There’s been a lot of chatter online lately about Australia being a “wealthy country in gentle decline,” and honestly, it’s got me thinking about how we’ve managed to sleepwalk our way into some pretty serious structural problems while patting ourselves on the back for being the “lucky country.”

The irony isn’t lost on me that Donald Horne’s original “lucky country” quote was actually a criticism, not a compliment. He was calling us out for being “run mainly by second rate people who share its luck” and for lacking curiosity about the world around us. Fifty years later, and we’re still coasting on that luck while the foundations crumble beneath us.

Something’s fundamentally broken in our economic system when getting a promotion feels like treading water. The other day, while reviewing my budget spreadsheet (a monthly ritual that’s becoming increasingly depressing), I noticed a disturbing pattern that seems all too common these days.

Despite earning what would have been considered an excellent salary just a decade ago, the numbers tell a different story. Every “victory” in career progression feels hollow. That promotion you fought hard for? Half of it disappeared into the Medicare levy and HECS repayments. That annual bonus? Swept away by insurance premium hikes and utility bill increases that somehow always outpace inflation.