- This new book by Emeritus Professor and leading Australian cultural historian Graeme Turner is an enormously insightful and satisfying read. Turner's thesis is that the last two to three decades in Australian politics, society and culture have seen governments retreating from the deep challenges that the country has faced. The dominance of neoliberal ideology has privileged the market and the corporate sphere and eviscerated public government funded services and entities.
- Turner places everything in a deeper context than we are usually exposed to. Thoroughly researched, it pulls together a comprehensive range of highly credible sources. The tone of the book is calm and measured but it builds to a powerful, damning critique of what Australia has become - a shrinking nation. Many academics can’t write clear English but Turner definitely can. And it clearly expresses his frustration at how low we’ve sunk.
- His academic background infuses his commentary with a sage-like, authoritative tone. He digs deep, and frequently quotes our wiser, more knowledgeable and intelligent commentators like Bernard Keane, Sean Kelly, Ross Gittens, George Megalogenis, Nick Bryant, Rod Tiffen, Judith Brett, Richard Denniss, Wayne Errington and Peter van Onselen.
- Let me list some of the principal issues Turner focuses on: government reliance in recent years on political advisors rather than the diminished public service; casualisation and low growth of wages worsening inequality in a war on young people especially; the new digital media technology and its generation of fear and anger to attract audiences; the decline of the media generally, just going for audiences through shock jocks and partisan commentary on 'the woke', the elites, the politically correct; the gay marriage debate; climate change apathy, anti immigration; the unemployed; the poor and disabled.
- There's an excellent analysis of the depletion of the ABC under Coalition governments, and the severe cuts to the arts and creative industries and workers. It's full of depressing numbers. Turner, having sat on a number of oversight committees over the years, is ruthless on condemning how the university sector has fared. ‘..the largest scale and most deleterious commercialising strategy targeting public institutions has been in relation to the university sector’. Just look at the appalling treatment of universities during Covid - totally excluded from government support. In fact government funding from 2017 to 2022 declined by over 39%.
- He also reminds us of the Black Summer bushfires in 2019-20 and the pathetic government response, and the Northern River floods in 2022. Lismore is still very much a disaster zone.
- There are so many other topics covered in this book. The challenge for Albanese and Labor is huge, but unfortunately on so many levels they are not stepping up. Tepidity is simply nowhere near enough. Political boldness and courage is needed when our problems are so deep.
(Disclosure: I and my family were close friends with the Turners during my years working in Brisbane)
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