Opinion

The cities may be opening but Australia’s politics are closing down

The federal government remains its own Hermit Kingdom, where pledges bear no resemblance to reality and the truth is what they say it is.

Laura TingleColumnist

Oct 22, 2021 – 4.58pm

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Australia was dubbed the “New Hermit Kingdom” earlier this year by Washington-based Australian journalist Amelia Lester in Foreign Policy magazine, and it’s a term that’s been used a fair bit ever since as Australia’s international borders have remained firmly closed as the rest of the world opened up.

We had the official photo opportunity early on Friday morning to celebrate the opening of the borders: the Prime Minister and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet beaming in an airport hangar in front of a Boeing 787 as Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce announced the opening of international flights from November 1.

Laura Tingle is chief political correspondent for the ABC's 7.30 program. She is the staff-elected director of the ABC.