It is amazing how a change of location can provide a different perspective of current events. For the next few weeks I am basing myself in regional South Australia. It’s not exactly a holiday but it doesn’t really seem like work either.
Country people have a practical common sense about them that is so rare in the cities. There’s less rush to do things and more personal engagement.
A stint of country life would be a wake up call for so many Australians. At the very least they’d understand where their food comes from and how agriculture and looking after the environment go together.
It would also provide an insight into how different life can be. The competitive materialism, that is so common in the suburbs, gives way to having whatever is needed to get the job done.
Last night I caught just as many King George whiting in a 3 metre tinny as I would have in a ten metre motor yacht ( I told you it wasn’t all work!) and no one cared less about the size of our watercraft.
In Adelaide or Melbourne or Sydney, I suspect it would all have been about the boat and not the actual fish.
But there are some things that do concern many regional residents more than their city counterparts. Naturally they include the provision of services and infrastructure, but I find rural residents are also more focussed on the longer term implications of decisions made.
One of those concerns is the state of the national accounts.
The Treasurer has stated that this year’s budget deficit will be ‘eye-watering’. I think that means we should all be crying for the financial state of the nation but in the cities no-one seems to care.
Rather, the dialogue is all about the ‘free money’ and what individuals stand to gain from government handouts. There is nary a thought for tomorrow other than the state of the individual’s bank account.
It is not hard to understand why that attitude prevails. City life is expensive and many live from week to week. The bills don’t stop even if the income does.
In the country, there is a greater sense of community and an ability to provide the basics even if money is tight. Many primary producers are also familiar with the seasonal nature of life and put away something for the proverbial rainy day.
Perhaps that’s why they want to talk about the national finances more than the city people do. The expected trillion dollar debt isn’t just a few words but a real reminder of how a nation is living beyond its means.
They know that debt will eventually have to be repaid but they also know , in many instances, those in regional communities will be better able to manage any economic difficulties associated with it.
That’s because they have dealt with those difficulties many times over the decades. They know what’s likely coming and how to prepare for it which is why they want to talk about it.
For many in our urban metropolises, the likely economic downturn will come as a complete surprise. That’s when they will blame the government for not doing enough.
From my perspective, we are in this mess because governments have done too much already. We’ll be living with the consequences of recent decisions for decades to come, long after everyone has forgotten about the Coronavirus panic of 2020.
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
