Bunyip aristocracy is an Australian term satirising attempts by

William Wentworth William Charles Wentworth (August 179020 March 1872) was an Australian statesman, pastoralist, explorer, newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and author, who became one of the wealthiest and most powerful figures in colonial New South Wales. He ...

to establish a system of titles in the colony of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. It was coined in 1853 by

Daniel Deniehy Daniel Henry Deniehy (18 August 1828 – 22 October 1865) was an Australian journalist, orator and politician; and early advocate of democracy in colonial New South Wales. Early life Deniehy was born in Sydney, the son of Henry and Mary Denieh ...

in what came to be known as the ''Bunyip Aristocracy speech'' which he delivered in the Victoria Theatre and on the

soapbox A soapbox is a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipment ...

Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping terminal, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the northern edge of the ...

Context

Proposals

A committee, consisting of

Charles Cowper Sir Charles Cowper (), (26 April 1807 – 19 October 1875) was an Australian politician and the Premier of New South Wales on five occasions from 1856 to 1870. Cowper did useful work but does not rank among the more distinguished Australian ...

, T. A. Murray,

George Macleay Sir George Macleay (180924 June 1891) was an Australian explorer and politician. Biography Macleay was born in London, the third son of Alexander Macleay and educated at Westminster School. He came to Australia in 1826. In November 1829, h ...

, E. Deas Thomson,

John Plunkett John Hubert Plunkett (June 1802 – 9 May 1869) was Attorney-General of New South Wales, an appointed member of the Legislative Council 1836–41, 1843–56, 1857–58 and 1861–69. He was also elected as a member of the Legislative Asse ...

, Henry Douglass,

William Thurlow William Edward Thurlow (1815−15 January 1873) was a politician and solicitor in colonial New South Wales. Thurlow was born in around 1815 and emigrated to Sydney aged years with his father, also called William Thurlow, and two of his brothers ...

, James Macarthur, James Martin and William Wentworth, appointed on the motion of Wentworth, held its first meeting in Sydney on 27 May 1853. Fifteen meetings were called. Half the members did not attend the meetings. The bill was reported on 28 July 1853.

Opposition

It was almost universally condemned by the people and a large public meeting was called to oppose it. In the advertisement convening the meeting were the following paragraphs:

Colonists ! Will you submit to be robbed of your rights? A committee of the
Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...
has framed a new Constitution for the colony, by which it is proposed: #To create a colonial nobility with hereditary privileges. #To construct an
Upper House An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...
of Legislature in which the people will have no voice. #To add eighteen new seats to the Lower House, only one of which is to be allotted to Sydney while the other seventeen are to be allotted among the country and
squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...
districts. #To squander the public revenue by pensioning off the officers of the Government on their full salaries, thus implanting in our institutions a principle of jobbery and corruption. #To fix irrevocably on the people this oligarchy in the name of free institutions so that no future Legislature can reform it even by absolute majority. The Legislative Council has the hardihood to propose passing this unconstitutional and anti-British measure with only a few days notice, and before it can possibly be considered by the colonists at large.

The meeting was addressed by

Henry Parkes Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and the longest-serving non-consecutive Premier of New South Wales, premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in ...

and other liberals, and the result of the agitation was that the most objectionable clause, to create an hereditary colonial peerage, was struck out.

Dan Deniehy's Bunyip aristocracy speech

In response to Wentworth's proposal to create a hereditary

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

in New South Wales, Deniehy's satirical comments included: "Here, we all know the common water mole was transferred into the

duck-billed platypus The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or monotypi ...

, and in some distant emulation of this degeneration, I suppose we are to be favoured with a bunyip aristocracy." Deniehy's ridicule caused the idea to be dropped. Among those singled out in his speech by Deniehy was James MacArthur (1798–1867), the son of John MacArthur, who had been nominated to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 1839 and was later (1859) elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

(the lower house was only created in 1856):

Next came the native aristocrat James MacArthur, he would he supposed, aspire to the coronet of an earl, he would call him the Earl of Camden, and he suggests for his coat of arms a field vert, the heraldic term for green, and emblazoned on this field should be a rum keg of a New South Wales order of chivalry.

Aftermath

The strong popular support for Deniehy's views caused the abandonment of the proposal to which he was responding. It probably also delayed the introduction of an

Australian honours system The Australian honours and awards system refers to all orders, decorations, and medals, as instituted by letters patent from the Monarch of Australia and countersigned by the Australian prime minister at the time, that have been progressively ...

. The

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

was not introduced until 1975. Until that time, Australians were awarded British honours.

Legacy

"Bunyip aristocracy" is now a

pejorative A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hosti ...

term for those Australians who consider themselves to be aristocrats.

Notes

References

External links

* Ged Martin: ''Bunyip Aristocracy. The New South Wales Constitution Debate of 1853 and Hereditary Institutions in the British Colonies''. Croom Helm, Sydney/London/Dover(New Hampshire) 1986, . * *{{cite web , author=David Headon , year=2004 , url=http://www.manningclark.org.au/papers/wentworth.html , title=Fortifying the Bunyip Aristocracy: Tocqueville, Wentworth and 1850s Australia , publisher=Manning Clark House Inc. , access-date=2006-01-20 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051218024333/http://www.manningclark.org.au/papers/wentworth.html , archive-date=18 December 2005 , url-status=dead , df=dmy Society of Australia History of New South Wales Egalitarianism