The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau.
In last week’s Australia Letter, Besha Rodell wrote about her frustrations with the current state of Australia’s politics. She invited readers to send in their own feelings on the matter. Here are some excerpts from the many responses we got:
How frequently have I lamented the lack of educated and experienced statesmen and stateswomen in this country with the knowledge, experience, and pragmatic sense of how to govern. I listen to and watch the U.S. news where elected officials get into policy, doctrine, matters of deep concern for the population, but there is none of that here in Oz. Where are the statespeople with law degrees? Where are the conversations on equality, racial justice, climate change and plans for the future. At the same time, Australians themselves, myself included, are so complacent, anyone putting his/her hat in the ring to govern can usually get elected since it means we are happy that we don’t have to worry ourselves about any of it. Let someone else do it. She’ll be right, no? — David Roche
I’m sure that if Australia were in such a mess as the U.S., politically and socially, the political debate here might be a bit more sober. Obviously, the conservatives here are happy enough with the status quo and certainly don’t want serious debate about the major issues for which they either deny or have no answers. But yes, why aren’t the opposition’s and independents’ views being hammered loudly, every day? Perhaps it has to do with the lack of extreme polarization in Australian society. Isn’t much of the debate in the US just noise, sniping, propaganda and the echoes of inflated egos? So, let’s have more serious debate about the important issues without all the extraneous song and dance of the American sideshows. — Barry Long
We do live in one of the best countries on the planet, mainly due to the resilience and efforts of its population. It is hindered by the existing government and can be even greater when they are assigned to the dustbin of history. We do need to act collectively; the responses to bush fires, floods, drought and pandemics has reinforced this. We need less partisan and more cooperative governments capable of progressive and decisive action. — Greg Clydesdale
Both major parties are paralyzed by the contradictions in their policies on resource extraction and trading, and climate change. As a result, they can’t speak clearly about the major issue of our time, which turns everything else they say into shadow play. This state of affairs was brought about by the right-wing parties and their resource extraction friends killing off the hope of a sensible carbon pricing policy back in 2014. The Labor Party found itself sitting on a very sharp fence because of the resource extraction unions siding with their owners. Things just ain’t been the same since, I’m afraid, and frankly, they’re not going to improve in a hurry. — Tom Mangan
As an old Labor voter I have nowhere to go. Labor’s traumatic loss at the last election seems to have given them a case of paralysis. Their problem then was Shorten, and their problem this time is Albo. But they just keep amortizing perfectly good policies and remaining in denial, thereby pursuing a course of policy stagnation and mistaken leadership choices. Both men are much-liked within the party but unsellable outside it. So Australia is a pariah overseas and an embarrassment at home. Lucky country no more. — Kate Maclaren
I too feel deep despair and sorrow for a so-called nation that has so many golden opportunities laid out before it. I am of a generation that benefited from the policies of post-World War II governments, educational scholarships and bursaries. Higher education was nearly free in my day, and well within the reach of the broader working population. My children have been burdened with having to pay for their higher education, a legacy of misguided meddling by the Labor Party in a confused search for fairer pathways to university. These policies were enthusiastically adopted by the Liberal Party, whose unquestioning belief in the free-market system to deliver a good life is, for me, unbelievable. Some of my children, now approaching middle age, will never own their own home; once this was a marker of the Australian success story. Reconciliation with the First Peoples and a unified civil society are a fantasy. My faith in authorities and the good sense of my peers has been replaced by a deep cynicism. — John Spain
I remember when we first migrated from California to Australia in the early 1990s. Australia was different then, and, of course, the news cycle wasn’t shrill like it is now, and the country had problems, but was less tired of its politicians. Scott Morrison and his mob are an embarrassment to most Australians that I talk with, but who will replace them and be any better? What country has decent pollies these days? But at least we don’t suffer the chaos of America, for which we are grateful. — Janet O’Toole
While I agree with much of your article, I am quite puzzled by statements like “Where is the opposition?” You get close to calling out the media, but I think underestimate the scale of the problem. A single family owns over half the newspapers, we have the highest media ownership concentration of any comparable country, and the ABC has had its budget cut by over $500 million since 2014 by the LNP. I think there are two reasons you don’t see Labor, and the Greens, and independents — the media does the absolute minimum to cover them, and mostly just in order to generate outrage. Secondly, these parties know from experience, in particular the last election, that policies will be distorted beyond recognition, used against them, and this will be reported uncritically by a cowered media. — Richard
Here are this week’s stories:
Australia and New Zealand
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Captain Cook’s Ship Caught in Center of a Maritime Rift. After researchers in Australia reported finding the wreck of the Endeavour off Rhode Island, their U.S. partners issued a startling rebuke.
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After Nearly Two Years, Australia Is Reopening to All Vaccinated Visitors. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that fully vaccinated international travelers can enter Australia starting Feb. 21, nearly two years after the country closed its borders to almost all noncitizens.
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A positive coronavirus test, a trip home, and then a surprise win for Australia.A last-minute ruling allowed Tahli Gill of Australia’s mixed doubles curling team to compete.
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The Jumps That Gave Zoi Sadowski-Synnott Gold in Slopestyle. The 20-year-old from New Zealand won the Olympic title with a three-jump sequence that none of her rivals can match.
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New Zealand Inquiry Finds Hundreds of Reports of Abuse by Priests. The complaints, going back seven decades, attest to the pervasiveness of sexual and other abuse within the Catholic Church and are part of a worldwide reckoning.
Around the Times
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Stock Trading Ban for Lawmakers Gains Momentum on Capitol Hill. A bipartisan push to bar members of Congress from trading individual stocks is growing among lawmakers eager to take on perceived corruption in Washington.
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This Galápagos Volcano Produced a ‘Mesmerizing’ River of Fire. When Wolf Volcano erupted last month in a remote corner of Ecuador, its lava trail extended for miles in an orange line so bright that it was visible from space.
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Archives Found Possible Classified Material in Boxes Returned by Trump. The National Archives made the discovery after former President Trump returned documents that he had improperly taken from the White House when he left office.
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I’m Addicted to My Phone. How Can I Cut Back? Whether smartphone overuse constitutes a true addiction is still up for debate, but experts say there are ways to scale down.
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