Last weekend Australia hosted the G20. The river city of Brisbane became a mini police state. Barricades went up and heavily armed police lined the streets, outnumbering the locals. The big boys (and Merkel) came to town, greeted at Brisbane airport by a convoy of cars that ushered them to the world’s biggest talkfest.
I’m not here to blog about the G20 agenda of economic growth, worshiped over the course of the weekend as a cure for all the world’s ills. No, I’m here to talk about the facial contortions performed across this island continent. The cries of anguish and red faces of embarrassment that accompanied every word spoken by PM Tony Abbott.
Australia suffers from ‘cultural cringe.’ This inferiority complex means Australians feel like teenagers trapped in the living room with their parents when a sex scene comes on TV. Replace the sex scene with Australian culture and the parents with the G20 and you have the modern day Australian cultural cringe.
Despite finding its feet in world affairs, even punching above its weight with a place on the UN Security Council, Australia still harbours an inferiority complex. Cultural cringe reared its head through the weekend in a couple of ways. The G20 gave Australians the opportunity to fawn over foreign leaders. What hope for Abbott, Hockey and the like with Obama, Modi and Merkel on the loose? Despite a waning and troubled Presidency at home, President Obama received a rock star reception during his University of Queensland speech. The young crowd lapped up his anecdotes on alcohol and “BrisVegas,” as well as references to serious issues such as climate change. You may question whether Obama’s reception is truly indicative of cultural cringe. I say yes. This is a leader whose idealism has failed to change America, yet still holds sway in Australia, providing the perfect tonic for young Australians who believe the grass is greener over yonder, where they have real inspirational leaders, instead of the Coalition government.
The second example of cultural cringe comes from the media response to the weekend. Newspapers, particularly the Sydney Morning Herald, seemed more interested in Tony Abbott’s “gaffs” than the G20 agenda. The Herald found Abbott’s speech from 4:08 onward particularly embarrassing. They cringed at his mention of domestic politics. These kind of stories certainly fit the Herald, a paper we expect to attack a right-wing government. Yet they also reveal a sense of insecurity, an odd sense of embarrassment at a politician playing politics. The leaders of the other nations are hardly new to political grandstanding, I doubt they shared the red faces of those at the Herald.
Aside from this story, the other memorable moment from the G20 weekend was this awkward handshake. The three way handshake is a genuinely cringe worthy moment. Naturally, these sweaty palms and awkward grips were broadcast on every news bulletin in the days that followed.
When two of the biggest stories from the G20 weekend are framed as embarrassing and awkward it tells us that Australia has not quite outgrown its cultural cringe. Australia is still an adolescent nation trying to find its way. On the world stage it’s fairing alright, though there are challenges such as the rise of Asia and a realisation that they are not immune to global turmoil.
Like many young Australians who go off to Europe or the States, the nation itself is stepping out into the world. Experience may see Australia outgrow its cultural cringe, but the complex could remain in the back of the nation’s collective mind, coaxed out when the perceived “adult” nations enter the room.
Timelines and Tantrums 