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Society

The figure in the carpet

The stories we tell ourselves
by Robert Phiddian
October 2022, no. 447

The Idea of Australia: A search for the soul of the nation by Julianne Schultz

Allen & Unwin, $34.99 pb, 472 pp

ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.

The queen and the duke of Edinburgh watching stockmen round up cattle near Alice Springs, 1963 (Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy)
The queen and the duke of Edinburgh watching stockmen round up cattle near Alice Springs, 1963 (Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy)

A new monarch succeeded the day I sat down to write this review about the idea of Australia. Prime Minister Albanese, in a blessedly unpoliticised speech about Elizabeth II’s death, was direct in announcing that he and the governor-general would be heading to London, ‘where we will meet the king’.

 


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The Idea of Australia: A search for the soul of the nation by Julianne Schultz

Allen & Unwin, $34.99 pb, 472 pp

ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.


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