Border protection between Australia and un-Australia : (or why I am an internally displaced person)

The relationship between Un-Australia and Australia is a tumultuous and porous one. As Australia and Un-Australia share an ever changing, overlapping and continuous physical and cultural border, it is easy to slip between the two without realising. Over the last few years, people have entered Un-Australia as they have protested against the war in Iraq or demanded Australia meet its refugee obligations. However, many of us quietly slipped back into Australia as mortgage rates again became important. At the same time, many Australians have also been forcibly displaced from Australia to Un-Australia. These newly displaced Australians (now Un-Australians) no longer recognise their Australia as it has been radically altered. The border has shifted and many of us have ended up in Un-Australia feeling like non-citizens. This paper attempts to identify the cultural turn that has led to this displacement. It is by understanding this turn that we can attempt to reconcile the emergence of these nonpersons