What kind of country doesn't know the name of their first Prime Minister?
(a) A country of immigrants
(b) A country that cuts down tall poppies
(c) A country eternally cynical of politicians
(d) A country that was founded peacefully (except if you were aboriginal or a convict) by constitutional lawyers
(e) All of the above.
That question was in a commercial used to promote in 2001 the one hundredth anniversary of Australia's founding as a united commonwealth. A whole menangie of multicultural Aussie faces shyed away when they asked who was Australia's first Prime Minister, except for a pair of ageing farmer bumpkin types and a lawn bowler:
Oi fink it woz Barton
Not that the celebrations in 2001 had much impact, as most Australians were partied out after the Sydney Olympics and the millenium. Australia's bicentennial in 1988 had a greater impact, although it is arguably more controversial as something to celebrate about.
Unlike Simón Bolívar, Ho Chi Minh, George Washington, Charlemagne, Kwame Nkrumah, Ataturk or other famous nation builders, poor 'ol Edmund Barton has an almost non-existent profile in Australia. Which is not such a bad thing if countries that glorify their own history become complacent and politically stagnant.