Australia could have been a great place to live. Can it still be? I'm not sure we can go back.
It's an absolute must that we at least take stock of our current directions.

Firstly we have to stop comparing our situation to european states or third world countries
as we live in a low population island the size of a continent, in splendid isolation.

That alone is enough to be to be taking more radical viewpoints than just considering International Corporations as necessary for employment or responsible for living standards.

And as for the deserts being our defence strategy, perhaps we should think about our own defence capability more seriously and independently, more in line with our needs.

Progressively the underlying problem is that the man on the street has become more and more disempowered by the whole mess of international involvement in our decision making in our countries domestic/financial/environmental and so on, relations and affairs.

All you would have to do is go back to the Dismissal in 1975 to remember when it was,
that the last Australian Govt had the gall to act independently and was spanked accordingly
(sic) for doing so.

Or even wild idea's like the Multi Function Polis, perhaps could have been just the place to house all the smart people that are drained from our gene pool by seeking more progressive places than Australia to live and develop.

The NBN?, let's see if we can kill that and ensure that international corporations control the flow of information in our country and control the cost to the the consumer for evermore.
Wouldn't that be beneficial? not.

I think it is time to demand more from our Government's, particularly and beginning with defence. Stop attending and sending troops (for no apparent reason) to international conflicts. Stop sacrificing Australian young folk at the alter of international pressure without a defence cause. No defence of Australia is happening when our troops and resources are half way across the world.

We may still be able to pontificate in this country (who knows whose watching), but everything else is out of our control and falling.

Is Australia a good place to live?, that's a comparative question. Compared to what?.
What it is, or what it could have been.

Sonofgloin... "I have not heard the term "lucky country" much in the past 20 years but I grew up with it ringing in my ears, because it was true and we knew it".

I suggest you read the book Horne wrote to understand the phrase 'the lucky country'.

Your commentator has seen what Horne saw all those years ago.

An indolent nation, sitting on its backside while relying on the sheep and quarry to carry it forward, with no need for intellect to be sharpened.

The phrase was ironic, describing a nation of lazy bastards who barely had any need to work or innovate.

Welcome to the lucky country of 2011, the same as Horne's of 1964:

http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/luckycountry/

See below from the web page....

The Lucky Country

For many Australians the phrase 'the lucky country' has a particular resonance. Donald Horne's famous words have been used in numerous ways to describe everything that is great about our nation.
Portrait of Donald Horne

The phrase has been used to describe our weather, our lifestyle and our history. It is often invoked to describe the nation's good fortune, from gold booms to economic booms. Recently, our geographic isolation from the world's trouble spots has again seen us labelled the lucky country. It has been paraphrased by politicians - 'the clever country' - and when Kylie Minogue sings we're 'lucky, lucky, lucky', we all know what she means.

How ironic then that Horne's irony was totally overlooked!
The great irony

Donald Horne remembers the night he penned those words. Within a few weeks the phrase had become the title of the book.

In a hot summer's night in December 1964 I was about to write the last chapter of a book on Australia. The opening sentence of this last chapter was: 'Australia is a lucky country, run by second-rate people who share its luck.'

That sentence was a rather brutal indictment of his country at the time. It is a direct, uncompromising and seemingly unambiguous commentary on Australia in the 1960s.

An Australian Journalist and social writer [enough said]who delighted in denigrating his fellow man, undoubtedly, as a result from carrying an enormous chip on his shoulder!

In short, one Australian's social opinion based upon his own personal journey and battles throughout life.

My impression, based on rellies and family friends, is that many South Africans genuinely believe they live in a first-world country and are seldom impressed with any other.

As for medical care, the real issue is that we share our medical resources across our whole population (admittedly with a considerable gap between rural and metropolitan resources). If our South African friend had to queue up with ALL the unwell in his own country, rather than the privileged few, he would no doubt be wishing for the Australian health system.