A global politics expert and former British cabinet minister has waxed lyrical about why he believes Australia is one of the best countries in the world.
Rory Stewart, former diplomat, politician and Harvard University professor, has outlined the reasons why, in his opinion, Australia should be considered one of the best-run economies in the modern world.
“I think Australia, in a world of doom and gloom, is a shining exception,” he said recently on his Rest is Politics podcast.
“It is the only rich, mature Western country in the world that is in good shape.”
“It is – surprisingly – running a budget surplus when France faces a 6 per cent deficit and Britain is buried under debt of almost 100 per cent of GDP.
‘Italy is struggling to deal with its debt. America’s debt has reached so many trillions that no one can even calculate.
Stewart is right that Anthony Albanese’s government ran two consecutive budget surpluses in 2022-23 and 2023-24 of $22.1 billion and $15.8 billion respectively.
However, the budget is expected to fall into a sea of red for the foreseeable future as the nation’s coffers struggle under the weight of high inflation, interest rates and “inevitable” public spending.
Rory Stewart (pictured), former diplomat, politician and Harvard University professor, has explained why he believes Australia should be considered one of the best-run economies in the modern world.
“I think Australia, in a world of doom and gloom, is a shining exception,” he said recently on his Rest is Politics podcast (pictured: a queue for Centrelink in Melbourne).
The projected deficit for the three years to 2027/28 now stands at a staggering $117 billion.
“The pullback in subsequent years is largely due to urgent, unavoidable or automatic increases in spending in areas such as pensions, Medicare and medicines,” the Treasury said in its gloomy December forecast.
Despite this bleak outlook for the country’s finances, Stewart was still dazzled by Australia’s apparent success.
“They have a budget surplus, they have compulsory voting, they have the single transferable vote system, they have a good federal system… they have great politicians like Peter Malinauskas,” he gushed. .
In a previous episode, Stewart and his co-host, Tony Blair’s former communications director Alastair Campbell, praised the South Australian Prime Minister.
They were particularly interested in Malinauskas’ “world-leading” attempts to ban all political donations, which were approved by the South African Parliament in November, and his campaign to ban social media for teenagers under 16.
The latter made headlines around the world after it was adopted and approved by the Federal Parliament in November.
This is despite critics questioning the viability of such a ban and the impact it will have on children’s social connectedness.
“They have a budget surplus, they have compulsory voting, they have the single transferable vote system, they have a good federal system… they have great politicians like Peter Malinauskas,” Mr Stewart said. sprouted (pictured: the SA Premier with Anthony Albanese)
Pictured: Rory Stewart outside the Sydney Opera House on his recent speaking tour of Australia.
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, formerly Twitter, suggested the ban was a path to government-sponsored censorship.
“It seems like a backdoor way to control internet access for all Australians,” he wrote in response to Mr Albanese’s post announcing the bill’s introduction.
Stewart’s love song to Australia also fails to acknowledge the country’s combined crises of high immigration and housing affordability.
Over the past 20 years, governments on both sides of the political spectrum have presided over high immigration, with annual overseas inflows tripling in the 2000s to 315,700.
Last year, it rose to a high of 548,800, the highest since the early 1950s.
This influx of immigrants has put downward pressure on the already extremely tight rental vacancy rate.
Stewart mentioned the Brisbane River as one of the many things he appreciated about Australia.
Meanwhile, the Australian dream of owning your own home has become a bitter joke for many young people, with the average house price across the country exceeding $800,000, and now well over $1 million in one. important capital like Sydney.
Ignoring these pressing problems facing Australian fighters, Mr Stewart went on to praise the fusion of the old and new world in their customs and culture.
“They have a surprising combination of aspects that make them more old-fashioned than Britain: charming manners, charming directness,” he said.
“And in many ways, incredibly more contemporary, amazing coastlines in Brisbane, amazing coastlines in Melbourne, amazing food.”
Mr Stewart said the “best thing about Australia” is that “you can still eat dim sum from carts all over Sydney”.
The prolific author and his co-host joked about how he planned to write a book titled “Why the World Needs to Be More Like Australia.”
And he avoided the inevitable criticism, stating that his vision from afar offered more information than that of the Australians on the ground.
“When you go to this place you think, ‘Objectively, this is amazing,'” he said.
“And yet everyone says, ‘No, it’s not. “It’s garbage.”