Born in 1992

If you were born in 1992, the Mabo decision from the High Court in June changed Australian history. The court ruled that the legal fiction of terra nullius — that Australia had been empty, unowned land at the time of European settlement — was wrong, and that native title existed under Australian law. It was a landmark, a reckoning, and the Keating government moved to legislate the consequences.

The arguments were fierce — miners, farmers, the National Party all predicted catastrophe; the reality was more complex and more hopeful. Keating himself gave the Redfern speech in December that remains one of the most honest speeches by an Australian prime minister: acknowledging directly that the colonial treatment of Aboriginal Australians was "the darkest aspect of Australia's history." The recession was slowly easing, but slowly.

Australian music was thriving: Silverchair were in high school (fame one year away), Paul Kelly was the songwriter's songwriter, Crowded House's *Woodface* was the album everyone had. *Strictly Ballroom* was in cinemas, Baz Luhrmann announcing himself loudly. The football was its usual religion.

The milk bar was now mostly gone, replaced by the servo's fridge and the 7-Eleven. But the backyard and the barbie and the beach at Christmas were as reliable as the Southern Cross.