The tale of Lachlan Macquarie — the Father of Australia

By Jack McKeown
Published in the Courier : 24.01.11
Published online : 24.01.11 @ 06.52pm

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The Father of Australia, made by Glasgow outfit Caledonia, is being broadcast in Scotland and Down Under on Australia day — Wednesday — and is a warts-and-all look at Macquarie's life.

While it's true that much of his rule of New South Wales was benign, and that he enacted policies that were generations ahead of their time in their humanity, he also ordered the killing of at least 14 Aborigines in the 1816 Appin Massacre, which at the time was the biggest mass killing of Aborigines ever to take place.

Part documentary, part dramatisation, the film is also a love story, telling of the romance between Lachlan and his second wife Elizabeth — a feisty Highland woman who matched her husband in the partnership that carved out a new continent.

They were Australia's first power couple. Her influence on his two most important legacies — the emancipation of convicts and the fledgling country's architecture — was profound.

Professor Alan Atkinson of the University of Sydney says, "I think that marriage was fundamental to understanding what Macquarie did in New South Wales. He couldn't have done it without her, and she couldn't have done it without him. It's a partnership which was very creative."

The documentary also follows the present day 37th Governor of New South Wales, Professor Marie Bashir, on a visit to Mull and his mausoleum there.

"I don't think he would believe the extent to which he is valued and acclaimed today," she explains. "He'd be gratified, but I think he'd be surprised."

"I never cease to be grateful for that legacy," she added. "To stand so close to the mortal remains of someone who forged the beginnings of a very great country. It's a tribute to him."

The Father of Australia is on BBC2 Scotland on Wednesday from 9-10pm.

Photo of Lake Macquarie used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user aussiegal.

Photo of Macquarie River used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user suburbanbloke.

Photo of the view from Mrs Macquarie's Point used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user Darren Foreman.

All other images © BBC Pictures.