Born in 1982

If you were born in 1982, the Commonwealth Games came to Brisbane and gave Australians an excuse to feel collectively proud and slightly self-congratulatory, both of which they did enthusiastically. The Games were well-organised and warm, and Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen was on every television in the country, which was a mixed blessing. Men at Work's "Down Under" was number one around the world — the flute riff, the Vegemite sandwich, the self-conscious celebration of Australian identity — and Australians loved it with the particular warmth of a people surprised and pleased by international recognition.

INXS were releasing *Shabooh Shoobah*. Midnight Oil were Midnight Oil. The music was extraordinary and specifically Australian.

Unemployment hit 10 per cent and the economic anxiety was real — the Frazer government had run its course and the country was ready for something different. Interest rates were ruinous. The fish and chip shop on the corner was still trading, the footy was still on Saturday, and the beach at Christmas was still free, but the daily financial calculation was harder than it had been a decade ago.

Malcolm Fraser would be gone by next year and the country was waiting for the change it could feel coming.