Editing Culture war (section)

===Australia===
{{also|Australian history wars}}
During the tenure of the [[Coalition (Australia)|Liberal–National Coalition]] government of 1996 to 2007, interpretations of [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal]] history became a part of a wider political debate regarding Australian national pride and symbolism occasionally called the "[[Australian history wars|culture wars]]", more often the "history wars".<ref name="Manne11/08">{{cite news |url= https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2008/november/1277253191/robert-manne/what-rudd-s-agenda |last= Manne |first= Robert |author-link= Robert Manne |title= What is Rudd's Agenda? |work= [[The Monthly]] |date= November 2008 |access-date= March 15, 2016 |archive-date= March 16, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160316231605/https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2008/november/1277253191/robert-manne/what-rudd-s-agenda |url-status= live }}</ref> This debate extended into [[#Australia|a controversy]] over the presentation of history in the [[National Museum of Australia]] and in [[Education in Australia|high-school]] history curricula.<ref>{{cite web |last= Rundle |first= Guy |url= http://www.crikey.com.au/2007/06/28/1915-and-all-that-history-in-a-holding-pattern/ |title= 1915 and all that: History in a holding pattern |work= Crikey |date= June 28, 2007 |access-date= April 27, 2010 |archive-date= July 6, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100706040803/http://www.crikey.com.au/2007/06/28/1915-and-all-that-history-in-a-holding-pattern/ |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Ferrari |first= Justine<!--Education writer--> |url= http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24492542-13881,00.html |title= History curriculum author defies his critics to find bias |work= The Australian |date= October 14, 2008 |access-date= April 27, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091006084757/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24492542-13881,00.html |archive-date= October 6, 2009 |url-status= dead }}</ref> It also migrated into the general Australian media, with major broadsheets such as ''[[The Australian]]'', ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' and ''[[The Age]]'' regularly publishing opinion pieces on the topic. [[Marcia Langton]] has referred to much of this wider debate as "war porn"<ref>Baudrillard J. War porn. ''Journal of Visual Culture'', Vol. 5, No. 1, 86–88 (2006) {{doi| 10.1177/147041290600500107}}</ref> and as an "intellectual dead end".<ref name=Langton>Langton M. Essay: [https://www.griffithreview.com/articles/trapped-in-the-aboriginal-reality-show/ "Trapped in the aboriginal reality show"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724191527/https://www.griffithreview.com/articles/trapped-in-the-aboriginal-reality-show/ |date=July 24, 2020 }}. ''Griffith Review 2007'', 19:Re-imagining Australia.</ref>

Two Australian Prime Ministers, [[Paul Keating]] (in office 1991–1996) and [[John Howard]] (in office 1996–2007), became major participants in the "wars". According to [[Mark McKenna (historian)|Mark McKenna's]] analysis for the Australian Parliamentary Library,<ref name=McKenna>{{cite web |url= http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/RP9798/98RP05 |title= Different Perspectives on Black Armband History |author= Mark McKenna |series= Parliamentary Library: Research Paper 5 1997-98 |publisher= The Parliament of Australia |date= November 10, 1997 |access-date= March 5, 2015 |archive-date= February 19, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150219085809/http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/RP9798/98RP05 |url-status= live }}</ref> Howard believed that Keating portrayed Australia pre-[[Gough Whitlam|Whitlam]] (PM 1972–1975) in an unduly negative light, while Keating sought to distance the modern [[Australian Labor Party|Labor movement]] from its historical support for the monarchy and for the [[White Australia policy]] by arguing that it was the conservative Australian parties which had been barriers to national progress. He accused Britain of having abandoned Australia during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. Keating staunchly supported a symbolic apology to [[Aboriginal Australians]] for their mistreatment at the hands of previous administrations, and outlined his view of the origins and potential solutions to contemporary Aboriginal disadvantage in his [[Redfern Park Speech]] of 10 December 1992 (drafted with the assistance of historian [[Don Watson]]). In 1999, following the release of the 1998 ''[[Bringing Them Home]]'' Report, Howard passed a parliamentary [[Motion of Reconciliation]] describing treatment of Aboriginal people as the "most blemished chapter" in Australian history, but refused to issue an official apology.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20080221_1.htm |title= The History of Apologies Down Under &#124; Thinking Faith |publisher= thinkingfaith.org |date= February 21, 2008 |access-date= March 5, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141202000730/http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20080221_1.htm |archive-date= December 2, 2014 }}</ref> Howard saw an apology as inappropriate as it would imply "intergeneration guilt", saying measures were a better response to contemporary Aboriginal disadvantage. Keating argued for the eradication of remaining symbols linked to colonial origins, including deference for [[ANZAC Day]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-nation-reborn-at-anzac-cove-utter-nonsense-keating-20081030-5enw.html|title=A nation reborn at Anzac Cove? Utter nonsense: Keating|first=Tony|last=Wright|date=October 30, 2008|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=April 24, 2018|archive-date=April 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180424135601/https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-nation-reborn-at-anzac-cove-utter-nonsense-keating-20081030-5enw.html|url-status=live}}</ref> for the [[Flag of Australia|Australian flag]], and for the [[monarchy in Australia]], while Howard supported these institutions. Unlike fellow Labor leaders and contemporaries, [[Bob Hawke]] (PM 1983–1991) and [[Kim Beazley]] (Labor Party leader 2005–2006), Keating never travelled to [[Gallipoli]] for ANZAC Day ceremonies. In 2008 he described those who gathered there as "misguided".<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.theage.com.au/national/a-nation-reborn-at-anzac-cove-utter-nonsense-keating-20081030-5enw.html |title= A nation reborn at Anzac Cove? Utter nonsense: Keating |work= The Age |date= October 31, 2008 |access-date= March 5, 2010 |location= Melbourne |first= Tony |last= Wright |archive-date= January 15, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100115185002/http://www.theage.com.au/national/a-nation-reborn-at-anzac-cove-utter-nonsense-keating-20081030-5enw.html? |url-status= live }}</ref> 

