Ouyang Yu discusses the cases of Chinese writers who have found no outlet for their creativity in Australia and who have taken on work purely for monetary satisfaction. He describes himself as 'an economic dissident' who has resisted 'the temptations of the market by refusing to participate in it and to follow other Chinese intellectuals who have given up on the artistic and ideological pursuits they once regarded as valuable.'
Following the impact of Pauline Hanson's anti-Asian views, Ouyang Yu also ponders whether 'certain white Australian intellectuals [have] stepped in, keeping their Australian culture from being "swamped" by Asians'.
Sackville-O'Donnell asserts that there are serious flaws in Courtenay's depictions of Ikey and Hannah Solomon, the two Jewish characters in The Potato Factory. (The Solomons were real people and their lives were quite well documented.) Although Courtenay has claimed that his novel was thoroughly and seriously researched, Sackville-O'Donnell contends that Courtenay's claims cannot be substantiated.
Providing examples of inconsistencies between the fictional representation and historical documents, Sackville-O'Donnell suggests that 'Courtenay has distorted and ignored the vast bulk of documented material on Ikey Solomon, and created a grotesque Jewish caricature that has nothing in common with the complex personality that is the documented Ikey Solomon.'
Although acknowledging that Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang is a 'stunningly compelling and suspenseful narrative in highly imaginative and original prose', Clancy argues that 'Carey's use of historical fact is not only subjective and selective but it is also highly partisan. The changes he has made to historical fact mostly lie in one direction - a perpetuation of the comfortable and undisturbing myth of Kelly as a much put upon victim ... It is the version American reviewers accepted uncritically and which many Australians will continue to pay homage to, at the expense of an historical Ned Kelly who was a far more complex and ambiguous figure.'
