Australia is basically a mining province of China these days. I don't mean this in some conspiracy theory sense, simply in a practical one: you can see that the exchange rate, GDP growth etc are functions of what happens to the Chinese economy.
Australia is entirely peopled with criminals, and criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you.
Just wondering if I was downvoted because people don't get the joke (it's a famous quote from the Princess Bride) and thought I was calling all Australians criminals? Or because humour has no place on HN?
This has been true of Australia for decades. The corporate elite have been using Australia as a proving-ground for their strategies for a long time now, since Australia is one of those western nations where heinous, fascist behaviour, has been permitted for centuries. The colonial/imperial systems used to rule Australian society - and destroy its previous occupants - have been refined and enhanced for application in the modern era, without much hindrance alas.
Most of your other comments are fair about Audtralia. This one is not.
Australia has always been apathetic - "she'll be right" was our catch cry. Until recently (the last 20 years or so), we maintained that casual attitude.
Since then, we have culturally become Americanised through TV and movies. With it has come a callousness and a higher level of sophistication and a greater sense of entitlement.
I would suggest two points. It's a combination of apathy and self-focus that are driving our indifference to draconian policy. The second point is that the crimes you accuse Australia of are typical throughout the west. While I don't like to see what Australia has become, other western countries are no better.
Does anyone remember the blue ribbon campaign about free speech from the 90s? I went into all of the Australian IRC channels before the news hit. I called for my fellow Australians to rise to protect their freedoms. I don't think I've been attacked so viciously by so many people before or since that day.. That was and still remains Australia's apathy.
Like you, I feel we are in the minority in Australia. Social consciousness and concern for others rights is not on the landscape.
Your argument amounts to a "look over there!" style distraction, when there are instead many foul and vicious actions to be observed in the contemporary Australian stage which have only been possible as a continuing set of crimes against humanity, precisely because the distraction argument has been made over and over again.
It is time for Australians to fess up to the facts - we cannot continue to say "but, 'they' do it too!' as a justification for the criminal acts that we, as a nation, allow to continue - even today in the 21st century - which have roots in the 19th century and beyond.
Look at what the British imperial government did to the Australian native population - up until the 1970's and even early 80's; racist programs of discrimination and vile hatred were enacted to prevent the Australian people from earning their rightful place in the nation. White Australia has much to answer for: Racial cleansing/genetic engineering of the most heinous forms, even still echoing through the native population today, tearing peoples lives apart and rendering them, quite literally, infertile and barren - as a culture, and as human individuals.
It is essential that contemporary Australian culture rise to the challenge of admitting the heritage of its racist nation, and address the real issue - and, even more vital, attempt to redress the wrongs that are even still today being committed in the name of White Australia. The detention centers - essentially micro-concentration camps - must be closed. We must allow ourselves the dignity of admitting into this great land those who seek sanctity and safety from the wars which our Western Powers have wrought upon the world. We must, as Australians, insist that we be represented by people who will accept the duty of making amends for the criminal acts that Australian generations have performed, in the broader human sphere, in our names. It is essential, because if we do not do something about it now, it will continue - there is much evidence of this in our history, which we must acknowledge or face even worse consequences, as time marches on, and our culture continues to sweep under the rug the heinous nature of our heritage.