A President in Sydney

In Australia we like to think we have a strong anti-authoritarian streak. Yet this trait rarely expresses itself outside the realms of sport and race politics. Prime Minister Howard won an election on the back of the statement that "we will decide" who will come into our country. Opposition sporting teams generally find Australian crowds intimidating in their energy and enthusiasm. But that energy and enthusiasm seems to dissipate when it comes to the elephant in the room: the lack of meaningful political leadership that has plagued this country for most of its history.

Ironically, this emptiness is best reflected in the way Australia relates to political leaders. As I write this the city of Sydney is under lock down for President Bush and the APEC summit. Many Australians have taken this opportunity to protest Bush and his criminal war in Iraq. But many others have decided simply that now is a good time to take a holiday. Most will suffer the inconvenience of having much of the metropolitan public infrastructure shut down peacefully and without complaint.

This is the type of society Australia is in 2007. Not entirely the most divided or devastated of countries in the world to be sure. But increasingly a society fractured along class and cultural divides where our collective silence acts as the divide itself.