Current Issue
Moment of Truth
History and Australia’s Future
Australia is on the brink of momentous change, but only if its citizens and politicians can come to new terms with the past. Indigenous recognition and a new push for a republic await action.
Judging by the Captain Cook statue controversy, though, our debates about the past have never been more fruitless. Is there a way beyond the history wars that began under John Howard? And in an age of free-floating fears about the global, digital future, is history any longer relevant, let alone equal to the task of grounding the nation?
In this inspiring essay, Mark McKenna considers the frontier, the Anzac legacy and deep time. He drags some fascinating new scholarship into the light, and pushes the debate about history beyond the familiar polarities.
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Next Issue
Backlash
How neoliberalism ate itself and what comes next
The author of Curing Affluenza looks at how neoliberalism ate itself and what comes next. For thirty years, we were told that privatisation and economic reform would be good for everyone. But now the results are in – we have seen public services undermined and corporations gaming the system. Damage has been done to regional Australia, blue-collar workers and the collective ethos – a language of shared sacrifice has been degraded by lies.
As a result, we are seeing a political backlash against “reform.” For the Coalition in particular, this is a threat to unity. In this passionate essay, Richard Denniss argues for a more pragmatic, consultative politics. He asks whether the major parties can find a new, and persuasive, way to talk about the national interest.