Is Australia a ‘Lucky Country’
Fifty one years ago social critic Donald Horne wrote his famous book ‘The Lucky Country’ describing Australia as “a lucky country run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck” (http://blog.adonline.id.au/the-lucky-country/). The title ‘Lucky Country’ has become a nickname for Australia and is generally used favourably, although the origin of the phrase was negative. Among other things, it has been used in reference to Australia's natural resources, weather, history, distance from problems elsewhere in the world, and other sorts of prosperity (http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lucky_Country00). This essay discusses how Australia is lucky and how it’s not. This essay deals with 4 arguments: Government, Asylum Seekers, Healthcare and
Unemployment. It is often argued that Australia is a lucky country. Is Australia still the lucky country? Australia is a federation, a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. The Australian government has got some values. In Australia, Australian citizens are allowed to vote when they are
18. We have freedom and we have the right to vote (http://moadoph.gov.au/). We are free to join any organisation or group if it is legal. Having and debating points of view allows for a healthy and strong democracy. An Australian is free to think or write about anything (https://www.dss.gov.au/).
We have the freedom of speech, expression and religious belief. We have the freedom to move to and from all states and territories. Here, laws are applied equally & freely. Human rights are about recognising and respecting the inherent value and dignity of all people. In this country you have your basic human rights (https://www.humanrights.gov.au/). “Human rights is a universal standard.
It is a component of every religion and every civilisation” said Shirin Ebadi. In Australia or in any other countries, anyone can do what they believe. They have human rights. Here in Australia we have the rights to do what we want to. Australian government is one of the factors that makes
Australia a lucky country.

With the dramatic increase in the number of illegal boat arriving in Australia, the issue of asylum seekers recently was reignited (http://www.lawteacher.net/). 67 percent of Australians support offshore processing for people arriving by boat, while only 25 percent of people believe that asylum seekers should be eligible for permanent resettlement. Australians see this as a top five problem facing Australia today. As of 2012, the issue was ranked 3rd in importance, only outranked by concerns about the economy and quality of government (http://hms.salvos.org.au/refugees-asylumseekers-factsheet/). Even though its not actually illegal in Australia, we don’t know what the refugees or asylum seekers are going to do to our country. Every year, millions of people around the world are forced to flee their homes. Some flee because of religious persecution, others because of their race, gender, or ethnicity. Some flee because of their political stances, religious affiliations or social status (http://hms.salvos.org.au/). In 2013, 300 boats landed in Australia with 20587 people.
Maybe the asylum seekers can stop Australia from being a lucky country. They can stop us from being lucky because we don’t know what they can do to our country. They can be terrorists or anything. Australia's healthcare system 'is widely regarded as being world-class, in terms of both its effectiveness and efficiency' (Medicare Australia, 2010) this is due to the combined responsibility between both the public and private sector in healthcare services. The Australian healthcare is a universal system known as Medicare this is managed by the government. There are two types of health services in Australia. Public sector health services are provided by all levels of government: local, state, territory and the Australian Government. Private sector health service providers include private hospitals, medical