In Montreal Australia won only one silver and four bronze medals. That was very embarrassing. A modern economy should be able to do better than that. As a result Malcolm Fraser set up the Australian Institute for Sport.

Now we are at the other extreme with Australia ranking fourth amongst all countries for gold medals behind the USA, China and Japan (although for total medals we also rank behind France and Great Britain, but ahead of Japan.

Most of the countries we are beating have significantly larger populations, so this is huge outperformance. But what does it say about us as a nation?

The USA is 15 times larger than us and China is 54 times larger, but they've only won around twice as many gold medals each.

We might be beating them in sport, but everywhere else they are handing our backsides to us.

This wouldn't be the case if we put the same energy and ambition into economic pursuits, using the same meritocratic and evidence-based approach we use to produce world class athletes. Instead of that we are increasingly living in a world where merit and hard work are dirty words and everyone expects a gold medal with the Albanese government being the epitome of that.

The federal government will bask in the glory of the Olympics at the same time as they take us down the low road of decreasing national wealth. Ultimately we'll end up with no gold in the economy, and no gold at the Olympics, because only rich economies do well there.

Maybe Australia will become like East Germany, poor but with a high medal tally. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?

Medals for playing sport don't impress me. Sport is one of the things that makes Australians dumb. If they took more interest in the things that matter: politics, economics, defence, mass immigration and multiculturalism, along with Western values, we wouldn't have the dumbest of the dumb, Albanese, as PM.

The Olympics are a spectator sport. Life and reality is also a spectator activity for the average Australian, who just sits back and lets it happen.

While Albanese is smirking and squeaking about a few medals as though he had some part in the winning of them, ASIO has lifted the terror alert to ‘probable’.

With a sustained and growing 10-month campaign against Australian Jews led by a violent, well-organised protest movement and inadequate responses from a politically conflicted government, why the hell is ASIO only now raising the warning?

This is just one of the things being ignored in favour of bloody childish games.

Graham,

I understand where you’re coming from with the comparison between our Olympic success and how we approach economic management, but I think there’s more to consider here.

You’re right that Australia’s Olympic results show what we can achieve when we’re focused and driven. But when it comes to the economy, the Albanese government isn’t exactly ignoring merit or hard work. They’re dealing with a different set of challenges. Economic decisions involve juggling a lot of priorities, like social fairness, sustainability, and long-term growth. It’s not always as straightforward as applying the same approach we use for sports.

You rightly point out that our sporting success is driven by an evidence-based approach. To be fair, however, the Albanese government has also been relying on evidence in their policymaking, particularly in areas like renewable energy and health. For example, their investments in renewable energy projects are expected to generate tens of thousands of jobs and reduce long-term energy costs, positioning Australia as a leader in the emerging green economy. These projects are supported by extensive research and are designed to make the country more self-reliant and resilient in the face of global energy market fluctuations.

In the health sector, the government’s handling of the ongoing effects of the Covid pandemic has been guided by expert advice, contributing to Australia’s strong economic recovery. The country’s unemployment rate is now among the lowest it’s been in decades, a testament to the effectiveness of these evidence-based strategies. While the benefits of these policies might not be as immediately visible as Olympic medals, they are setting the stage for a more robust and sustainable future.

To add a bit of perspective, the lack of investment in public infrastructure over the past few Coalition governments has led to long-term challenges like congestion in cities, strain on public transport, and the deterioration of essential services. The economic costs of these infrastructure shortfalls have been substantial, and subsequent governments have had to play catch-up. Then there’s the problems now faced in the housing sector…

No government is perfect, and missed opportunities can happen on any side of politics.

It's with great joy and pride that our country with a
smaller population than many others has concluded its
Paris Olympic campaign with such remarkable achievements
finishing with 18 Gold Medals and 53 overall.

Australia came 4th in the tally after the United States,
China, and Japan.

Australians have competed at every Olympic Games in the
modern era and hosted the Games in Melbourne in 1956 and
in Sydney in 2000.

There's so many stories of the athletes, the immense
training they go through, the sacrifices they and their
families make, and what drives them to succeed for us.
All we can say with pride and joy is - THANK YOU!

It is with pride that the green and gold image of our
nation is carried onto the international stage every
4 years.

May it long continue with equal pride.

Let the Brits have their riots. Let us instead continue winning
Gold Medals.