Australia, like many other countries out there who are yearning for any sort of recognition, loves it when one of its sons or daughters makes it big worldwide. A true sign that someone has reached this pinnacle is when they are referred to by Australians (well, the Aussie media) in loving terms as 'Australia's own...' or, better still, 'Our...'. Such titles have been bestowed to luminaries as 'Our Nicole' (La Kidman), 'Our Kylie' (La Minogue), Australia's own Crowded House (even though they are from New Zealand) and Australia's own Bee Gees (even though they were born in Manchester, lived in Brisbane as teenagers for about 6 years, made it big in the USA and still speak in Mancunian accents). As you can see, being 'Australia's own' can be applied lightly. But is this rather special but parochial title applied evenly? Well, let's see...There is one Australian who is making headlines and is the centre of attention worldwide. It happens to be none other than WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Born in the tropical, northern Queensland city of Townsville in 1971, a place more renowned for military, blokey, boozey bogans rather than well-spoken computer experts, I can only imagine what a tough childhood Assange had up there. To put it bluntly, Townsville is a place where if a guy reads a novel, he'll be labelled a 'poof'. To have made it to where he is now considering what Townsville is like is mind boggling. Such a rise to the top of the World's attention from such humble and adverse beginnings and circumstances is an Australian success story that would be very much worthy of a 'Our Julian' or 'Australia's own Julian Assange' title? Well, no. Australia's bogans have been indoctrinated to hate Assange for all the reasons the US government would want all of us to believe about him and his obscure rape charges. Without knowing exactly why they must not like him, and the fact that the Aussie media are not quick in pointing out that he is Australian, leads Australia's undereducated majority to not award him the same parochial honours as a redhead wooden actor who hasn't done anything good since she left Sydney for Hollywood (BMX Bandits, anyone?). So, much against the parochial rule book which will see even blatantly guilty locals portrayed as saints not worthy of punishment by foreign governments (such as Schapelle Corby and the 4kgs of marijuana she tried smuggling into Indonesia in 2004), Assange is vilified even in his homeland.
It does indicate a lot when a country will value actors of dubious quality and convicted drug dealers more than dissidents championing freedom of speech and information.
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