This paper addresses the apparent opposition between globalisation and nationalism by considering the way nation-ness is being contested and renegotiated in Australia as a consequence of the movement for reconciliation between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. We argue that while there is a coherent narrative about Australian nationalism it is being disrupted by globalising processes, including shifts in cultural and political horizons exploited by both non-indigenous and Indigenous peoples. The paper will illustrate some ways in which this disruption is occuring in public debate and in education. We conclude that globalisation and nationalism are not oppposing forces but more like tectonic plates that shift and grate against each other. These movements create cultural movements but processes of structural change often lag far behind.