On the first day of the third millennium walking down to Darling Harbour from Kings Cross where we had partied through the night with friends who are living there in a unit within walking distance of all the attractions of city life, I noticed a group of young men. They were walking in my direction and something about them arrested my attention. Pretending to be busy window shopping I was eagerly waiting for them to come nearer. Suddenly it struck me what was so unusual about them. It was rather symbolic on 1 January 2000 to encounter them. They were Aussies all right, quite possible Uni students, not speaking with the broad Aussie accent but good English with that easily recognisable accent of Down Under.
However what was interesting about them was that they really and truly represented Australia the way it is. There were just four of them but one was Caucasian, one Asian, one from India or Sri Lanka and one of a Maori or Pacific Islander origin. Just four of them but four different races speaking the same language and sharing the same living space.
It is quite possible that they never thought about the symbolism of their friendship (they were chatting about mutual friends and other things that only friends would discuss) and its impact on the Australian culture. If a photo of them had been published in a newspaper somebody would have said that it was arranged and the paper was trying to be politically correct, and yet it was real.