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The decline of the lucky country

By Bruce Haigh - posted Tuesday, 28 April 2015


There is no leadership toward empowering Aboriginal people. There has been no examination of the decline in social infrastructure which sees even the smallest country town affected by the ravages of ice, leading to dislocation and brutal acts of violence. We and our leadership seem incapable of coming to grips with child abuse, whether by institutions, government or dysfunctional families and predatory individuals.

Significant church leaders such as Cardinal Pell have failed to provide ethical or moral leadership. As have religious leaders from other faiths, who seem more concerned with protecting their flock than with helping to support what should be our secular democracy.

Climate change denial by the Abbott government will see Australia become part of the problem rather than helping find solutions. It has resulted in there being no national strategy for the handling and deployment of human and materiel resources for significant national and regional disasters as a result of climate change.

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The media, now embedded in the political elite, has failed to call the political process and leadership for what it is. Howard was not called for being a racist, nor for being fast and loose with the truth, Rudd was not castigated for his arrogance and selfishness, Gillard as a hypocrite for selling out on what she maintained were her Left credentials and Abbott for being a bully, a racist, a misogynist and a dissembling , erratic, airhead.

Myths have been woven to hide our weaknesses, to boost our low self esteem, to overcome our national inferiority complex. These myths have become self defeating in light of the need to honestly face our shortcomings and renew ourselves and our leadership. The myth of the Anzac is just that and not something to build or sustain a nation on. Are we really a nation of volunteers? I doubt it. We have become a nation of individuals with a sense of entitlement leading to ever increasing levels of corruption. We are prone to narcism, jingoism and chauvinism.

It would seem that things will get worse before they get better; if so are we in for a growth in radical movements and expression of political opinion on both the left and the right?

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About the Author

Bruce Haigh is a political commentator and retired diplomat who served in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 1972-73 and 1986-88, and in South Africa from 1976-1979

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