Australia has always been something of an outlier. A Western country located in the Global East founded by, and on the principles of, northern Europeans in the great Southern land. We ‘punch above our weight’ on the global stage – militarily, economically, socially.

Living in an age of change, if the story of the 20th century is the rise, and fall, of communism, the story of the 21st century thus far has been rapid technological change and displacement.

Yet, as we have discovered, technology has not solved all our problems, merely changed
their nature. If change has benefited most, it has not benefited all. Across the western world, some people, communities and institutions have been Left Behind. In some countries, the blowback has
been serious.

Does Australia have any lessons for the rest of the world, or are we still just “a lucky country run by second rate people who share its luck”?