Born in 2016

If you were born in 2016, the revolving door of Australian prime ministership was now a national joke — or would have been if it weren't so genuinely exhausting. Turnbull had won the July election with a reduced majority that made governing difficult, and the internal divisions of the Liberal Party were visible. The Australian economy was doing well by international standards, but the sense of it doing well was unevenly distributed — wages flat, housing unaffordable, casualisation of work increasing.

Marriage equality was still blocked in the parliament. The Hawthorn dynasty ended, Western Bulldogs winning the AFL Grand Final in a fairytale from nowhere. The Australian Olympic team at Rio had a respectable campaign.

The Great Barrier Reef's coral bleaching event — the most severe on record, affecting 93 per cent of the reef — received international scientific attention and considerable domestic denial. Courtney Barnett was making extraordinary guitar music. Amy Shark was recording in Gold Coast.

Stan and Netflix were remaking television consumption. The smartphone meant every Australian had a small computer in their pocket and an algorithm showing them things designed to make them angry. The flat white was $5.

The barbecue was in the backyard. The country was tired of its politics and still very beautiful.