ABSTRACT
The election of the Whitlam government in 1972, Australia’s first Labor government for 23 years, provided the necessary political impetus for the recognition of land rights. A newly declared multiculturalism signaled an end to a singular Anglo-Australian national identity, while the recognition of native title for Aboriginal people recast the nation conceptually and legislatively. National space formed a major avenue for government to construct a ‘new’ national image, one of the ‘few areas of policy formation’ comments cultural theorist Tony Bennett ‘in which the state can play so direct and leading a role in organizing the time-space co-ordinates of the nation’ (Bennett, 1995: 142). National museums and national parks were central to the representation of a post-colonial nationalism, yet rarely are these spaces considered comparatively. This chapter begins with such a comparison, examining the influential foundational documents outlining the re-configuration of Ayers Rock-Mt Olga National Park and the National Museum of Australia into national sites inclusive of Aboriginal people.
