Sixty years ago The Lucky Country appeared by Donald Horne. How do things fare in Australia today? These two Perth-based law professors do not think we are in a very good way. As with much of the Western world over the past century, things have changed quite a bit – but changed for the worse on so many levels.
The transformation of Australia into a nation plagued with a host of seemingly intractable problems is the topic of this crucial volume. In 400 pages the authors cover quite a bit of territory, with political, cultural, legal, ideological and social issues looked at in some detail.
The erosion of freedom, the collapse of the rule of law, the smothering stench of woke ideology and identity politics, and the rise and rise of out-of-control statism are all massive problems that must be addressed and dealt with. Indeed, in the first chapter four major challenges are laid out.
The first is the rise of conformism, which is not the same thing as unity. Second is the decline of religion in general and Christianity in particular. Rabid secularism can present its own set of problems to any nation. Third is the rise of political correctness and all that goes with it. The final challenge is the increasing growth of the welfare state.
With 20 quite meaty chapters covering a multitude of Australia’s sins and shortcomings, there is far too much that needs to be covered here, so let me just focus on several key chapters. Consider Chapter 5 on “The Climate Change Religion.” If our rulers and elites are happy to see real religion jettisoned, a vacuum remains, and something like green spirituality will take its place.
We all need a cause to dedicate ourselves to, and if governments can convince the masses that we will all be doomed if we do not take radical steps right now to “fix” things, then they can get away with almost anything. The authors remind us that ancient cultures actually killed their own children in the attempt to appease the weather gods.
Things are little different today: we not only abort our children in the name of population reduction, but we have convinced an entire generation that if we just pay more taxes and eat more insects, we can actually change the weather for the good.
The Unlucky Countryby Zimmermann, Augusto (Author), Moens, Gabriël (Author)
The authors do not argue against taking responsible steps to look after our planet and its resources. But too often ideology has trumped science when it comes to what these sensible steps should look like. Thus they examine things like Australia’s war on coal, its ‘carbon phobia,’ its push for net zero, its cozying up to the Chinese Communists, and its cultivation of our youth into climate activism.
And they clearly see the bigger picture here:
Of course, the Australian politicians are assisting in the fabrication of a “climate crisis” to sell their own solution, namely big government. So, the government, previously viewed as “a necessary evil” and potential inimical to fundamental rights, now becomes the ultimate “saviour” and provider of “rights” from cradle to grave. Call this a form of idolatry if you wish.
One thing that has probably helped to wake up more people to the threat of Big Brother tyranny than anything else has been the Covid wars of recent years. Thus Chapter 3 is also well worth looking at a bit more closely. The authors for example look at the ‘no jab, no job’ policy of state and federal governments.
This book was released before the recent Queensland court ruling, saying that this sort of policy was “unlawful” under the state’s Human Rights Act. Hopefully more states will follow in this. But the writers note how Section 51 of the Australian Constitution clearly speaks against such orders. Therefore, “the federal government cannot compel medical practitioners to provide mandatory services, for example, vaccinations.”
As I and others did so often over the past few years, the authors look at various human rights covenants and conventions which all speak against mandatory medicine and coercive health policies. Things like the Nuremberg Code spoke against forcing individuals to take part in medical experiments, claiming they always should have the ability to make genuine informed consent.
The result of government policies during the Covid years was to create a two-tiered society, with those willing to do whatever the state demanded of them getting all the benefits and privileges, while those refusing to violate their own consciences and civil liberties were turned into a pariah class.
One of the most ferocious and protracted assaults on Australia and the West has come in the form of the war on marriage and family. In Chapter 15 we are reminded that Karl Marx saw marriage as simply a form of “private prostitution” and that he recommended that it be abolished altogether.
We are getting pretty close to that place today. Easy divorce, homosexual “marriage,” the trans revolution, and the promotion of all things sexual and deviant is now everywhere – and continuing to get worse. Consider the matter of no-fault divorce which has been so devastating for so many. It
is part of the phalanx of laws that allows the state to invade our domestic affairs and harass people. The system involves the intrusive presence of state agents forcibly removing people from their homes, seizing their property, and separating them from their children. It inherently abrogates not only the inviolability of marriage but also the very idea of having a private life.
