What did 2008 bring for Australia?
2008 is already being spoken of as the year of the unexpected, the tone set just 72 hours after the stroke of midnight when voters in the mid-western state of Iowa in the US decided that an African-American politician with an exotic-sounding name and a poetic turn of phrase deserved an unexpected victory in the first popularity contest of the US presidential election season.
Barack Hussein Obama, Sarah Palin, Lehman Brothers, Hank Paulson, Joe the Plumber. Most of the surprises and upsets came from America. For Australians, too, perhaps the most shocking single event unfolded in Lower Manhattan, with the tragic and untimely death of Heath Ledger. 2008 should have been the crowning moment of his brief but brilliant career, with his spell-binding performance as the Joker in Dark Knight. Instead, the country mourned his premature death, at the age of just 28.
Back in Australia, the defining moment of the past 12 months came with the utterance of a two-syllable word: Sorry. Some called it Australia's Day of Atonement. Others questioned why present-day Australians should apologise for past injustices to indigenous people. For members of the Stolen Generations, who had been drawn to the capital by the promise of a single word, it was an event of immense cathartic power. Thunderous applause rang out not only in Parliament House, but on the lawns outside and around big screens which displayed the event around the country.
Kevin Rudd started the year by fighting inflation, and ended it by declaring war on unemployment. The prime minister portrayed himself as a wartime leader, and likened the global downturn to a "rolling national security crisis". The resources boom ended, and Australia realised it could no longer bank on China's growth to underwrite its economic good times. Partly as a result, Australia's once cash-rich Treasury is about to get an overdraft. Australians will be heading off for their summer and seasonal break more uncertain about the economic future, perhaps, than at any time over the past 17 years.
Elsewhere in national life, Quentin Bryce, a former sex discrimination commissioner with a male-sounding name became Australia's first female governor general. Brendan Nelson, the former opposition leader, had his "kiss-me-Hardy" moment; and Malcolm Turnbull, the former head of the Republican movement, was crowned the leader of the once-staunchly monarchist Liberal Party.
Qantas had something of an annus horribilis, with two mid-air dramas and a series of other mishaps. Tourism Australia dropped its controversial "Where the Bloody Hell Are You?" campaign, and went "Walkabout" with Baz Luhrmann. Australia's most important visitor, meanwhile, was an 81-year-old Pontiff, who, for four days in July, was feted like a pop idol by over 200,000 adoring Catholic pilgrims.
The Beijing Olympics produced more than a few surprises, starting when the Aussie team marched into the Birds Nest in subtle shades of blue rather than the traditional green and gold. Golden glory also came from some unexpected quarters. A little-known and openly gay Australian diver, Matthew Mitcham, plunged 10m into the pool in order to climb the medal podium, while the pole-vaulter Steve Hooker propelled himself on a more upward trajectory to claim gold. And what a topsy-turvy year for the Australian cyclist Anna Meares, who broke her neck at a bike meet in January but managed still to win a silver medal in Beijing barely six months later.
Anna Meares was beaten in second place by a Pom, which became one of the stories of the games. For the first time since the Seoul Olympics, the Brits "out-medaled" the Aussies - a surprise to some, though not to Australian Olympics chief John Coates, who had watched with envy at the vast sums of lottery money being thrown at British elite sport and predicted as much beforehand.
Cricket produced more than its fair share of unscripted drama, with the angry "Bollyline" series at the beginning of the year. An Indian player, nicknamed the Turbanator, allegedly called the Australian all-rounder, Andrew Symonds, a "monkey". Then, as the recriminations threatened to derail the whole tour, many Aussie fans turned on their own team, which certainly came as a shock to skipper Ricky Ponting and his men. Australia started the year as the world's sole cricketing superpower but ended it in disarray, with defeats against India and South Africa. In the absence of Warne and McGrath (and, to a lesser extent, Adam Gilchrist) Australian cricket has lost both its fear factor and self-confident strut. Given its present pool of players, it is hard to see them getting either back.
