattle flower in the form of a convex disc. The wattle reflects the national colours of green and gold seen so prominently in the uniforms of our Olympic athletes from time to time, and even the boxing kangaroo flag that became so famous some years ago is mainly green and gold.
Traditionally, flowers have been used as identifying symbols for many nations and cultures; for example, the chrysanthemum of Japan, the rose of England, the silver fern of New Zealand, the cedar of Lebanon, and the maple leaf of Canada, which is part of their flag. For thousands of years various plants have been associated with special meanings and mystical power. The hawthorn represents immortality; the lotus blossom is closely associated with the Buddha and the enlightenment of the soul. Many women have been warned that planting the humble herb parsley will help them fall pregnant. As a mother of only one child, I obviously did not plant enough parsley when I was young. But, of course, if ifs and ands were pots and pans, I suppose there would be no room for tinkers.
The importance of the wattle to early Australian settlers cannot be denied. We have all heard the term "wattle and daub" used to describe huts made from wattle sticks and mud. Many of the new settlers lived in these huts until they were able to build appropriate houses. Even today the wattle has many uses. Honey from bees that populate wattle trees is amongst the best in the world, and bark from the tree itself is reputed to have antiseptic and medicinal qualities.
Henry Lawson wrote a very famous poem, Freedom on the Wallaby, which refers to the first struggle against oppression and the battle to establish a republic in Australia - the Eureka Stockade. That battle continues in other forms today and is one that I believe we will eventually win. I quote the last lines of Henry Lawson's poem:
We'll make the tyrants feel the sting
Of those that they would throttle;
They needn't say the fault is ours
If blood should stain the wattle.
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