I mean, Donald Horne, who coined that, meant the phrase to be ironic, and was already lamenting our apathy, and terrible political leadership in the book within which it was written...
Unfortunately, because said phrase and book hit a nerve, the media ever since that time has gone out of its way to misquote and misinterpret it. But yeah, it was always intended to be perjorative...
Not that we aren't lucky, in the sense of abundant natural resources, being surrounded by water, being relatively politically stable, etc., however the apathy you mention was definitely already abundantly apparent by the 60s, when Horne wrote about it...
I did not know that. I'll put the book on my reading list.
I find the study of Australia to be woefully lacking. The Tyranny of Distance, while not an overly provocative book, shattered 3 or 4 central myths about Australia and our history for me.
I mean, Donald Horne, who coined that, meant the phrase to be ironic, and was already lamenting our apathy, and terrible political leadership in the book within which it was written...
Unfortunately, because said phrase and book hit a nerve, the media ever since that time has gone out of its way to misquote and misinterpret it. But yeah, it was always intended to be perjorative...
Not that we aren't lucky, in the sense of abundant natural resources, being surrounded by water, being relatively politically stable, etc., however the apathy you mention was definitely already abundantly apparent by the 60s, when Horne wrote about it...
I did not know that. I'll put the book on my reading list.
I find the study of Australia to be woefully lacking. The Tyranny of Distance, while not an overly provocative book, shattered 3 or 4 central myths about Australia and our history for me.