Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs That is the Australian way. This is, after all, the only liberal democracy in the world without a national human rights act or charter of rights.The wit and raconteur Peter Ustinov once conjectured that a key to unlocking modern-day Australia was to understand that the country came to be populated not only by the descendants of convicts but the offspring of jailers. To North America, the British Pilgrim Fathers brought a stern morality. In Australia, the British invaders were more penal than puritanical.LoadingMaybe the history of settler Australia as a convict colony also goes some way to explain why small infringements are met with such heavy fines. Miscreants were transported to the Southern Land for the most minor crimes, such as cutting down a tree in an orchard or stealing items, such as loaves of bread, valued at less than a shilling. As Robert Hughes reminds us in his masterpiece, The Fatal Shore, less than 4 per cent of convicts were shipped to Australia for “offences against the person”, including assault, manslaughter and murder.Maybe the punishment of petty crimes bred a bureaucratic petty-mindedness. But even if Australia’s punishment culture is a legacy of colonialism, contemporary Australia continues to sprint with that ball. Small wonder a stern former police officer stands a reasonable chance of becoming prime minister.Clearly, rule abidance has its upsides. This is a well-ordered society. I can see the civic virtue of alcohol bans at the beach. Double demerits have been shown to reduce car-crash casualties by 30 per cent. And please, this summer, swim between the flags.A reason Australia fared so well during the first year of the pandemic was it had a government used to imposing restrictions and a populace used to obeying them. The outward travel ban, a cornerstone of the Fortress Australia policy, surely would have encountered fiercer resistance in other Western countries with less rules-based mindsets.Having a ball … even two beach balls. An attempt at fun during an Ashes Test at the MCG. Credit: Justin McManusHaving lived in America for most of the past decade, I have also observed the dangers when libertarianism is allowed to run amok – when behavioural norms are cast aside, when democratic guardrails are wrenched from their moorings and when lawlessness becomes a political selling point. In the aftermath of the Port Arthur massacre, the kind of firearms restrictions that would have provoked armed rebellion in the red states of America were met with admirable compliance from Australian gun owners.LoadingAlways, though, it is a question of balance. Often, the level of enforcement seems disproportionate to the level of offence, whether it is fines levied just minutes after a parking ticket expires, or the inability to differentiate between a retiree enjoying an open-air glass of chardy and a twenty-something tucking into whatever concoctions twenty-somethings tuck into these days. Australia’s punishment culture can be too officious and unbending. While this country remains the lifestyle superpower of the world, its officialdom could be a little bit more laid back.Nick Bryant, a former BBC Sydney correspondent, is the author of The Rise and Fall of Australia: How a Great Nation Lost its Way.
