ABSTRACT
The Story of Australia concludes with the impacts of globalisation. Australia has long sought integration into economies beyond its borders. Although reliant on Britain, early settlers developed trading networks in Asia. After World War Two, Japan and then China became major trading partners. While globalisation destroyed the textile and automotive industries, the Australian economy benefitted from mining: coal, iron ore and natural gas were sent in quantity to Asia. Tourism boomed and tertiary education became one of Australia’s largest exports. New urban economies developed. At the top sat producer service industries – finance, banking and computing – while at the bottom were poorly paid casual workers of the ‘gig’ economy. Arrival of asylum seekers and refugees became an issue on which successive governments took a hard-line stance. ‘Illegal arrivals’ were incarcerated in offshore detention centres. Nevertheless, the population grew increasingly diverse. In 2017, gay marriage laws were passed. Australians lived longer but suffered diseases related to poor lifestyle and obesity. Governments have been slow to address the problem of climate change and are assessing anew the risks of globalisation as COVID-19 takes its toll. What does the future hold for Australia?
