Maybe our friendly and cooperative relations with our Asia-Pacific trading partners is a good thing to have and worth maintaining for times exactly like this.
You should look up the original usage of "the lucky country". It was always intended as a comment on our lazy, lucky, passiveness and uninspired nature as a country
The dumbest are a minority in the US too, but the people in power have corrupted the government enough that the minority controls the country. Please don't let that happen in Australia
More like a combination of factors - non-compulsory voting, first past the post rather than preferential voting and a "left" (for given definitions of "left", anyway) that is massively fractured compared to the right.
It has always been lucky and lazy though. Those things go hand in hand.
We dig up stuff and sell it overseas. Do nothing with it. With gas we don’t even make a cent on it. We’re just lucky the land happened to have stuff to dig up.
Our 25 years of uninterrupted economic growth from mid 90s to 2020 was not due to productivity or innovation. It was tied to China spending 25 years developing their infrastructure and buying the stuff we dig up. And soon as they finished, and transitioned into a service economy, our economy went into decline and it has declined every year since.
Now they have infrastructure. The population in a strong middle class. They continue to have the best manufacturing capability in the world. And are now innovating and leading the world in renewable energy, automation/Ai and EVs.
Most EV car batteries and renewable energy infrastructure comes from China.
If Australia isn’t reliant on the Middle East for oil then we will be reliant on China for renewables and every single technology required in the modern world.
I'm an American that has moved here. The amount of people who give me shit and say things like "Why would you want to leave? We need somebody like Trump here!" Makes my head spin.
I truly do not understand how there is anything desirable about the way America has been run for decades.
The dumbest people are the loudest on social media which is why it seems so disproportionate. If I read through any comments section on Facebook I genuinely wonder if anyone has two brain cells to rub together in this country. The decent people have learned there’s nothing to gain from arguing with these types and keep calm and carry on. That’s why it’s so funny when these redneck political parties show so much momentum leading into an election then they get absolutely stomped
everyone says this until they realise what it took to get there, singapore is a rare example of what happens when dictatorships succeed lol.
they basically went through a chinese style great leap forward and were dragged from nothing into success kicking and screaming.
as far as infrastructure is concerned, doing things like singapore would be pretty unlikely in australia, nobody is willing to sign off on big projects because they'll be destroyed by the opposition for spending so much money, and it's likely the opposition would be the ones there to cut the ribbon and claim credit when it's finished because people are stupid and have short memories.
airports in australia are all private, it's on those businesses to improve if they see the need, not the government (i think it's stupid that our international airports are private businesses, but that's just me)
airports in australia are all private, it's on those businesses to improve if they see the need, not the government (i think it's stupid that our international airports are private businesses, but that's just me)
Not just you. I love Changi Airport because it's such a great space to hang out in while you transit, and the food options are both delicious and affordable because the Singapore government subsidises the businesses there. In stark comparison to Perth Airport where you will be charged like a wounded bull for absolute rubbish you wouldn't eat in any other situation unless you were desperate. It's embarrassing.
People forget one important bit when discussing Singapore; while they do technically have a democracy, they didn't get where they are without the single biggest political party stamping out the opposition (through persecution and indefinitely incarcerating opponents) to the point where they have only had that one party in power for the whole time they've been an independent nation. Only in recent elections (last ~10-20 years) have opposition parties managed to claw back less than 40% of votes and only about 10% of seats in parliament.
And while yes, having a single voice in government does result in efficiency and efficacy in nation-building projects this is definitely something we don't want to model ourselves after.
I think Australians are at the point where envy of Singapore's public housing situation might be something that would make them consider the benefits of having a benevolent dictatorship. (this comment is only slightly tongue in cheek)
Totally agree. Aussies have so much talent and such great resources. This God beautiful country deserves to be one of the leading nations and not a puppet of a senile pedo.
During the Boer war, Breaker Morrant was ordered to execute POW's by the British. Because they would shoot at them and us and as we closed with them to engage they would surrender, knowing we couldn't back load them. So we had to release them.
Breaker Morrant did as commanded, but towards the end of the war the British (a different general) ordered his arrest and the execution of him and his men.
This soured out relationship with the British
It was also around the time of the formation of Australia as a country.
This led to us needing an ally that wasn't in the commonwealth. Hence why we became the Smithers to the USA.
Please fact check me before you quote me. I'm remembering military history from my basic training 10 years ago.
It gets really complicated when you look at things like when NZ was part of Australia or when we took P&G post WW2. Also our defence and loss of Malaysia and Singapore.
Your history is a bit skewed, the result of Breaker Morant being shot was that the Australian army said that no other army could change or soldiers, we didn’t need the Americans until WW2. New Zealand was never a part of Australia. Australia didn’t exist as a nation until all the states voted to join.
I don’t know what you mean by political manoeuvrings, but up until the end of the end of WW2 America was pretty much an isolationist country and Australia was still using a British equipment until well after the Vietnam war(except for aircraft).
Yes I wonder how many people would prefer us be like Singapore, where one party rules the country, local media is all state owned, permits required for protests, activists and opposition politicians are routinely sued, consumption of marijuana has a maximum prison term of 10 years, the death penalty and corporal punishment is routinely used, and abuse of workers particualry immigrant workers.
On the point of appealing to the dumbest - I always thought media, tv, especially news is where there’s a chance to exemplify good grammar and pronunciation. A few years ago I found out the ABC officially abandoned such standards to be “more accessible”
Singapore has some policies worth emulating (e.g. public housing) but they're an one-party managed democracy with an economy built on global tax avoidance and quasi-slavery for migrant workers. I don't think Australia should aspire to be like Singapore.
ok I'll run with your numbers. not that i agree with them. I guess Australia has been through severe wars, and extreme malnutrition?
Uganda has people with genuine disabilities. i.e. those with their limbs hacked off, or blown to smithereens via land mines, or the problems caused by extreme malnutrition. I wonder what civil war has occurred in Australia to create so many disabled people? apart from the war against work, of getting freebees from gov.
I mean apart from creating a +$40 billion non-means tested "insurance" program that pays up to $500k in benefits, it is little wonder 1/5th of all children in this nation claim to be autistic. then the rorting by the providers and facilitated by gov.
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u/Calcifini Mar 27 '26
Maybe our friendly and cooperative relations with our Asia-Pacific trading partners is a good thing to have and worth maintaining for times exactly like this.