MATESHIP

A pillar of
Australian culture
 Our team

Ngoc Anh Minh Huyen Quynh Mai Huy Hoang

Table of Contents
1. Definition and Historical roots.
2. Current demonstration.
⚬ Sporting.
⚬ Popular culture.
⚬ Communication.
⚬ Diverse and inclusive
mateship.
3. Global stage of mateship.
4. Future of mateship.
 ORIGINAL MEANING

• 1300s: Stems from the word ‘ge-mate’

• ‘The act of eating at the same table’
• 1540s: Started to be used in English,
implying ‘companionship, eating
and working together’
Hey mate, how you doing? Thanks mate

Sorry mate, do you have

the time?
 Mateship is an Australian idiom emphasizing not only
friendship, equality but more importantly national solidarity
1. The early settlement

1788: British sent convicts to Australia and had the

initial invasion of land and other resources.
Prior to the colonization, the word ‘mate’ was commonly used by Britons
Most of Australia’s convicts started to use ‘mate’ as an everyday term.
Higher meaning: not just companionship but survival, helping each
other in adversity, forming bonds that disregard social hierarchies.
2. Mateship on battlefield

9 million soldiers dead 5 million civilians died

23 million wounded Nearly 10 thousand Australians losing
their lives overnight
Mateship implies a deep and unspoken bond made in the
battlefields, sharing experience of suffering hardships
and supporting one another with a deep sense of
compassion and respect in life of death situations
3. Mateship in hardships

500 people dead

9,352 buildings and 3,500 homes destroyed
103,000,000,000 AUD loss
Mateship remains the intrinsic spirit of the whole community
mateshIp In
popular culture
• Films and Television
• Music
• Sports
• the adventures of Red Dog
• valuable lessons about love,
friendship, & the importance
of community
• the search for missing Red
Dog = a unifying mission for
the community
• “He wasn’t just a dog, he was a
mate.”
• “Red Dog brought the town
together, made us realize we’re all
part of something bigger.”
• “He had mates in every town, every
corner of the country.”
The bond between mates & the resilience of the
Australian spirit are depicted through characters
who face challenges, support each other, and
celebrate the so-called uniqueness of Australian
culture.
“We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We'll share a dream and sing with one voice
"I am, you are, we are Australian"
“This time, we know we all can stand together
With the power to be powerful
Believing we can make it better
Ooh, we're all someone's daughter
We're all someone's son
How long can we look at each other
Down the barrel of a gun?”
AC/DC

• Highway to Hell: the adventurous

and rebellious spirit of Australian
mates
• Thunderstruck: powerful rhythm
creates a collective experience
A sense of unity and shared purpose

• players rely on each other: support,

ecouragement, teamwork
• value fair play & sportmanship
• congratulate & commiserate with opponents
• post-match rituals: sharing a drink/meal
with opponents
 ICONIC MOMENTS

THE SYDNEY OLYMPICS 2000

CATHY FREEMAN
 ICONIC MOMENTS

THE SYDNEY SWANS’ AFL

PREMIERSHIP 2005
 ICONIC MOMENTS

THE AMERICA’S CUP 1983

• MATESHIP IN
COMMUNICATION
• ITS UNDENIABLE
PRESENCE
• InclusIve MateshIp
LInguIstIc CamaraderIe In
AustralIa
• The Friendly & Informal Communication
Style
• The usage of the word “mate”
• Slang and terminology reflecting
mateship
EXAMPLES OF MATESHIP
2019 - 2020 BUSHFIRES

“BUY A BALE” CAMPAIGN

 2019 - 2020 BUSHFIRES
Black Summer:
• 18 million hectares were incinerated
• 5,900 buildings were obliterated
• claimed the lives of at least 34
people
• 3 billion animals were affected
2019 - 2020 BUSHFIRES
• 72.000 volunteer firefighters
• Australian Red Cross: AUD 240m
• The NSW RFS & Brigades Donations
Fund: AUD 100m
• Wildlife charities like WIRES and WWF-
Australia: tens of millions of dollars.
• Find A Bed and Airbnb Open Homes:
provide free accommodation to evacuees
and firefighters
“buy a bale” campaIGN
• Born out of the 2015-2020 Australian
drought
• Raised money, distributed hay, water and
essential supplies to farmers
⚬ $4.5 million in donations
⚬ 160,000 bales of hay
dIVERSE AND
INCLUSIVE
MATESHIP
MATESHIP IN COLORS OF PRIDE

• Pride Marches and Festivals: Sydney Gay and

Lesbian Mardi Gras
• Wear it Purple Day
• Community Support and Mental Health Services
⚬ offer mental health and support services
specifically catered to the LGBTQ+
community
• Safe Schools Coalition
⚬ create safe and inclusive school
environments for LGBTQ+ students
ImmIgrant and
MultIcultural
CommunItIes
Harmony Day

• celebrate and embrace each

other’s cultural heritage

Welcome to Australia walks

• welcome refugees and immigrants

to the country

Multicultural festivals

• Parramasala - the Australian

Festival of South Asian Arts
• Moomba: Australia's largest free
community festival
GLOBAL STAGE OF MATESHIP
01 AUSTRALIA AND USA

02 AUSTRALIA AND NEWZEALAND

WHY USA?
a partnership
forged in blood.
 WAR INVOLVEMENT
• Formerlly allied through several wars

Korean War Vietnamese War

1950-1953 1962-1973

Persian Gulf War War of Terror

1990-1991 since 2001
MILITARY ALLIANCE
• ANZUS - 1951 (Australia, New Zealand and the US).
⚬ evoked once after the 9/11 attack.

• AUKUS - 2021 (Australia, the UK and the US).

⚬ has not been tested yet.
SHARED VALUES AND CONCERNS
• Democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law.
• Terrorism, cyber threats, climate change, pandemics.
WHY NEW ZEALAND?

Sibling Rivalrby
WHAT IS
ANZAC?
 1
Enable New Zealand to join
the Common Wealth of

02
Australia at any time of its
choosing.

Freedom of travel is facilitated

through the Trans-Tasman
Travel Arrangements (TTTA) of
1973.
03
Soccer rivalry is a sports
rivalry that exists between
the Australian
men’s/women’s vs New
Zealand men’s/women’s
national teams.
IS MATESHIP An EXCLUSIVE TRAIT?
IS MATESHIP An EXCLUSIVE TRAIT?
WILL MATESHIP SURVIVE?
• A part of human nature.
• Imply gender/racial discrimination
• The shift towards individuality
• The influx of immigrants.
Th
WILL MATESHIP SURVIVE?
• The evolution of “mateship” definition
• The increasingly harsh recurring
natural disasters
• The legacy of a period of time
• A cultural symbol to be “advertised”
Th
Thank
You!