Many things stayed the same: the ongoing drought brought more suffering for the nation's farmers, Telstra escalated its long-running war of attrition with the federal government, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard kept on talking about "working families", and the New South Wales government continued to be beset by scandal.
I'd love to hear your highlights of the year, or, indeed, your projections for 2009. But, in the meantime, have a fabulous new year and enjoy the fireworks.
I'm 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~06~RS~)
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A good summary of what happened, Nick!
But there was more this year:
The price of fuel gave the opposition plenty of ammunition against the Government, but all good things come to an end of course...
The return of Peter Costello: the single biggest news item that never happened since World War III.
The continuous bickering over an emissions trading scheme that in the end did not turn out that scary (unless you take its effect on the environment into account of course).
And then there was that beautiful old-fashioned brawl at the Iguana Club. That one was truly priceless!
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Nick:
Good summary of the activities in Australia in
2008....
My predictions:
1) Another year of Global Warming debates and talks....
2)Emissions standards
~Dennis Junior~
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Nick:
[the ongoing drought brought more suffering for the nation's farmers]
I hope that the drought in Australia, will soon be over with....
~Dennis Junior~
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Speaking from a State perspective: Queensland began to recover from water problems, but we now have the sickening spectacle with the State election happening next year, of the Premier desperately backpedaling on 2 controversial issues (recycled water and the Traveston dam) simply in order to try and stay in power. Squillions of dollars have been spent on the recycled water project and associated pipelines to give SE Queensland what it really needs - a water grid - and now it is all being thrown away because Bligh needs to hang on to power. Wayne Goss cancelled dam projects to keep his government in control, but all that did (he lost to Borbridge)) was cause us to have a water crisis further down the track.
And then there's the electricity problem: we are plagued with little power cuts which are irritating rather than dangerous, but speak of an electricity infrastructure desperately underfunded. Engergex take out adverts urging us to buy torches and batteries as if catastrophic power failures were a natural event and not as a result of lack of investment by the politicians.
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The attitude of Freakontheguitar to Iguanagate is typical of many, but as for me, I just feel deeply ashamed that people are indulging in sneering laughter all over the world because some Australians behave so badly, Truly shaming, not funny.
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The 'sorry' day was a good start, but more needs to be done. The governments emissions policy can also go into the 'more needs to be done' basket.
At least we don't have Howard anymore!
Re cricket - it had to end!!!
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Cricket:
Australia showed its true colors in Sydney against India. From that point onwards, it's been a steep downhill slide for the Aussies. Deservedly so! FWIW, nobody in India thinks the Aussies won that series. Quite the opposite, in fact!
Today's defeat to South Africa was the icing on the cake. I, for one, look forward to a 3-0 whitewash of the Aussies by the Africans.
I pity poor Pointing. He must have FINALLY run out of excuses. What this has done is show Pointing's true captaincy skills. He's an utter failure as a captain (but not in statistical terms). CLUELESS.
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A very good summing up Nick.
Have a good new year too! : )
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Great article Nick, Happy New Year, my crystal ball sees the following, some I hope do not come true
Aussie Forecast
- Interest rates of 2-4%
- Fuel slowly creeping back up and hanging around 95c to $1.20
- Unemployment around 5-6%
- More water shortages country-wide, fingers crossed for rain, rain, rain
- NSW Government still running around with their eyes and ears closed
- Rudd's approval rating slightly dipping and Turnbull slightly improving but nothing to make the Coalition happy
International Forecast
- Obama stays home for much of the year concentrating on the US Economy
- Chavez still gives the US grief over nothing
- Cameron smashes Brown in UK polling ahead of the election coming
- The Middle East is still not sorted, the Iraq situation calms down but not in Afghanistan
- Canada's political crisis deepens further leading to Quebec getting another referendum on independence
- In terms of sport, after the cricketers lost to India & Sth Africa, the Rugby boys lost to the All Blacks in Union and the Roos lost the WC to the Kiwi's, I am pinning my hopes on a Dutchie named Verbeek steering the Socceroos to World Cup #3 with victory in April over Uzbekistan - And if my sporting wish comes true, we'll be pooled with England in the 2010 WC Group to settle a score an Aussie-in-England wants to see
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#4, Susan, got to agree with some of what you say re: Qld. I'm frankly shocked that a State Govt would spend so much on a water scheme and then not use it, purely as it seems, for political reasons. The opposition appear to be prepared to play on ill-founded rumours about recycled water for political reasons. The ruling party mean would rather mothball the scheme for emergency use rather than educate a public regarding processes that are used safely elsewhere in the world, and are surely a more sustainable alternative to desalination etc.
