Crocodile Dundee On Land Rights

In the film "Crocodile Dundee", Paul Hogan's character is portrayed as a good Aussie boy who has no opinions about anything. He staunchly refuses to claim anything but ignorance about any political topic that is raised. But then he is asked about Aboriginal land rights, and of course he has an opinion about that - every Anglo-Australian, no matter how ignorant, has their opinion when it comes to that.

He explains, with a slightly annoyed expression, that Aborigines cannot own the land, because the land is like their mother, and they belong to it, like children. So therefore they cannot claim land rights.

Then, just to make sure nobody can use even this patronising appraisal as cause for ongoing links to country, there is a string of very humorous jokes to show that Aborigines these days cannot even claim this maternal connection to the land. David Gulpilil is portrayed as a city boy who reluctantly returns to his homelands for ceremony, describing it as, "a bloody drag". He then walks around in the dark bumping into trees, exclaiming, "I hate the bloody bush".

As this film became such an integral part of the Australian image, it has had a massive impact in reinforcing negative colonial attitudes towards Aboriginal rights.

When asked what is the Aboriginal name for the land in the movie, Mick Dundee responds, "Belonga Mick".