It feels as if Australia has lost its mojo

Stereotype: “Once it was a PM in Zegna suits, now it’s a Sharkies fan boy who cultivates the daggy dad persona.” Picture: Brendan Radke

The late 1990s. A British politician summing up a vision for his nation as the millennium pivoted into a new one. A dome of singular ambition was to be built. “I want [it] to capture the spirit of modern Britain,” Peter Mandelson proclaimed. “A nation that is confident, excited, impatient for the future.” Noble aims, to be represented by an exhibition hall the government hoped would capture the tone of the political era as well as the mood of the nation, because the two felt inextricably linked.

As does Australia’s mood right now. Which is? Dare I say, not confident, not excited, and not impatient for the future. Dare I suggest, riven. Tired perhaps. Out of ideas, frustrated, and in some quarters, seething. Where are the politicians with a vision for a confident, excited nation? Um… crickets. It feels as if Australia has lost its mojo, a situation summed up by the recent cancellation of that soft power export that sold us to the world, Neighbours. The brutal reality is that Australia isn’t the dream destination anymore, and our politicians don’t seem capable of buoying the mood and offering hope for a propulsive future that will make Australia sexy again.

British commentator Caitlin Moran summed up the situation in The Times, off the back of the waning power of Neighbours. Australia, she wrote, is now known as “that place with all the dead reefs and offshore refugee internment camps, where the entire country often turns into one big barbecue”. She added, “It’s not aspirational any more. Gen Z all want to go to Korea instead.”

To cement her point, a recent survey from London research firm Redfield & Wilton Strategies showed that Australian tourism has an image problem. Potential British travellers were asked about their tourism plans for this year as the world opens up. Our ranking? Last among destinations to be visited, behind Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and South America. Why? Cost and distance mainly.

But something else is going on here. The It factor, the cool vibe, the Insta beacon, whatever you want to call it. When I moved to London in the ’90s we Aussies were envied. We were from that place of endless beaches and tall blue skies and shrimps on the barbie, that vast new world of cheeky bolshiness and optimism and a lovely, no-worries, can-do mentality. Our country was leading on Asia thanks to Keating’s pivot. Trying to make amends for a shameful past with a national reckoning of maturity after the Mabo decision. We had films like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert advertising how open, inclusive and playful Australia was. Gay culture was big; people in vast numbers travelled with great excitement to the pilgrimage that was Mardi Gras.

Once it was a PM in Zegna suits, now it’s a Sharkies fan boy who cultivates the daggy dad persona. Our national stereotype: Fortress Australia. A nation incapable of maturely dealing with the injustices of our colonial past and reckless with our beauty and riches. Koalas are being pushed towards extinction; the reef is in real trouble. We follow, don’t lead; no longer have the confidence to do that in the international arena. And whereas once we had the capacity to be on the front foot with climate change action, well, we squandered the chance as our politicians bowed to the God of Coal. Once there was exuberance on the world stage, now there is defensiveness.

This year feels like a chance for a great reset. To become cool again in the world’s eyes; confident and energetic, impatient for the future. A moment of vast generational change. Yet it’s hard to perceive any excitement or vision from the LNP, just a will to retain power. And Labor? Any vision and excitement there? Can’t see it yet, frankly, from either side. Wait in hope for a party of soul-stirring vision, so that Australia can find its mojo once again.