THE INVASION COMPLEX IN AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL CULTURE

ABSTRACT The political and social reaction to the ‘refugee crisis ’ in Australia cannot be solely understood in purely geo-political or economic terms. Neither can the persistence of racism in Australian political culture be explained in terms of its electoral advantage. This article contends that the racist attitudes of the Australian Liberal Government, and John Howard in particular, hide deeper unconscious processes that are historically embedded in the national imaginary. These unconscious processes are manifested in the invasion complex which lies just below the surface of Australia’s political culture. KEYWORDS authoritarianism • invasion complex • liberalism • other • racism/race • refugee • Tampa Fear of an external invasion has always operated alongside guilt over the foundational occupation of the land in Australia. The popular support for the Prime Minister John Howard’s stand against the refugees and his dogged defensiveness during the reconciliation process revealed the unease over cultural difference in the national imaginary. The myth of terra nullius and the fantasy of an ‘Asian invasion ’ are two constitutive features in Aus-tralian nationalism. Combined, they have produced a profound anxiety over space and mobility. Howard’s obsession over territorial sovereignty is also a screen against what John Cash has described as Australia’s ‘foundational blindspot; that which it refused to see while all the while becoming fixated on the sight of its absence ’ (Cash, 2003: 7). The fantasy of an unoccupied territory and the fear of invasion are so deeply ingrained in the national imaginary that the slightest disturbance to the existing structure can produce the most violen