Neoliberalism has made Australia more fragile, fractious and open to foreign influence. We talk a lot about the rise of Chinese influence but there’s less discussion about the decline in our national self-confidence. Despite living in the world’s 14th largest economy with some of the lowest taxes in the developed world, neoliberalism has allowed successive governments to make us feel poor. Our misplaced sense of poverty leads us to make poor decisions.

It was our decision to make Australia’s best universities dependent on foreign students for a fifth of their revenue, to privatise our essential infrastructure, and to cut foreign aid spending on our nearest neighbours. These decisions have weakened our control over our society and weakened Australia’s influence in the Asia Pacific, opening the door for other countries, such as China, to fill the void.