Rosemary Kerr Historian / Heritage Consultant Australia Routes of National Identity: Meaning, Myth and Memory along Australian Cultural Routes Roads and routes, as cultural landscapes, are integral to the fabric of national heritage. Constructed both physically and imaginatively, they embody multiple layers of meaning, encompassing tangible and intangible elements. This paper focuses on three of Australia’s most iconic routes. The transcontinental Stuart Highway, constructed as a strategic defence road linking Adelaide to Darwin, traverses the heart of the continent, following the route of explorers and the Overland Telegraph Line, and is an essential part of any round-Australia journey. The Birdsville Track, an inland stock route, gained international fame through the 1954 film, Back of Beyond, following the journey of the outback mailman, and is now popular amongst four-wheel-drive tourists. The Great Ocean Road, constructed as a repatriation scheme and memorial to World War I servicemen, is renowned for its spectacular coastal scenery and was recently listed on the National Heritage Register. These routes’ cultural significance is ‘constructed’ through a dynamic and ongoing process of interaction between landscapes, history, physical design, travellers’ experiences, representations in popular culture, heritage and tourism interpretations. This process entails conflicting and, often, contested narratives. While each route has a rich and multilayered history, tourism and heritage interpretations often privilege particular narratives, celebrating powerful national foundation mythologies, namely the ‘Bush’, ‘Pioneer’ and Anzac ‘legends’. Implicit in such interpretations is a silencing of competing voices, especially those of Aboriginal peoples and other ethnic groups, whose stories are also entwined with these routes. Through the examination of the routes’ histories, travellers’ narratives, promotional and interpretive material, this paper aims to shed light on the complex relationships between diverse travellers’ experiences, tourism promotion, heritage interpretation and constructions of national identity over time, relating them to the broader historical and cultural context. Opportunities and challenges for more holistic interpretations that contest established narratives of national identity will also be discussed.