The defeat of the [[Howard government]] in the [[2007 Australian federal election]] and its replacement by the [[First Rudd Government|Rudd Labor government]] altered the dynamic of the debate. Rudd made an [[Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples|official apology]] to the Aboriginal ''[[Stolen Generations]]''<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/02/12/australia.text/index.html |title= Full text of Australia's apology to Aborigines |publisher= [[CNN]] |date= February 12, 2008 |access-date= April 27, 2010 |archive-date= September 18, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090918004745/http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/02/12/australia.text/index.html |url-status= live }}</ref> with bi-partisan support.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/brendan-nelsons-sorry-speech/2008/02/13/1202760366050.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 |title= Brendan Nelson's sorry speech |work= The Sydney Morning Herald |date= February 13, 2008 |access-date= April 27, 2010 |archive-date= March 15, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080315183621/http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/brendan-nelsons-sorry-speech/2008/02/13/1202760366050.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 |url-status= live }}</ref> Like Keating, Rudd supported an Australian republic, but in contrast to Keating, Rudd declared support for the Australian flag and supported the commemoration of ANZAC Day; he also expressed admiration for Liberal Party founder [[Robert Menzies]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/keating-utterly-wrong-on-gallipoli-pm/story-0-1111117908459 |title= Paul Keating 'utterly wrong' to reject Gallipoli identity, says Kevin Rudd |date= October 31, 2008 |access-date= February 19, 2015 |archive-date= September 12, 2012 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120912154538/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/keating-utterly-wrong-on-gallipoli-pm/story-0-1111117908459 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/is-rudd-having-a-bob-each-way/2007/04/12/1175971263000.html |title= Is Rudd having a Bob each way? - Opinion |work= The Sydney Morning Herald |date= October 28, 2004 |access-date= April 27, 2010 |archive-date= June 5, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110605031126/http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/is-rudd-having-a-bob-each-way/2007/04/12/1175971263000.html |url-status= live }}</ref> Subsequent to the 2007 change of government, and prior to the passage of the official apology, historian Richard Nile argued: "the culture and history wars are over and with them should also go the adversarial nature of intellectual debate",<ref>{{cite news |url= http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/richardnile/index.php/theaustralian/comments/end_of_the_culture_wars |title= End of the culture wars |publisher= [[The Australian]] |date= November 28, 2007 |access-date= April 27, 2010 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100309215605/http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/richardnile/index.php/theaustralian/comments/end_of_the_culture_wars/ |archive-date= March 9, 2010 |df= mdy-all }}</ref> a view contested by others, including conservative commentator [[Janet Albrechtsen]].<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/orwellian-left-quick-to-unveil-totalitarian-heart/story-e6frg6n6-1111115088194 |title= Orwellian Left quick to unveil totalitarian heart |work= The Australian |date= December 12, 2007}}</ref> 

[[Climate change in Australia]] is also considered a [[List of climate change controversies|highly divisive or politically controversial topic]], to the point it is sometimes called a "culture war".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hornsey |first1=Matthew J. |last2=Chapman |first2=Cassandra M. |last3=Fielding |first3=Kelly S. |last4=Louis |first4=Winnifred R. |last5=Pearson |first5=Samuel |date=August 2022 |title=A political experiment may have extracted Australia from the climate wars |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01431-4 |journal=Nature Climate Change |language=en |volume=12 |issue=8 |pages=695–696 |doi=10.1038/s41558-022-01431-4 |bibcode=2022NatCC..12..695H |s2cid=251043448 |issn=1758-6798 |access-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-date=September 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922112127/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01431-4 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The recent history of Australia's climate change wars |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-recent-history-of-australias-climate-change-wars/ss9nn2yd6 |first=Nick |last=Baker |date=23 January 2022 |access-date=20 September 2022 |website=SBS News |language=en |archive-date=September 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920171152/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-recent-history-of-australias-climate-change-wars/ss9nn2yd6 |url-status=live }}</ref> 

Since the defeat of the [[2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum]], there has been a significant calls reignited from [[conservatism in Australia|conservative politicians and commentators]] to oppose or scale down [[Reconciliation in Australia| Indigenous Reconciliation]], viewing customs such as [[Welcome to Country]] ceremonies and placing the [[Australian Aboriginal flag| Aboriginal]] and [[Torres Strait Islander flag| Torres Strait Islander flags]] alongside the national flag as "divisive". <ref>{{cite web | title=Feeling unwelcome: Why debate is mounting over an ancient ceremony| first=Natassia |last= Chrysanthos | website=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=15 February 2025| url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/feeling-unwelcome-why-debate-is-mounting-over-an-ancient-ceremony-20250204-p5l9kn.html | access-date=15 February 2025 }}</ref>