The Sweet Spot
How Australia Made Its Own Luck – And Could Now Throw It All Away
This book will change the way you think about your country…
Australians now officially have the best living conditions in the world. Our country is both fair and free – and the only developed nation to have avoided a recession in the past twenty years. So how did it happen and why don’t we care?
In The Sweet Spot Peter Hartcher takes readers on a vastly entertaining and thought-provoking tour through Australian politics and history. He shows how a convict colony could have become a banana republic but didn’t, how Australia came through the global financial crisis – it wasn’t just the mining boom – and how we could now throw our success away if we don’t recognise our strengths and demand true leadership of our politicians.
Hartcher argues that Australia’s prosperity was not built on dumb luck. In a time when the authoritarian success story of China is strong, Australia offers a better model: a democratic success story. Is it perfect? Of course not. But on some of the most important and apparently intractable problems of the modern world, Australia, believe it or not, is as good as it gets. And the beaches aren’t bad either.
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Praise for The Sweet Spot:
“A compelling and tantalising read. Australians as shrinking violets who can’t embrace their own cleverness, and risk blowing the chance of a golden future.” - Kerry O’Brien
“A book to promote thought and argument.” - the Age
“A 21st-century reply to Donald Horne’s classic The Luck Country.” - Bookseller+Publisher
“a thoughtful analysis of Australia’s success.” - Herald Sun
Awards:
Longlisted, 2012 Walkley Book Award
Shortlisted, 2013 Ashurst Business Literature Prize
Interviews and Reviews:
Listen to an interview with Peter Hartcher on ABC Radio National's Late Night Live
Listen to an interview with Peter Hartcher on ABC Sydney's Drive with Richard Glover
Listen to an interview with Peter Hartcher on ABC Melbourne's The Conversation Hour with John Faine
Peter Hartcher is an award-winning journalist and author, and is currently the political editor and international editor for The Sydney Morning Herald.
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