And children are so often the main losers in this sexual revolution. Some familiar remarks by Australian law professor Patrick Parkinson are quoted here: “Children whose parents live apart are exposed to a greater number of risks and difficulties than children in intact families. They are significantly more likely to be subject to reports of abuse and neglect than intact families…”
Most importantly, we must realise that all of this has been brought about by those deliberately targeting marriage, family and traditional sexual morality: “What is happening is not merely an accident but the product of radical ideology that has declared open war on the institution of marriage.”
The trans revolution is covered in Chapter 11. Australia is just as brainless and out of touch with reality on this issue as are most other Western nations. And the harm being done to people – especially our children – is heading off the charts. Say the authors:
Gender self-identification surely is an absurd idea which, however, is gaining traction and has the capacity to fatally undermine our Western civilisation. Indeed, our civilisation is based on the irrefutable fact that there are only two biological sexes: male and female. “Where there is no truth, there is absurdity,” [Canadian Lindsy] Danzinger writes in her commentary. Indeed, we are in the middle of a gender-fluidity epidemic, where politicians are confused about sexual identity and are stumped by the question “what is a woman?’.
After 19 chapters of this sort of analysis and warning, the reader could be left feeling all rather bummed out and despairing. Thankfully the final chapter deals with the way ahead and what must be done. The writers acknowledge that there can be no quick and easy turnaround, but steps can be taken – now – to help reset the dangerous and reckless course we currently are on.
Indeed, the recent defeat of the Voice referendum was one bit of great news: it was a defeat of the “ongoing attempt to divide our nation along racial and ethnic lines.” Hopefully more such wins will follow as ordinary Australians get sick and tired of being the subject of radical social experiments by our elites and by our out-of-touch ruling class.
In an attempt to offset the gloom and doom of this review – and of the book itself – let me offer a lengthier quote from this closing chapter:
In order to regain the status of the ‘Lucky Country’ our political leaders thus need to resoundingly commit themselves to the implementation of the principle of political or citizen equality, where everyone, regardless of race are treated equally – a colourblind society – and any demonstrable problems are sought to be remedied by empowering people to look after themselves and remove the shackles of government dependency.
Australia’s erstwhile tradition of freedom and equality must be fully restored. For this to happen, Australians must stop to be run by “second rate people” and become less compliant. They must rediscover a desire to protect their own freedoms in their country’s assets. They must reject indoctrination and stop believing the false narrative of politicians in the slick corporate marketers whose interests lie, not in providing the best possible service for people, but in complying with woke governance mandates….
We can still change the course of Australia’s history. Australians are finally beginning to take a stand and want to be assured that their efforts are legitimate and proper. We have the lawful right to resist political tyranny….
Hopefully, Australians will endure a long train of abuses and usurpations only to a certain point. As their government continue to assault their basic rights through unjust and oppressive laws, policies and executive orders, our people will eventually wake up and begin to take a stand….
It is time to rediscover the benefits of living in a free, prosperous, and tolerant society. The future of our nation, of course, depends entirely on us. Every person alive today is the result of deeds and misdeeds of the past. We express the hope that the ‘Unlucky Country’ might one day, in the not-so-distant future, be transformed again into the ‘Lucky Country’. To that purpose, Australia must learn from the past and get on with the task of making a better future for those who follow, not wallow in regret.
Two minor things can be mentioned here in closing. There are small mistakes to be found here and there which more careful editing should have picked up. And there are no footnotes nor references found in the book. But aside from those small complaints, this is a book all Australians should read – and then pass on to a friend.
It really will be up to us as to how Australia proceeds in the days ahead.
Meantime, do more to defend Christian schools from further attacks:
https://www.acl.org.au/campaigns/cm-alrc-2304/
Thanks Mark.