The disappointment with which many voters have come to regard Tony Abbott stems from a variety of shortcomings, alleged or otherwise. Some have marked the prime minister down for not providing the "strong, stable, methodical and purposeful government" he promised after winning the 2013 election. Others have bemoaned his retreat from the careful economic management he claimed was necessary to get Australian back on the fiscal straight and narrow. Yet more decry his lack of leadership on issues like same-sex marriage, climate change, and the reform of Australia's dysfunctional federation.
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To be fair to Mr Abbott, he made no explicit promises before the election about enabling same-sex marriage or taking the lead on climate change. Quite the contrary in fact. Yet Mr Abbott's innate conservatism still grates on those voters who believe Australia ought to be in the vanguard of progressive change and at the forefront of the march of events.
Part of that belief derives from the way Australians view themselves, and the myths and folk stories they have constructed to nourish and promote that self-image. We are, variously, tolerant, laid back, self-reliant, and outward-looking. No respecters of authority or tradition, we regard ourselves as egalitarian by nature, with a strong social conscience – as evidenced by our trail blazing on socially progressive issues like the minimum wage and women's suffrage. When there is work to be done, we roll up our sleeves and get stuck right in. Exceptionalism is not limited to the United States.
Holding up a mirror to one's face does not always reveal what we though it might, however. Australia enacted a minimum wage in 1907, well before other countries, but it was not the first to do so. In 1894, the colony of South Australia granted women the right to vote. But again others got there ahead us, notably New Zealand – which was also the first country to enact enforceable minimum wage laws. Australia could still rightfully claim to have been in the first rank of the socially progressive nations of the 20th century, however. Our altruism towards our neighbours and the region more generally (embodied in the Colombo plan, and a generous aid program to Papua New Guinea) was another point of virtue.
These achievements now look increasingly Ruritanian, the more so for the fact that Australia's retreat on its obligations as a good international citizen have become so pronounced. The promised increase in international aid has been shelved, and the Abbott government's reluctance to commit Australia to anything more the minimum greenhouse gas emissions targets makes us an outlier among the developed nations. We're now almost as isolated on same-sex marriage.
The view Australians have of themselves as a liberal-minded people prepared to step up when the occasion demands may be more myth than substance. We've certainly demonstrated a willingness to cut down politicians and individuals with socially progressive goals. There is a sizeable section of the electorate, however, which wishes our politicians would play to the better angels of our nature, and start behaving wisely, responsibly, and maturely.
