Mateship

Most simply, the term mateship describes "feelings of solidarity and fraternity that Australians, usually men, are typically alleged to exhibit.

He cites the work of historian Russell Ward, who argued that "a convict-derived ethos of matey anti-authoritarianism embedded itself in the Australian psyche from the beginning."

Most Australian citizens ... associate mateship with wartime service - in particular, the Anzac tradition forged on the shores of faraway Gallipoli during April 1915."

For instance, the Australian Army Recruit Training Centre lists the "soldierly qualities" it seeks to instill as including "a will to win, dedication to duty, honour, compassion and honesty, mateship and teamwork, loyalty, and physical and moral courage.

We value excellence as well as fairness, independence as dearly as mateship.Murray was not supportive of the inclusion of "mateship" in the preamble, stating that it was "blokeish" and "not a real word", but the Prime Minister insisted it be included as the term, he said, had "a hallowed place in the Australian lexicon".

[4] Howard reluctantly dropped the term from the preamble, after the Australian Democrats refused to allow it to be passed by the Senate where they held the balance of power.

[7] The concept of mateship was also formed by the significant disparity between the male and female population, resulting in an acute shortage of marriageable women in colonial Australia.