The Queen Is Dead

Former journalist Stan Grant found himself at the centre of a storm of outrage exactly a year ago, when his panel on ABC discussing the future of the monarchy, colonisation and empire, which aired on the day of the Queen's funeral, stirred complaints from viewers who would have preferred to gossip about the frocks at the Abbey than think about any issues of substance. Full disclosure: I didn't watch the panel, but I'm also aware that every single commercial channel was also offering coverage of the funeral, so it's not as if affronted viewers had no choice but to tune in. Apparently the most common complaint was the timing of the discussion; many felt that the day of the funeral itself was not an appropriate time for airing such topics. Again, I disagree -- it could be argued that the death of one monarch and the accession of another is exactly the appropriate time to talk about what role the monarchy has played in Australia's past, and what role it should play in the future.

ANYWAY, The Queen Is Dead was written in the aftermath of this controversy, and it shows. Stan Grant is filled with rage and frustration. In the voice of an orator or a preacher, he expresses a burning energy of deep sadness and anger. He stresses that he is not talking about Queen Elizabeth as a person, as a beloved mother and grandmother -- he speaks of the White Queen, the symbolic role of head of state, the Crown, in whose name so much wrong was inflicted on the First Nations peoples of what became the Commonwealth of Australia.

The pages of The Queen Is Dead drip with pain and fury, but I couldn't stop turning the pages. Grant's story sweeps across the history of Whiteness, the crushing damage wreaked on Aboriginal people, and the personal story of his own family and his own life. Particularly in the context of the approaching referendum, this is such an urgent plea, a cry from the heart. I feel incredibly frustrated myself at the evident lack of understanding of Australia's history that I see and hear around me at the moment; I can only imagine how someone like Stan Grant must feel.