A global political expert and former British government minister has waxed lyrical about why he believes Australia is one of the best countries in the world.
Rory Stewart, a former diplomat, politician and professor at Harvard University, has outlined the reasons why, in his view, Australia should be considered one of the best-managed economies in the modern world.
“I think in a world of pessimism and gloom, Australia 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, astonishingly, running a budget surplus, while France is running a deficit of 6 percent and Britain is burdened with a debt of almost 100 percent of GDP.
‘Italy is having difficulty paying off its debts. The US debt burden is such an eye-watering trillion that no one can even estimate it.”
Mr Stewart is right when he says that Anthony Albanese’s government has returned two consecutive budget surpluses of $22.1 billion and $15.8 billion in 2022-23 and 2023-24 respectively.
However, the budget is expected to slide into a red sea in the near future as the country’s treasury grapples with the weight of high inflation, interest rates and ‘unavoidable’ government spending.
Rory Stewart (pictured), a former diplomat, politician and professor at Harvard University, has set out the reasons why, in his view, Australia should be considered one of the best-managed economies in the modern world
“I think in a world of pessimism and gloom, Australia is a shining exception,” he said recently on his Rest is Politics podcast (photo: a Centrelink queue in Melbourne)
The projected deficit for the three years to 2027/2028 now stands at a staggering $117 billion.
“The slippage in subsequent years is largely due to urgent, unavoidable or automatic increases in spending in areas such as pensions, Medicare and medicine,” the Treasury Department said in its gloomy December forecast.
Despite this bleak outlook for the country’s finances, Stewart was still impressed by Australia’s apparent success.
“They have a budget surplus, they have compulsory voting, they have the one transferable vote system, they have a good federal system… they have great politicians like Peter Malinauskas,” he gushed. .
In a previous episode, Mr Stewart and his co-host, Tony Blair’s former communications director Alastair Campbell, praised the South Australian Prime Minister.
They were particularly enthusiastic about Malinauskas’ “world-leading” bid to ban all political donations, which was passed by SA parliament in November, and his push to ban social media for teenagers under 16.
The latter made global headlines after it was passed and adopted by the federal parliament in November.
This is despite critics questioning the feasibility of such a ban and the impact it will have on children’s social connection.
“They have a budget surplus, they have compulsory voting, they have the one transferable vote system, they have a good federal system… they have great politicians like Peter Malinauskas,” Mr Stewart said. gushed (photo: the SA Prime Minister with Anthony Albanese)
Pictured: Rory Stewart outside the Sydney Opera House during his recent tour of Australia
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, formerly Twitter, suggested the ban was a path to government-sponsored censorship.
“It appears to be a loophole to control access to the internet for all Australians,” he wrote in response to Albanese’s post announcing the introduction of the bill.
Stewart’s love song to Australia also doesn’t ignore the attendant crises of high immigration and housing affordability.
Over the past two decades, governments from both sides of the political spectrum have presided over high levels of immigration, with annual overseas inflows tripling to 315,700 in the 2000s.
Last year it climbed to a high of 548,800 – the highest number since the early 1950s.
This influx of immigrants has put downward pressure on the already very tight rental vacancy rate.
Mr Stewart listed 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, as the average house price across the country is well over $800,000 – and now well over $1 million in a major capital city like Sydney.
Mr Stewart ignored these pressing issues facing Australia’s fighters and went on to praise the fusion of old and new worlds in his manners and culture.
“They have an amazing combination of manners in which they are more old-fashioned than Britain: beautiful manners, beautiful straightforwardness,” he said.
“And incredibly more modern in many ways, incredible waterfronts in Brisbane, incredible waterfronts in Melbourne, amazing food.”
Mr Stewart said the “best thing about Australia” is that “you can still eat dim sum on trolleys all over Sydney”.
The prolific author and his co-host joked about how he was planning to write a book called “Why the World Needs to Be More Like Australia.”
And he dodged the inevitable criticism, claiming his position from afar offered more insight than those Australians on the ground.
“You go to this place and you’re like, ‘Objectively speaking, this is amazing,’” he said.
‘And yet everyone says, “No, it’s not that. It’s nonsense.”‘