by Phil Mercer, Australia reporter, August 23 2005

It is difficult to feel foreign in Australia. A quarter of all adults here were born somewhere else and an indelible multicultural watermark runs through this modern country.

This is a fascinating place to live and a joy to work in. Reporting in Australia is not just about shark attacks, squashed wombats (read on) and missing backpackers, important as they undoubtedly are.

There are amazing stories to be told here. There was the inspiring tenacity and courage of a Vietnamese comedian and a 14-year-old Afghan boy, both asylum seekers who risked their lives on a leaky boat from Indonesia.

There’s the smoky intrigue of Chinese diplomatic defectors and the controversial deportation of British-born sex offenders. Stories are as diverse as Australia itself.

Heroic kangaroos

Taxi drivers, those social barometers, herald from all corners. Those from Lebanon or Turkey all seem to support Liverpool and know more about Harry Kewell’s fitness woes than it is possible to cram into a 20-minute dash to the airport.

The BBC is well regarded here. The World Service is re-broadcast on ABC and is a valued companion to many of the drivers.

When one recognised my name he smiled and stared at me. I was worried he might veer off the road. ‘I know you,’ he said. ‘Yes, yes, your story the other week. It was very good.’

Ah, I thought, that will be the piece about Australia’s gamblers or the recent bungles with the immigration department. ‘The wombat,’ the driver said. ‘I was sad that it died.’

There are enough good stories about hungry crocodiles, heroic kangaroos, careless emus and adventurous cane toads to fill a zoo. When two men in southeastern Australia survived unharmed after a catastrophic brush with a wombat, I could add this stout marsupial to my list of animal antics.

For the record, when their truck hit the furry creature, the vehicle crashed off the side of a bridge and landed in the top of a tree. It then fell 20 feet to the ground. The two men walked away unscathed. Sadly, the unlucky wombat did not survive.

A European outpost

Fortunately journalistic endeavour here stretches into other more demanding areas. Australia retains strong links to Europe but society is changing and the multicultural rainbow increasingly radiates across this vast country. Capturing this shift is a constant challenge.

My neighbours include an elderly German woman who fled the Nazis, an Afghan student who escaped from the Taleban and a Scottish couple who just wanted to get away from the cold.

In 1945 there were 8m Australians. Today there are 20m and almost every nationality on earth is represented among its citizens. Australia in the 21st century is vibrant and confident.

It is, however, in many ways still a predominantly European outpost perched on the edge of the world, unsure of its place internationally.

Australia’s leaders pursue a balanced approach. Canberra maintains a military alliance with Washington (sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan), while engaging in free trade negotiations with China, leaving plenty of room for enjoying the cultural delight of thrashing the English at cricket (though maybe not this year).

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