Born in 1981

If you were born in 1981, you arrived in an Australia that was changing its relationship with the world. The Fraser government was in its last months. Bob Hawke was in parliament and everyone could feel the political weather shifting.

The economy was hard — unemployment rising, interest rates punishing, the mortgage a genuine burden on family life. The pub was still the social institution, but the conversation was changing. Triple J had been broadcasting nationally and the idea that there was a specifically Australian rock music worth taking seriously was now established.

Men at Work were about to break internationally. INXS were gigging furiously. Midnight Oil were releasing *The Red Sails in the Sunset*.

The pub circuit was the best live music venue in the world, some argued, and they weren't wrong. Australian Rules football had added night games under lights, which felt like the future. The cricket summer was dominated by the West Indies, always a hard series.

At the beach, the surfboard was now fibreglass, the boardshorts were bright, and the Akubra hat was being worn with new irony. You could get a sausage sizzle at Bunnings — well, nearly: the tradition was older than Bunnings itself. The backyard was where Australians still lived their real lives, and it was good.