Born in 2017

If you were born in 2017, Australia voted in favour of marriage equality in a postal survey that should never have been necessary and was nevertheless meaningful for the size of its yes vote: 61.6 per cent, in a 79 per cent turnout. When the result was announced on November 15th, people gathered in Federation Square in Melbourne and at the Sydney Town Hall and cried, and hugged strangers, and the relief and joy were real and genuine.

The parliament then legislated marriage equality with unusual speed, and the first same-sex weddings took place before the year was out. It had taken too long and been harder than it needed to be, and it was done. The banking Royal Commission was announced by Malcolm Turnbull in November, after years of resistance, under enormous political pressure — the stories of bank misconduct that would emerge in 2018 were already circulating.

The Ashes were won at home over England, 4-0, a comprehensive and satisfying result. Dustin Martin won the AFL Norm Smith Medal and his celebration — the pointing, the "don't argue" — became a national cultural moment. The flat white was $5.

Sydney house prices had peaked and were beginning to fall. The country was tired of its politics but pleased with itself for getting marriage equality right.