25 August

The ‘outback’ is a mythology Australians love. It’s a myth. We’ve always used the land outside the main cities as either a big farm or big mine. Extractive industries. We’re a settler culture, ferrying resources back to the cities. Once the extractive industry goes, the town dies. Then we try to hang on with tourism. Tourists in our own land! You can’t give a clearer example of having no connection to the land than wandering through it ‘seeing the sights’.