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Question 18 on the recent Australian Census is, "What is the person's ancestry?" Sounds simple?
The online help information explains:
For each person provide a maximum of two ancestries with which they most closely identify, if possible. Consider the origins of the person’s parents and grandparents for example. If the person is a Pacific Islander please report their ancestry as accurately as possible, for example, Samoan, Tongan or Cook Islander. If the person is a descendant of South Sea Islanders brought to Australia as indentured labourers at the turn of the twentieth century, please answer ‘Australian South Sea Islander’.The key words here are, ancestries with which they most closely identify.
I considered several options... then realised, this is like the "religion" question: Don't claim it unless you really believe it.
The ancestries with which I most closely identify... I was born in Australia. My parents were born overseas. My siblings were born overseas. So...
I am Australian. My parents chose to at least live in Australia. I do not closely identify with any of the overseas cultures that my parents could have claimed. I am Australian.
I feel no urge to pretend to some false identification with a foreign culture. If the online explanation had been, Where were your parents born? then fine, that would be my ancestry.
The census wanted to know, with which ancestry do I most closely identify. The answer is, None of the above.
I am Australian. By choice.
Language, please!
Question 17 is, "How well does the person speak English?" I didn't have to answer this. Why not?!No-one is interested in how well I speak English. That's because (question 16) I only speak English at home. Sounds like anti-English speaker prejudice to me...
Of course, the person who speaks only English at home -- but who speaks English "Not well"... probably couldn't answer the question anyway.
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