Latest news with #DonaldHorne
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Aussie reveals the TRUE meaning behind 'the lucky country' and why most are wrong to think it's a positive phrase
A commentator has claimed many Aussies have completely misunderstood the meaning behind the well-known phrase: 'the lucky country'. The term was coined by author Donald Horne in his 1964 book of the same name and has become associated with long term prosperity and the country's avoidance of economic and social downturn seen in other nations. Australian commentator Topher Field told the Unemployable Media Podcast the phrase did not necessarily have the positive connotations most thought it did. 'It was actually telling us, you guys are lazy. You guys are riding off the back of good luck. Good luck of geography, weather and industry,' he said. 'You guys are the lucky country, and if you don't wise up real quick, your luck is going to run out. 'You're not going to know what hit you because you've never had to navigate anything bad.' Horne's famous line appears at the beginning of his book's final chapter. 'Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people's ideas,' it reads. 'Although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise.' The phrase wasn't a celebration of national success, but a critique of how little of it was earned through innovation or effort. Horne argued that Australia's wealth was built not through ingenuity, but through good fortune, natural resources, climate, and a wave of immigration. Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Field expanded on Horne's meaning. '[Horne] was being ironic. 'The Lucky Country' was an observation that so much of what we had in the '60s when his book was published was a result of geography and quirks of global timing and trade, rather than our own hard work.' Field added the critique remains just as relevant today as it was decades ago. 'It was not earned prosperity, but just dumb luck. Sixty years later it's fair to say that our luck has held up remarkably well, thanks again to geography, timing, and trade.' Field referred to the mining boom, and the strength of the industry which protected Australia from economic decline. 'Our resources sector is much-maligned, but it carried us through the dot com bubble, the Asian Financial Crisis, and the 2008 GFC, comparatively unscathed, tempting some people to say that Donald Horne was wrong and that we really are lucky.' But Field warned that the very luck that once sustained Australia may be creating complacency. 'I wish that were true. All the economic indicators are telling us that our luck has very much run out,' he said. 'But we're so complacent, so lazy, so used to being 'lucky', that we've lost the will and the work ethic to get ourselves out of what's coming. 'We're no longer getting lucky, we're getting what we deserve.' Field ended his statement by saying Australia's luck is finite, invoking a former British Prime Minister in his warning. 'With apologies to Margaret Thatcher who said that "The problem with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money",' he said. 'I will say that the problem with being lucky is that eventually your luck runs out.'
West Australian
3 days ago
- Sport
- West Australian
Adrian Barich: Happy is the country that is more interested in sport than in politics, I always say
It's been a sad old time in Barra-land so I'm hoping you won't mind if this week, I discuss something extremely frivolous. Or is it frivolous?! It's wild just how much sport means to people in this country. As a nation we should probably be a little embarrassed about just how highly sport ranks in our public psyche. As the late Donald Horne wrote (well complained, actually) in his book The Lucky Country, ''sport, to many Australians, is life and the rest a shadow . . . It is considered a sign of degeneracy not to be interested in it'. If you resemble those comments, don't feel bad: you're in good company. Happy is the country that is more interested in sport than in politics, I always say. The truth is, many of us get a lot of our culture and identity from sport. It's not just a leisure-time activity, but a big part of our lives. If you're struggling to connect or even make conversation with your neighbours, throw in this line — 'what about those Eagles?' — and see how you go. There is a remarkably deep-seated connection between Australians and our sporting teams, and the drama of sport has the power to bring people together. The other thing I don't think we appreciate fully is that sport not only bonds people and strengthens communities, but helps promote our State on the national stage. If we are hosting some of the Australia's biggest sporting events, we are showcasing West Australian excellence and expertise in everything from innovation, tourism, services and products. Having said all that, and thrown my support behind this State's push to attract big events to WA, I still think we are running behind the fans of the English Premier League in terms of passion and commitment. Just take a look at the hysteria surrounding Tottenham Hotspur winning the Europa League. Spurs hit a grim milestone this season: their worst-ever Premier League season but that has all been overshadowed by Ange Postecoglou making history, ending the club's 17-year trophy drought by claiming a dramatic 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the final in Bilbao. The celebrations have been extensive and colourful, with tens of thousands of jubilant Spurs fans