Born in 2011

If you were born in 2011, the Queensland floods of January were the opening catastrophe. The Lockyer Valley, Ipswich, and then Brisbane itself under water — the footage of the Toowoomba flash flood, the car being swept away while people watched from the footpath, was the single most shared piece of Australian news footage anyone could remember. 35 people died, and the economic damage was enormous.

Then Cyclone Yasi struck in February, and the country was still processing Queensland's summer of disasters. The community response — volunteers with mops and buckets, the Mud Army of thousands cleaning out Brisbane homes — was once again the best of the country. Gillard's carbon tax announcement in February — she had promised before the election there would be no carbon tax — gave Tony Abbott and the conservative media an attack that they would ride for three years.

The arguments about climate, about the carbon price, about political honesty, dominated the public conversation. Steve Jobs died in October and the country that had adopted the iPhone with particular enthusiasm grieved appropriately. The rugby World Cup in New Zealand saw the All Blacks finally win after 24 years, and Australian rugby followers felt the familiar mix of admiration and irritation.

The coffee was excellent. The footy was on. The country was going through something.