This sounds like the politics of old. I'd rather see them smearing each other with personal attacks than wasting tax payers money like this.
Of course the biggest story of 09 will be the Ashes. However it goes. (note, this will be a relatively minor story in the UK).
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What has been demonstrated in Australia is that many of the Aboriginals were removed from their families because their they were at fatal risk. Tribes would reject mothers if they had a half-caste child and in order to return to the tribe they would have to kill the child. I remember one Aboriginal recalling how her mother wrapped her brother around a tree and then picked her up before she was stopped. she certainly didn't feel part of the "stolen generation" even though she was defined by the ill informed as exactly that.
This may seem cruel, but the Aboriginals as a group practiced infanticide throughout their history. most cultures practiced some form of birth control and the Aboriginals were generally unique in that they did it after birth.
Not to say there weren't bad consquences, but when is there not when the government tries to inject itself into people's lives.
In addition, Australia has a huge problem with the politics of blame. Aboriginals have been given hundreds of millions of dollars and additional extra benefits to improve their situation yet many still cry out "it's all your fault - you owe us". Interestingly many Aboriginal groups were gearing up to sue the Australian government once the word "sorry" was spoken as they had legal advice this was an admission of guilt. The Australian government had to pass legislation limiting their liability - I would argue this detracts from the supposed genuineness of the words "sorry".
Your comment suggesting past injustices are the primary reason the ALL previous Australian governments have refused to say sorry is as best a very rudimentary and incomplete version of events. You seem to persist in this myopic view throughout your blogs on this subject.
In the end Obama didn't lose because he broke free from the politics of blame (something Sharpton, Jackson and others could not do) and asked the public to judge him on his ability only. He could not have won without this and hence why I say he didn't lose as this would have been a show stopper.
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My Australian highlight of the year? Simple - in 2008 my family and I moved from depression in Oxfordshire to near paradise in Far North Queensland, and then got permanent residency. ‘Nough said.
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I feel this point was missed by many. The Prime Minister believes the sexual abuse of children is a matter for the catholic church.
Here we are told we are all equal before the law.
The exceptions are found when you have been sexually abused by Catholic clergy.
"This is a matter for the church and I respect the internal judgements of the church. I don’t stand outside the church and provide them with public lectures in terms of how they should behave..."
Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, 17 July 2008.
http://www.pm.gov.au/media/Interview/2008/interview_0363.cfm
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Happy New Year Nick! Nice flashback for us all trying to digest all that has happened in the 366 days.
UniBrain,
The significance of the 'sorry' from the Rudd Government lies on the recognition of an unjust policy that echoed a desire to 'breed out' Australia's indigenous population. This seemingly unassuming word serves as an integral step towards reconciliation. In fact, this is true for any reconciliation. Whilst we may remain divided on whether we should have apologised for what we did as a nation in the past, it is only unmistakable that an unreserved apology is most practical in helping Australia's indigenous and non-indigenous people to 'move forward together'. The key words are 'move forward'.
I don't see why the stolen generation should not be afforded compensation. Is this not a fundamental tenet of our civil liberty? We all expect to seek compensation through the civil branch of our justice system.
What they have lost is irreplaceable. They warrant our duly help to alleviate their suffering and to move on together. Just because their are indigenous to Australia does not mean they should live 20 years shorter than the rest of us.
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