lining the streets of north London last week for an open-top bus victory parade. I've even seen people getting crazy tattoos to commemorate this apparently unforgettable moment in the history of the club. In the final against United, there was a moment of pure instinct, a stunning show of agility, by Micky van de Ven. His goal-line clearance has been described as 'poetry in motion' as the Dutch defender, with a less than a second to make up his mind, flew high, with his foot in the air, to somehow hook the ball away. His version of events went like this: 'In the game, I saw the ball coming, I don't know what happened, I saw the ball coming back and went to the goal line . . . the ball went high up in the air, and I thought, 'how am I going to do this?' I thought, 'I just need to try', and then I got it out of the goal, I don't know how'. Anyway that one effort has now been permanently tattooed on many, many chubby arms and shaved backs in north London, a display of passion and love for the moment that we probably haven't seen very often in Australia. To say it was an eyesore would be a compliment. The tatt ranks up (or down?) there with Mike Tyson's iconic face tattoo for things that probably weren't a good idea. Still despite England's love of soccer, some would argue that Aussies are more 'religious' about sport than about religion itself. The stats I found are interesting: eight per cent of Australians go to church every week, compared to more than 80 per cent who are involved in a weekly sport. As American writer Phyllis McGinley reportedly quipped, 'in Australia, not reading poetry is a national pastime'.
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Happy is country that's interested in sports over politics
It's been a sad old time in Barra-land so I'm hoping you won't mind if this week, I discuss something extremely frivolous. Or is it frivolous?! It's wild just how much sport means to people in this country. As a nation we should probably be a little embarrassed about just how highly sport ranks in our public psyche. As the late Donald Horne wrote (well complained, actually) in his book The Lucky Country, ''sport, to many Australians, is life and the rest a shadow . . . It is considered a sign of degeneracy not to be interested in it'. If you resemble those comments, don't feel bad: you're in good company. Happy is the country that is more interested in sport than in politics, I always say. The truth is, many of us get a lot of our culture and identity from sport. It's not just a leisure-time activity, but a big part of our lives. If you're struggling to connect or even make conversation with your neighbours, throw in this line — 'what about those Eagles?' — and see how you go. There is a remarkably deep-seated connection between Australians and our sporting teams, and the drama of sport has the power to bring people together. The other thing I don't think we appreciate fully is that sport not only bonds people and strengthens communities, but helps promote our State on the national stage. If we are hosting some of the Australia's biggest sporting events, we are showcasing West Australian excellence and expertise in everything from innovation, tourism, services and products. Having said all that, and thrown my support behind this State's push to attract big events to WA, I still think we are running behind the fans of the English Premier League in terms of passion and commitment. Just take a look at the hysteria surrounding Tottenham Hotspur winning the Europa League. Spurs hit a grim milestone this season: their worst-ever Premier League season but that has all been overshadowed by Ange Postecoglou making history, ending the club's 17-year trophy drought by claiming a dramatic 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the final in Bilbao. The celebrations have been extensive and colourful, with tens of thousands of jubilant Spurs fans lining the streets of north London last week for an open-top bus victory parade. I've even seen people getting crazy tattoos to commemorate this apparently unforgettable moment in the history of the club. In the final against United, there was a moment of pure instinct, a stunning show of agility, by Micky van de Ven. His goal-line clearance has been described as 'poetry in motion' as the Dutch defender, with a less than a second to make up his mind, flew high, with his foot in the air, to somehow hook the ball away. His version of events went like this: 'In the game, I saw the ball coming, I don't know what happened, I saw the ball coming back and went to the goal line . . . the ball went high up in the air, and I thought, 'how am I going to do this?' I thought, 'I just need to try', and then I got it out of the goal, I don't know how'. Anyway that one effort has now been permanently tattooed on many, many chubby arms and shaved backs in north London, a display of passion and love for the moment that we probably haven't seen very often in Australia. To say it was an eyesore would be a compliment. The tatt ranks up (or down?) there with Mike Tyson's iconic face tattoo for things that probably weren't a good idea. Still despite England's love of soccer, some would argue that Aussies are more 'religious' about sport than about religion itself. The stats I found are interesting: eight per cent of Australians go to church every week, compared to more than 80 per cent who are involved in a weekly sport. As American writer Phyllis McGinley reportedly quipped, 'in Australia, not reading poetry is a national pastime'.
