Much as we might to think that our concerns are highly insular, they’re not. “Sustainable Australia” has dominated what consideration there has been of foreign policy in this campaign, and the rest of the world has otherwise loomed on our horizon only insofar as there has been a bit of a stoush over the precise reasons why we escaped the most deleterious effects of the Global Financial Crisis.
But, in fact, if you think about it, what both these debates are doing is positioning Australia literally as an insular nation, one that seeks to insulate itself from its global environment; the latter being perceived as a source of fear and uncertainty.
Similarly, we’re doing our level best as a nation to pretend that climate change is something that can be somehow contained by very modest efforts towards emissions reduction – it’s as if we are solely in control of our own destiny, and it’s as if the global negotiations on climate change have disappeared down a rabbit hole.
All this might be one reason why John Quiggin, writing on this occasion for the largely American and British audience of the prominent academic group blog Crooked Timber, headlines his post – “Small election in Australia, not many interested”.
So how does our Antipodean effort to bury our heads in the sand look from afar?
John McTernan, a former advisor to Tony Blair and a thinker-in-residence for the Victorian Government, wrote a fascinating piece for the Financial Times [registration required]. “The west can see its future on planet Australia”, argues McTernan.
From his vantage point, although it’s not articulated clearly by any of the parties, the election campaign reveals an enormous amount of anxiety about climate change, living standards, and our place in the global economy, much of it displaced onto other themes and issues.
In the case of climate change, I’d add that we’ve moved – as a nation – from arguing over the science to a more profound form of denial. We’ve resolved, it would seem, not to even think about it. Climate change is not just the elephant in the room, that elephant is such an ominous beast, it would seem, that we feel the need to avert our eyes completely.
McTernan concludes:
Whoever wins on Saturday, these issues at first seem very Australian pre-occupations. But they represent a toxic and introspective political mix. The desire to enjoy growth while defending our lifestyles against outsiders, accepting climate change intellectually while rejecting its implications for our behaviour, and a nagging concern about the rise of China – all are issues which will quickly move up the agenda in Europe and North America. Eventually what’s going on down under could turn our world upside down too.
We’ve had a campaign dominated by the dichotomy of fear and security.
But, on August 22, when we awake hungover from this self indulgent debate about the small, we’ll find that nothing has been resolved, and none of our problems have been solved.
We simply cannot insulate ourselves from a multitude of global forces, and we need to let go of the fantasy that we can control them, or wish them away. Only by doing that will we be able to successfully navigate the troubled seas of a disturbing world.
Sadly, and perhaps tragically, there’s no sign on the horizon of any leader who genuinely desires to take this necessary path.
Cross-posted at The Drumroll.
Good post. As a foreigner living in Australia I can certainly say that as much as I love this country (and I really do) the insularity of Aussies and their complete lack of context is the biggest gripe I have with it.
I hear Aussies regularly complain about how this is practically a Third World country with woeful services and no real infrastructure. I grew up on the west coast of Ireland. I can tell you a thing or two about woeful services and crappy roads.
Similarly I regularly encounter people who have never left Australia and yet spruik at is the greatest nation on earth. How would they know??
The debt and defecit debate has summed it up for me. Australia has one of the smallest debt/GDP ratios in the developed world (if not THE smallest) and yet a debate about our ‘crippling’ debt has been allowed to fester unchecked by reality. Has anyone read up on the figures for Japan and the US lately?? Doubtful.
Indeed nobody seems to much care for the push factors affecting boat people numbers or the need for international co-operation to defeat our economic and environmental problems. I just hope when all this comes back to bite us on the bum it won’t bite too hard. But I’m not hopeful.
Mark, you might want to add “major party” qualifications here and there. I’m a grown-on Greens supporter exactly because of much of what you cover.
Good post Mark. It’s an irony I don’t pretend to understand that as more Australians head overseas in an era of cheap air travel, they end up becoming more insular, not less.
I can’t see why in our normal existance we cannot act what we are, living on an island. Sure we are influenced by other countries, when the US changes their tax system, our politicians compare who or which is getting the higher salaries or other income,in 1971-81 US had 70% tax, Australia had 60%. In 1988-90, US had 33%, Australia had 44% our politicians were trying to keep with the US, but the US fell into the recession at that, and Australia into a recession. What is mainly the trouble is that our politicans can’t adjust their thinking to the fact that greedy people who have the oppertunity, will increase their salary or whatever they are on, and the accumulation of all these increases also increases the prices of all the goods and the services, Unfortunately, our treasurers have not been able to see that although we only need 30% of GDP, it needs a proven 66.6% of personal tax and 45% of company tax to restrict the greedy. Lower incomes and profits can and should be calculated with less tax to ensure profitability.
Thanks folks.
Moz, to be honest I’m a little disappointed we haven’t heard more from The Greens on the international context of climate change policy.
Don’t disagree with much of the above – simply a footnote:
Below the horizon of the mass media there have been a range of community forums at the electoral level across the country focused on climate change, the MDGs etc as well as the more general forums.
Forum in Canberra last night with the three ACT Senate candidates and an expert from ANU produced an intelligent discussion on the issues that brought some of the personal passion by the candidates and attendees out into the open.
Amen, Mark.
And further, this is something that I think Tony Judt was deeply concerned about prior to his unfortunate death; the growing poverty of the democratic project in the West.
This is not to say I didn’t have criticisms of some of his points in The Lay of The Land and other essays he published in the last 18 months (most notably, the ellipses of almost any developing world left wing politics and a tendency to get a bit dewy-eyed about past movements), but I do think Judt identified a disturbing and depressing trend. The worst thing is, in Australia at least, his criticisms are just as valid for the right.
Paul, I don’t know where you live, but IME the Aussies with the most gripes on those subjects tend to move in a fairly small circle of people who are just like themselves. They really don’t much life experience, and they haven’t listened to the stories of people who *have* had some experience outside their circle. The Northern Beaches and Eastern Suburbs of Sydney are famously populated with such people, as is The Shire (as the locals call it, despite the fact that Sydney has several shires!).
@8 – Patrickg, I was going to write a review of Judt’s Lay of the Land but the election got in the way! I hope to return to it.
@9 – Chookie, yes, I think it’s certainly not characteristic of every Australian (including, may I say, a lot of rural people), but unfortunately the campaign is targeted at precisely the people you’re talking of, and those least interested in politics and most desirous of being able to ignore anything that poses a potential threat.
There are structural problems with a democratic system that disenfranchises most Australians and puts the real power in the hands of an unusual group of voters in a few marginal seats. I am planning to write a post election post that looks for better alternatives.
Mark @10, some Ad Gurus were on ABC Sydney yesterday morning. One said straight out that the scary ads are targeted at disengaged(*) voters in marginal seats, the ones who are not interested in politics at all and are only motivated to vote for a party by strong emotions, ie fear. This group are impossible to reach any other way, but their votes are unfortunately crucial this election. He did admit that the ads were plainly going to annoy everyone else who doesn’t want to be talked down to!
To be fair, I don’t think most of those insular unimaginative middle-class Aussies fall into the politically-disengaged category; they are all probably sure which party will serve their interests. This politically disengaged group might well be working-class/underclass people who are barely keeping their heads above water.
(*) He said “disinterested” – argh!