The Age
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Australia is a great place to live, but a lousy place to work
Sixty-one years ago, journalist Donald Horne first distilled how he viewed our nation. 'Australia is the lucky country,' he famously began, before following it up with a sucker punch, 'run mainly by second rate people who share its luck'. The first half of his phrase struck a chord that's resonated through the decades, albeit often truncated to fit whatever worldview we wished to see. Now, a few generations on from Horne's insight, there are startling new data points to add to our national conversation about who we are and how we got here. A new report from Gallup sheds additional light on an uncomfortable question that we really need to ask: is Australia a great place to live but a lousy place to work? For two decades Gallup's annual research, the State of the Global Workplace, has been one of the most anticipated annual insights into our changing relationship with work. This year they surveyed 227,000 people from 160 countries, and it's packed with complicated and nuanced contradictions. The research confirms a long-term trend that less than a quarter of all Australians are engaged at work, with 12 per cent actively disengaged and the vast majority, over two thirds of workers, not engaged with their jobs. 'That means the majority of people are going through the motions,' says Claire de Carteret, the APAC managing director at Gallup. 'They're going to work, but they're not as energised, connected, productive or thriving as they possibly could be.' If we really want to be more than just the lucky country, we're going to have to confront our problems at work head on. As well as disengagement, the percentage of workers who say they experience stress each day at work has been steadily rising from one third in 2011 to half of all workers now, with Australians basically tying with the United States and Canada as the most stressed workers in the world. Most of this stress is falling squarely on the shoulders of management. 'We are asking a lot of managers,' says de Carteret. 'Our productivity is quite stagnant in Australia, so we are asking managers to do more with less. We are asking them to be aware of wellbeing but also manage performance, and all the radical transformation with AI.'
Sydney Morning Herald
15-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australia is a great place to live, but a lousy place to work
Sixty-one years ago, journalist Donald Horne first distilled how he viewed our nation. 'Australia is the lucky country,' he famously began, before following it up with a sucker punch, 'run mainly by second rate people who share its luck'. The first half of his phrase struck a chord that's resonated through the decades, albeit often truncated to fit whatever worldview we wished to see. Now, a few generations on from Horne's insight, there are startling new data points to add to our national conversation about who we are and how we got here. A new report from Gallup sheds additional light on an uncomfortable question that we really need to ask: is Australia a great place to live but a lousy place to work? For two decades Gallup's annual research, the State of the Global Workplace, has been one of the most anticipated annual insights into our changing relationship with work. This year they surveyed 227,000 people from 160 countries, and it's packed with complicated and nuanced contradictions. The research confirms a long-term trend that less than a quarter of all Australians are engaged at work, with 12 per cent actively disengaged and the vast majority, over two thirds of workers, not engaged with their jobs. 'That means the majority of people are going through the motions,' says Claire de Carteret, the APAC managing director at Gallup. 'They're going to work, but they're not as energised, connected, productive or thriving as they possibly could be.' If we really want to be more than just the lucky country, we're going to have to confront our problems at work head on. As well as disengagement, the percentage of workers who say they experience stress each day at work has been steadily rising from one third in 2011 to half of all workers now, with Australians basically tying with the United States and Canada as the most stressed workers in the world. Most of this stress is falling squarely on the shoulders of management. 'We are asking a lot of managers,' says de Carteret. 'Our productivity is quite stagnant in Australia, so we are asking managers to do more with less. We are asking them to be aware of wellbeing but also manage performance, and all the radical transformation with AI.'
